We recently submitted our final report to Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) for a CAD$14M project focused on scaling and upgrading Ekona’s Burnaby-based pilot plant to support ongoing development of the company’s reactor technologies, enhanced system integration, and the process optimization necessary for extended operational testing. The project, which was supported with funding from NRCan and from Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN), Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), and NorthX Climate Tech (formerly known as the BC Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy, or CICE), also evaluated the suitability of Ekona’s solution for natural gas pipeline injection and onsite natural gas decarbonization for industrial heat and power applications.
As part of the project, we designed, built, and tested our xCaliber reactor to a pilot-scale of 200 kilograms per day, demonstrating good yields for hydrogen and solid carbon production. We also expanded our Burnaby Pilot facility for process development and testing, integrating industry standard BOP equipment for carbon handling, hydrogen purification, compression, heating, process monitoring, and controls. And we demonstrated technology readiness to TRL 7.
The project has helped us understand the development pathway for the next generation reactor to hit commercial targets. Work on this next generation reactor – with the goal of delivering increased capacity, higher efficiency, and commercial-grade carbon black – is already underway.
Through the project, we’ve also developed a deeper understanding of critical integration considerations, which are now informing development of a packaged approach for field deployments to enable us to showcase our technology in the field with more customers. We’ve also been able to advance supply chain engagement, risk mitigation, and our go-to-market strategy development, while strengthening cross-functional alignment internally, between engineering, operations, and our commercialization teams, to ensure scale-up readiness.
Read more in our downloadable project report here.
