Carleton University

Published purpose

The goal of the project is to develop a reactor for the sustainable cogeneration of hydrogen, heat and alumina from the reaction of recycled aluminum with water. This reactor enables on-demand and fast production of cost-competitive hydrogen through a zero-carbon circular process. The high temperature and pressure process generates high purity hydrogen gas, valuable alumina powder, and recoverable heat of reaction, and does not release any pollutants in the environment. The reactor will be integrated into a classic power plant that can be leveraged to produce baseload electricity, district heating, and clean water – multi-purpose assets for local communities or industries within the proximity of the plant. This modular technology is deployable in the last mile of end-use markets and consumers and remains off-grid through harvesting thermal energy from the reaction to generate electricity. Thus, the technology offers a unique solution to diversify the energy portfolio, especially for remote communities