DEEE0011338

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE) will lead a consortium that includes industry leading fuel cell/electrolyzer/catalyst/ionomer/analysis industry partners, national laboratories, and universities.

The effort will develop technology relevant to circular recycling for the H2 economy (H2CIRC) to address end-of-life (EOL) and critical supply chain challenges for low temperature proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells and electrolyzers (FC/EL) with the goal of sustainably recovering and recycling catalysts, membranes, ionomers, carbon, and other components as depicted in Figure A.1, with the recovery goals listed in Table A.1.

The recovery of these materials is critical, and it must be performed in a manner that limits greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and other harmful pollutants; otherwise, the benefits of the H2 economy will be significantly diminished.

Additionally, while developing the technology critical for PEM FC/EL recyclability, the consortium will integrate key overarching efforts in diversity/inclusion, workforce development/training, techno-economic analysis (TEA), and life-cycle analysis (LCA), as highlighted in the outer ring of Figure A.1.

H2CIRC brings together a strong team of experts from industry, national labs, and academia with deep technical experience in low-temperature PEM FC/ELs.

There are a total of 16 members, including 8 industrial partners, 4 universities, 3 national labs, and one non-profit.

The breadth and expertise of these partners enables membership to span the entire value chain of PEM FC/ELs, business size (including small/medium-sized enterprises, SMEs), and geographic locations.

The collaborative strengths of the team and the knowledge of the critical material needs/qualities will allow the H2CIRC consortium to drive the development of circular recycling to address EOL and supply challenges with the goal to sustainably recover and recycle catalysts, ionomers, and other components for second use or remanufacture.

Additionally, community outreach is important to the success of the program as it will help to attract and develop/educate a workforce and inform the public as to its importance.

The consortium recovery and reuse goals for each MEA component are 95% for IR, 99% for PT, 75% for the ionomer, and 70% for carbon.

To achieve these goals, the consortium will pursue four independent MEA recycle pathways that will minimize risk, develop robust recycling options, and allow the members to develop their own IP.

Critically, the recycling pathways aim to develop a process that maintains the high levels of recovery of the metals, but also allows the ionomer to be recycled/re-used with carbon recovery goals being tertiary.

To be industrially relevant, the methods developed within the recycle stream must be scalable such that the speed of recycling can occur at rates commensurate with manufacturing.

To achieve this rate, it is necessary to also develop a disassembly process that is expedient, and consequently, a robotic/automated disassembly approach will be pursued that will be broadly useful across industry.

Finally, the consortium aims to minimize GHG emissions by investigating green pathways, and thus TEA and LCA will be deployed throughout.

This effort is not an infrastructure project.

American Institute Of Chemical Engineers

ACHIEVING NET-ZERO EMISSIONS ECONOMY-WIDE BY 2050 POSES PARTICULAR CHALLENGES FOR HARD-TO-DECARBONIZE SECTORS WHERE ELECTRIFICATION WITH CLEAN ELECTRICITY WILL BE TECHNICALLY OR ECONOMICALLY DIFFICULT. THESE SECTORS INCLUDE STEEL MANUFACTURING, MEDIUM- AND HEAVY-DUTY TRANSPORTATION, AND PRODUCTION OF CHEMICALS AND LIQUID FUELS. HYDROGEN AND FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGIES ARE PART OF A COMPREHENSIVE PORTFOLIO OF SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES, AND DOE’S H2@SCALE® VISION ILLUSTRATES THE PROMISING PATHWAYS FOR HYDROGEN TO ENABLE THE DECARBONIZATION OF MULTIPLE SECTORS. HYDROGEN IS A UNIQUE AND FLEXIBLE ENERGY CARRIER THAT CAN BE PRODUCED FROM A VARIETY OF CLEAN ENERGY RESOURCES, AND IT CAN COMPLEMENT EXISTING ELECTRICITY AND NATURAL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MULTIPLE END-USE APPLICATIONS. DOE RECENTLY PUBLISHED THE DRAFT DOE NATIONAL CLEAN HYDROGEN STRATEGY AND ROADMAP, WHICH WAS ALSO REQUIRED UNDER SECTION 40314 OF THE BIL, AS A NEW SECTION 814 OF EPACT 2005. THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS A TECHNOLOGICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE NATIONAL STRATEGY AND ROADMAP TO FACILITATE WIDESPREAD AND LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION, PROCESSING, DELIVERY, STORAGE, AND USE OF CLEAN HYDROGEN, IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE H2@SCALE® VISION. THE STRATEGY AND ROADMAP OUTLINES STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES TO PRODUCE 10 MILLION METRIC TONS (MMT) OF CLEAN HYDROGEN IN THE UNITED STATES ANNUALLY BY 2030, 20 MMT PER YEAR BY 2040, AND 50 MMT PER YEAR BY 2050. IT INCLUDES THREE KEY STRATEGIES: (1) TARGETING HIGH-IMPACT USES FOR CLEAN HYDROGEN, (2) FOCUSING ON REGIONAL NETWORKS, AND (3) REDUCING THE COST OF CLEAN HYDROGEN. THIS FOA, WHICH WILL BE FUNDED THROUGH APPROPRIATIONS MADE BY THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT, PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN THE THIRD STRATEGY—WITH AN EMPHASIS ON REDUCING THE LIFECYCLE COSTS OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, STORAGE, DELIVERY, AND USE OF CLEAN HYDROGEN.

81.087 - Renewable Energy Research and Development

Golden Field Office (GFO) [DOE - EERE]

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) [DOE]

New York Mills, New York United States

City-Wide

DE-FOA-0002922

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been shortened from 12/31/25 to 10/02/25.