Research Development and Demonstration (RD & D)

Research Development and Demonstration (RD & D) is an integral part of HTC Technology.

HTC Purenergy and our collaborative research partner, the University of Regina (UofR), are committed to providing near-term, commercially viable, industry-relevant solutions to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The two organizations have worked for nearly a decade, producing some of the most effective emission reduction technologies available, including the world's first commercially available modular carbon capture units, which can be utilized to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from large-point sources such as coal-fired power plants. The captured CO2 can then be processed for geological storage or used in numerous secondary processes such as enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

In addition to the above mentioned CO2 capture and geosequestration technology, HTC is collaboratively pursuing technologies to produce large-scale clean fuel alternatives, such as hydrogen. HTC's goal is to develop efficient and effective technologies that rely on renewable, readily available feed gases to produce the hydrogen.

HTC and the University of Regina have developed innovative and proprietary technologies for hydrogen production, including dedicated catalyst manufacturing and testing facilities. The main highlights of the current H2 RD&D program being conducted are a significantly improved process design; highly active and selective novel nanostructured catalysts, and highly optimized realistic process variables.

Strong fundamental understanding of the process variables and catalysts' inherent properties is necessary to develop catalysts.

Current research is focused on studying the structure-activity relationship of each individual catalyst system for the given process in question. Correlation between surface structure and catalytic behaviour in solid materials is of strategic importance for producing quick and clean industrial reactions. In order to do so, HTC employs state-of-the-art characterization techniques to screen and test catalyst systems. The various techniques employed are XPS, HREM, Raman, In situ IR, Operando spectroscopy, TPR, BET SA/PSD, PXRD, OSC, and TG/DSC. The Operando spectroscopy will assist in observing fundamental molecular level measurements of catalyst, reactants, and products under practical reaction conditions.

H2 Demo Plant:

HTC and UofR have jointly designed a state-of-the-art multi-feedstock-Hydrogen Production plant, which will be housed in the Greenhouse Gas Technology building on the UofR campus. This facility will be utilized extensively to test the in-house catalysts and improve their performance before marketing out to our customers.

These highly innovative & proprietary modular assemblies will be marketed to companies interested in on-site H2 production. Depending on the needs of customer, HTC can scale-up or scale-down these modular reactor assemblies to meet their hydrogen demand. .

Catalyst Manufacturing Facility:

The semi-automatic pilot scale facility can be employed to produce a wide array of catalysts ranging from High Surface Area (HSA) Mixed Metal Oxides to Supported Metal Catalysts and from Microporous Zeolites to Mesoporous Molecular Sieves.

HTC is capable of preparing catalysts for third parties as per their specific requirements.