Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge awards $15.2M to cleantech solutions
by CM Staff
The five successful projects are based in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, and they are competing to produce carbon fibre from Alberta bitumen.
EDMONTON — Alberta Innovates and Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) are announcing the successful projects in Phase III of the Carbon Fibre Grand Challenge (CFGC). Over $15.2 million is being made available to five teams to refine and scale-up their carbon fibre production technologies.
One of the Phase III CFGC recipients is Edmonton-based Thread Innovations Inc. Dr. Weixing Chen and his team at Thread Innovations Inc. are looking at novel ways to convert bitumen from Alberta into high-value carbon fibre, using vacuum refinery residue-derived and asphaltenes-based precursors.
The five successful projects are based in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, and they are competing to produce carbon fibre from Alberta bitumen. They must demonstrate the ability to produce between 0.5 – 1 kilogram of carbon fibre per day using technology that will allow them to scale to more than 5,000 tonnes of carbon fibre per year by the early 2030s. As part of the competition, the commercial carbon fibre must cost 50 per cent less expensive than current carbon fibre products.
13 applications were received for Phase III of the carbon fibre grand challenge, launched earlier this year. The competition was open to technology developers, industry – including small, medium and large size enterprises, industry associations, research and development (R&D) organizations, post-secondary institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and government research labs. A team of experts was able to select the best projects to move forward. The successful candidates will have 36 months to complete their projects.
“Carbon Fibre is a significant opportunity for Alberta to diversify our economy. Accelerating innovation in this field is the first step to unlocking enormous value for the benefit of all Albertans,” said Nate Glubish, Minister of Technology and Innovation.
“Producing carbon fibre from Alberta bitumen creates opportunities for the energy industry. As we transition away from burning bitumen as a fuel, Alberta is well positioned to lead this next frontier. We’re proud to be a driving force behind this novel technology and we can’t wait to see what comes next,” said Laura Kilcrease, CEO, Alberta Innovates.
Successful Projects:
| Institution | Applicant | Project Title | Alberta Innovates Funding | Emissions Reduction Alberta Funding | Total | |||
| Carbomat | Md Golam Kibria | Process Development for Transforming Alberta’s Asphaltenes into High-value Carbon Fibers: Performance Improvement, Scale-Up, and Product Development | $ | 2,522,370 | $ | 1,279,630 | $ | 3,802,000 |
| Enlighten Innovations Inc | Michael Zenaitis | Carbon Fibre from Desulfurized Alberta Asphaltenes | $ | 1,053,000 | $ | 947,000 | $ | 2,000,000 |
| NORAM Engineering & Constructors Ltd. | James Lockhart | Low Temperature Stabilization and Bulk Processing Techniques for the Production of Lower-Cost Asphaltene Based Short Carbon Fibres | $ | 1,440,000 | $ | 0 | $ | 1,440,000 |
| Thread Innovations | Weixing Chen | Pre-Commercial Production of Carbon Fibre and Carbon Fibre Products Using Alberta Bitumen Vacuum Refinery Residue-Derived and Asphaltenes-Based Precursors | $ | 1,000,000 | $ | 3,000,000 | $ | 4,000,000 |
| University of British Columbia | Yasmine Abdin | Development of lower-cost high-value carbon fibres from Alberta bitumen derived feeds | $ | 2,600,000 | $ | 1,400,000 | $ | 4,000,000 |
| Total | $ | 8,615,370 | $ | 6,626,630 | $ | 15,242,000 | ||
