Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHC), consisting on a reversible transformation catalytically activated of a pair of stable liquid organic molecules integrated on hydrogenation/dehydrogenation cycles, are attractive due to their ability to store safely large amounts of hydrogen (up to 7 %wt or 2.300 KWh/ton) during long time and release pure hydrogen on demand. Proof of concept and some commercial solutions exist but still suffer from high cost and energy needed to facilitate catalytic reactions. In order to reduce the system cost for LOHC technology to 3 €/Kg for large scale applications SherLOHCk project targets joint developments consisting on :i) highly active and selective catalyst with partial/total substitution of PGM and thermo-conductive catalyst support to reduce the energy intensity during loading/unloading processes: ii) novel catalytic system architecture ranging from the catalyst to the heat exchanger to minimize the internal heat loss and to increase space-time-yield and iii) novel catalyst testing, system validation and demonstration in demo unit (>10 kW, >200h); to drastically improve their technical performances and energy storage efficiency of LOHCs: A combination of challenges for the catalyst material, catalyst system and their related energy storage capabilities will constitute the core of a catalyst system for LOHC, that will be validated first at a lab scale, then in a demo unit > 10kW. As a whole they will enable the reduction of Energy intensity during loading/unloading processes, a higher efficiency and increased lifetime. Technological, economical and societal bottlenecks are considered to determine the economic viability, balance of energy and the environmental footprint of novel catalyst synthesis route. Scale-up of the obtained solutions will be carried out together with technology comparison with other hydrogen logistic concepts based on LCA and TCO considerations to finally improve economic viability of the LOHC technology.

The CHANNEL proposal brings together world-leading and highly experienced industrial and research partners with AEM electrolyser expertise to address the topic New Anion Exchange electrolyser - FCH-02-4-2019. The main objective of CHANNEL is to develop a low cost and efficient electrolyser stack and balance of plant (BoP) that will become a game-changer for the electrolyser industry. The concept is to construct an AEM electrolyser unite using low cost materials, using state-of-the-art anion exchange membranes and ionomers, non-PGM electrocatalysts, as well as low-cost porous transport layers, current collectors and bi-polar plates. This will enable the development of an electrolyser technology at a capital cost (CAPEX) equal or below classical alkaline electrolysis. However, in contrast to the alkaline technology, the CHANNEL AEM electrolyser will have an efficiency and current density operation close to the one of proton exchange membrane electrolyser (PEMWE). The CHANNEL stack will not only result in decreased electrolyser part count, but it will also be able to operate at differential pressure, as well as under dynamic operation, optimal for producing high quality, low cost hydrogen from renewable energy sources.