Daily basis used plastics cause a huge amount of waste having an enormous impact on the environment and living species at the end-of-life of plastics disposal. In fact, around 300 million tons of plastic are produced annually in the world and only small percentage, less than 9% according to UNEP, of this plastic is recycled, 12% is incinerated and the 79% left generates big contamination problems. There are already different ways, not all of them economically viable, to valorize plastic waste (PW) e.g., chemical recycling to feedstocks and energy. The smart management and valorization of PW generated is a major challenge to be addressed by the scientific community. Furthermore, the decarbonization of all sectors of activity becomes of paramount importance and hydrogen is set to play a key role in decarbonizing hard-to-electrify sectors, as well as represent a zero-carbon feedstock for chemicals and fuel production. But for H2 to play the desired role in the energy transition, the scientific community must face the big challenge of decarbonizing H2 production at a competitive cost. Consequently, WASTE2H2 is proposing a novel method where innovative Ionic Liquid-based catalytic systems are combined with microwave (MW) irradiation to selectively produce highly pure clean H2 and valuable decarbonized chemicals (solid carbon) from PW, addressing simultaneously PW remediation and global climate change mitigation. WASTE2H2 add to novelty significant breakthroughs vs. other routes for PW management and H2 production: i) plastic waste deconstruction by single-step method powered by renewable electricity and working under mild conditions; ii) fast production of highly pure H2; iii) valuable solid carbon production as sole decarbonized co-product, with easy recovery for its commercialization; iv) expected long lifespan of catalytic system, easy recovery and reuse; v) reducing significantly the energy consumption due to MWs; and vi) high potential to reduce H2 production cost.

The main objective of this project is to develop a Deployable Thermal Radiator (DPR) based on Loop Heat Pipes Qualification Model. This includes the design, manufacturing and flight qualification testing to achieve a Technological Readiness Level (TRL) 8. The increasing demand of power rejection in current and future satellites requires the development of deployable radiator panels which can be stowed for launch and then deployed once the satellite is on its orbit. The development of such device implies several technical challenges: to transport efficiently the heat from the heat sources to the radiator, to increase the radiator area for rejecting higher powers but keeping a lightweight solution, and to accommodate a mechanism compliant with the functional requirements and the platform interfaces. Moreover, the DPR will be developed to guarantee modularity and scalability to be used in applications other than telecom such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) missions, and in several platforms including full electric. The proposed design provides a solution flexible enough to adapt this technology to different heat transport systems such as Loop Heat Pipes and Mechanical Pumped Loops. To reach this goal, two specifications at system level will be issued for telecommunications and LEO applications. Considering these requirements, a DPR based on Loop Heat Pipes will be developed including a deployment mechanism which can cope with the functional needs. Several models will be manufactured. Two small scale models (one for telecom applications and the other one adapted to LEO specification) to demonstrate the fulfilment of the thermal performance and the scalability and adaptability of the design, and one DPR Qualification Model (QM). A complete flight qualification will be performed on this QM including mechanical and thermal testing at component and DPR levels. Therefore, the proposed project allows increasing the TRL of DPR, providing to the users a product fully qualified.