Sometimes the best solution to a problem is both simple and obvious, at least in retrospect, like wheels on the bottom of a suitcase. Calgary-based startup Proton Technologies’ patented solution for producing ultra-low cost hydrogen, with a carbon footprint lower than green hydrogen produced by wind and solar power on a full-cycle basis, falls under this category.

The company’s ‘proton process’, using two established industrial technologies in a new way, extracts hydrogen from old oil and gas wells. “Someone’s abandoned liability becomes our hydrogen field,” Proton CEO Grant Strem tells Hydrogen Economist.

“Someone’s abandoned liability becomes our hydrogen field” Strem, Proton

Proton’s technology could “revolutionise hydrogen production,” according to Martin Tengler, a senior associate covering hydrogen at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), assuming it is proven at large scale for a wide range of mature oil and gas reservoirs and the process is truly zero-carbon.

Proton process

The “seed of the idea” for Proton’s hydrogen production technology, according to Strem, was provided by a large number of attempts to oxidise oil in place since the early 1980s, with the goal of heating up ultra viscous and heavy crude, such as oil sands, to make it easier to pump to the surface. Although these so-called fire floods failed to be an economic method for producing bitumen and other extra-heavy crude, they did produce substantial amounts of ‘free’ hydrogen.

In simplest terms, Proton’s two-step process involves: heating the reservoir to create free hydrogen with ‘Oxinjection’ wells and combustion; and harvesting the hydrogen with ‘Hygeneration’ wells. Proton’s patented membrane, the ‘Hygenerator’, is an adaptation of hydrogen-selective filters used in steam-methane reformers for many decades. The company has filed patents for this technology, and the proton process overall, in roughly 110 countries.

State of play

Proton performed the first field tests on its hydrogen production technology at a decommissioned oil well near Kerrobert in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in 2019, proving the core elements of the proton process. In February, following a Covid-related hiatus, the privately owned company restarted hydrogen production at the facility to perform additional testing on its patented membrane filter—the only component it is planning to manufacture itself, due to superior performance and lower cost relative to off-the-shelf palladium alloy filters.

Proton’s medium-term goal is to have a mid-size hydrogen plant producing 500t/d at its Saskatchewan site within the next two-to-three years, with the timeline primarily dependent on acquiring the necessary funding.

“All major technical impediments have been dealt with,” says Strem. “And with almost all technologies and materials needed for the plant being purchased from huge vendors, much of the downhole infrastructure already in place and the resource basically free, we are confident we will be producing hydrogen at less than 30 cents American per kilogram once the plant is up and running.”

110 – Countries in which Proton has filed patents

For the sake of comparison, the cost of producing grey hydrogen using steam-methane reforming tends to range between $1.50-3.00/kg, while costs for blue and green hydrogen are multiples higher than this range.

Proton has to build a market for the hydrogen it produces—it is simply incinerating it at present—and is targeting small-scale sales by autumn. Ultimately, once its mid-size plant is up and running, Strem says his company is planning to sell hydrogen to a wide range of buyers, including power companies, by undercutting the price of natural gas in Western Canada.

To date, Proton has sold licensing rights to its technology to companies in 11 countries. Rather surprisingly, the company has seen greatest interest from wind and solar producers in Canada and elsewhere, rather than oil companies, as they are looking for low-cost solutions to their intermittency problem.

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Author: Vincent Lauerman