Professors from the University of Waterloo and Strathclyde University in Scotland are collaborating on a project that advances research for global impact through an international, multidisciplinary project that addresses the important challenge of decarbonizing the steel industry.
The joint project is titled “The Role of Hydrogen in Decarbonizing the Steel Industry: Upstream and Downstream Opportunities in Scotland and Ontario.” Decarbonization is a global priority and hydrogen is garnering more attention as a means of decarbonizing industries that have relied on fossil fuels. The project requires an interdisciplinary approach between engineering and management science.
The leads from both Universities, Professor Eric Croiset from University of Waterloo Chemical Engineering Department and Professor John Quigley in Management Science at the University of Strathclyde began collaborating in 2018. One of Professor Quigley's Ph.D. students was awarded a research studentship at the University of Waterloo. The student had a background in economics and was seeking to gain technical knowledge of carbon capture and storage (CCS). He worked closely with Professor Croiset and Professor Peter Douglas who plays a key role in this project.
Repurpose existing infrastructure
One of the aims of the project is to better understand the barriers and enablers to the industry’s adoption of this technology. One of the main benefits of the proposed system is that it allows the repurposing of existing infrastructure. Data will be gathered on existing industrial processes and assess adaptation requirements to implement a hydrogen solution.
Developing talent for a complex future
As part of the initiative, two research students will work on the project and will visit each other’s campuses for a month during which they will visit industrial sites. This aspect of the project connects directly to University of Waterloo’s Strategic Plan which includes developing talent for a complex future, through providing students with an international research experience/ experiential learning opportunity, including visits to international collaborators and industrial sites.
Advancing research for global impact
The project also embraces another of the themes of University of Waterloo’s Strategic Plan, advancing research for global impact, through an international and multidisciplinary project that addresses the critical challenge of decarbonizing the steel industry, a major industry in Ontario.
The project aims to expand and deepen the collaboration between the two universities. According to Professor Croiset,
The two universities plan to create a workshop dedicated to the barriers and enablers of the adoption of hydrogen in the steel industry as a means to decarbonize their operations.
The proposed research intends to develop advanced knowledge, from technical and economic points of view, in the use of hydrogen toward decarbonizing the steel industry, with specifics to Ontario and Scotland. In keeping with the University of Waterloo’s Strategic Plan, the Department of Chemical Engineering continues to forge international partnerships and industry alliances!