Title:
Co-Production of Green, High Quality Hydrogen and Bio Sng Using Electrochemical Hydrogen Compression
Author(s):
Grootjes, A.J., Bouwman, P.J., Raymakers, L.F.J.M, Aranda Almansa, G., van der Meijden, C.M.
Document(s):
Paper
Slide presentation
Abstract:
Bio-SNG (Synthetic Natural Gas) is a gas containing mostly CH4, with properties similar to natural gas, which can be produced from thermochemical gasification of biomass coupled to subsequent methanation. Due to its interchangeability with natural gas, SNG can be injected into the existing grid and easily distributed for transport, heat, and electricity applications. SNG can also be efficiently converted in a number of proven end-use technologies. Recently, ECN has developed and patented a novel technology for the methanation of gas from biomass gasification. The ECN System for MEthanation (ESME) allows the efficient conversion of producer gas from biomass gasification to SNG because the hydrocarbons contained in the producer gas (e.g. benzene, toluene) are not removed but converted, and are thus potentially available to be converted to methane. In October 2014, the main parts of the system were successfully tested downstream atmospheric gasification in a 500-hour experiment. The results were an important step for the scale-up of bio-SNG production. Engineering of a 4 MWth bio-SNG pilot plant to be located in Alkmaar (the Netherlands) is currently underway. One of the main challenges for bio-SNG is to reduce the production cost in order to come closer to the price level of natural gas. A smart approach to achieve this goal is the co-production of fuels and chemicals. In this work, co-production of bio-SNG and hydrogen has been evaluated due to the promising market prospects for renewable hydrogen in fuel-cell (automotive/stationary) applications as well hydrogen for (glass, steel, petrochemical) industry. The recovery of hydrogen from biomass gasification producer gas is an attractive option for the production of renewable hydrogen from biomass. For this, novel technologies for the separation of hydrogen from producer gas are required. The Electrochemical Hydrogen Compression (EHC) technology developed by HyET can selectively extract high-purity (> 99.9%), high-pressure (> 20 MPa), fuel-cell grade hydrogen from producer gas. The integration of ECN and HyET technology leads to a reduction of the bio-SNG yield, but with similar or higher overall energy efficiency and higher total value of the products, thus lowering the overall cost of bio-SNG production. Within the ‘PurifHy’ project, the concept of co-production of hydrogen from SNG combining the ESME bio-SNG process and the EHC technology has been proven at lab scale. This paper shows the main results obtained within the project and includes an economic outlook for a full scale application.
Keywords:
biomass gasification, hydrogen, synthetic natural gas (SNG), MILENA, ESME, HyET, co-production, electrochemical hydrogen compression
Topic:
Industry Sessions
Subtopic:
Biochemical Conversion
Event:
24th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
Session:
ICO.12.3
Pages:
1709 - 1714
ISBN:
978-88-89407-165
Paper DOI:
10.5071/24thEUBCE2016-ICO.12.3
Price:
FREE
