Fuel cell pilot catches attention of Canadian Natural Resources
• Amid a spike in interest for hydrogen fuel cells, Canada’s largest oil and gas producer is betting that a different type of fuel cell can both generate electricity and help reduce its emissions.
Researchers in the province say it’s about time.
Next year, Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. will pilot a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) capable of producing 1.4 megawatts of electricity at its Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton as part of a project with the Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance. It will be 40 per cent funded by the province’s Emissions Reduction Alberta and the planned start-up date is 2022.
In a range of technologies Canadian Natural is developing, testing or piloting, the company’s president Tim Mckay said the fuel cell is the one that’s captured his attention.
“The one that I find most interesting is our carbonate fuel cell, where it takes CO2 and generates power,” Mckay said in an interview. “I find that one interesting because electricity and energy is something that we all need.”
Molten carbonate fuel cells are listed as a long-term step Canadian Natural intends to pursue in its effort to become a net-zero oilsands producer, alongside efforts to change the way it mines bitumen and turning captured carbon into products like carbon fibre, plastic and asphalt.
Research & Markets expects molten carbonate fuel cells to grow around 21 per cent annually till 2027 to reach 207.9 megawatts.
“China, the world’s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of 37.2 MW by the year 2027 trailing a CAGR of 20.6 per cent over the analysis period 2020 to 2027. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 18.2 per cent and 17 per cent respectively over the 2020-2027 period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 14.1 per cent,” Research & Markets stated.
The U.S. Department of Energy notes that while MCFC offer significant cost reductions, its primary disadvantage is durability.
“The high temperatures at which these cells operate and the corrosive electrolyte used accelerate component breakdown and corrosion, decreasing cell life,” the agency said. “Scientists are currently exploring corrosion-resistant materials for components as well as fuel cell designs that double cell life from the current 40,000 hours (5 years) without decreasing performance.”
Canadian Natural spokesperson Julie Woo said the fuel cell is “one of our promising CCUS (carbon capture, utilization and storage) projects within the multiple pathways to reducing industry’s GHG emissions, bringing the cost of carbon capture down to make it a more viable solution to reduce GHGS and generate electricity.”
In theory, the fuel cell would both capture CO2 and create electricity at the same by pushing a combination of flue gas, natural gas and oxygen through a membrane into a solid-state fuel cell. The process would condense the CO2, capturing the carbon and creating an electric current.
In practice, many researchers in Alberta have been waiting to see the technology in action for years. The molten carbonate fuel cell is not new but will finally get a chance to work in a commercial setting.
In 2014, scientists from Alberta Innovates, as well as multiple consulting companies and oilsands producers Suncor Energy Inc., Cenovus Energy Inc., Shell Canada Ltd. and MEG Energy Corp. authored a study published in the International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control that found the cost to capture carbon with a molten carbonate fuel cell is “about 30 per cent of the cost of amine-based” carbon capture processes.
The $1.5-billion Boundary Dam CCS project at a Saskpower coal-fired power plant near Estevan, Sask. uses amine, a derivative of ammonia, in its scheme to capture CO2. The same aminebased process is used at the $1.35-billion Quest CCS project in Alberta, which was built by Shell Canada but is now owned by Canadian Natural.
The 2014 study found that 90 per cent of the emissions from a 33,000-barrels-perday steam-based oilsands facility could be captured by a 76 MW molten carbonate fuel cell.
Many researchers had hoped to see the technology in action in Alberta in 2016 but the installation, then led by Shell Canada, lost momentum at the time, said John Zhou, vice-president, clean resources at Alberta Innovates, a provincial agency that provides grants and supports to technology research and development in the province.
“Everything was ready to go,” Zhou said, adding that he’s encouraged to see the technology being deployed now.
Canadian Natural purchased Shell Canada’s oilsands assets in a major deal for $12.7 billion in 2017 that included the Scotford Upgrader and connected Quest CCS project. Since the deal, the company has completed work on the Sturgeon Refinery, which is also equipped with a CCUS unit and installed a carbon sequestration scheme at its Horizon oilsands project.
The installations make Canadian Natural the largest operator of CCUS technology in the Canadian energy industry. The molten carbonate fuel cell, if it is deployed on a larger scale, could further expand the company’s lead in the area though experts want to see the technology work in the field. “At this stage, lack of long term stability (gradual power loss over time) and cost are the two main impediments to commercialization,” University of Alberta engineering professor Thomas Estell said in an email. “Molten carbonate fuel cells as well as phosphoric acid cells have had the most success in power plants (in both cases with considerable government subsidies)."