The key objective of the HyGrid project is the design, scale-up and demonstration at industrially relevant conditions a novel membrane based hybrid technology for the direct separation of hydrogen from natural gas grids. The focus of the project will be on the hydrogen separation through a combination of membranes, electrochemical separation and temperature swing adsorption to be able to decrease the total cost of hydrogen recovery. The project targets a pure hydrogen separation system with power and cost of < 5 kWh/kgH2 and < 1.5 €/kgH2. A pilot designed for 25 kg/day of hydrogen will be built and tested. To achieve this, HyGrid aims at developing novel hybrid system integrating three technologies for hydrogen purification integrated in a way that enhances the strengths of each of them: Membrane separation technology is employed for removing H2 from the “low H2 content” (e.g. 2-10 %) followed by electrochemical hydrogen separation (EHP ) optimal for the “very low H2 content” (e.g. <2 %) and finally temperature swing adsorption (TSA) technology to purify from humidity produced in both systems upstream. The objective is to give a robust proof of concept and validation of the new technology (TRL 5) by designing, building, operating and validating a prototype system tested at industrial relevant conditions for a continuous and transient loads. To keep the high NG grid storage capacity for H2, the separation system will target the highest hydrogen recovery. The project will describe and evaluate the system performance for the different pressure ranges within 0.03 to 80 bar (distribution to transmission) and test the concept at pilot scale in the 6-10 bar range. HyGrid will evaluate hydrogen quality production according to ISO 14687 in line not only with fuel cell vehicles (Type I Grade D) but also stationary applications (Type I Grade A) and hydrogen fueled ICE (Type I grade E category 3). A complete energy and cost analysis will be carried out in detail.

To achieve European ambitions to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases by 80% before 2050, emissions of the transport and the energy sectors will need to decrease drastically. The Hydrogen Economy offers ready solutions to decarbonize the transport sector. Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) close to be deployed in the market in increasing numbers. For FCEVs to be introduced to the market in volumes, a network of hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) first has to exist. Green hydrogen is figured, in the medium – long term, as the target technology to decarbonize the transport sector. Indeed, this will not be commercially attractive in the first years. Similarly, new-built hydrogen supply capacity will not be viable in the first years with low demand. CH2P aims at building a transition technology for early infrastructure deployment. It uses widely available carbon-lean natural gas (NG) or bio-methane to produce hydrogen and power with Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology. Similar to a combined heat and power system, the high quality heat from the fuel cell is used to generate hydrogen. CH2P therefore generates hydrogen and electricity with high efficiencies (up to 90%) and a reduced environmental impact compared to conventional technologies. The system will have high dynamic (more than 50% of energy will be in form of hydrogen), purity level of hydrogen at 99.999%, a CO-level lower than 200 ppb. The target cost for the hydrogen generated will be below 4,5 €/kg. The overall technology concept will be based on modularity to enable a staged deployment of such infrastructure. CH2P will realize two systems, one with hydrogen generation capacity of 20 kg/day, for components validation, and another at 40 kg/day for infield testing. A dissemination campaign will use the project results to demonstrate the technical readiness of CH2P technology, while industrial partners are committed to enter the market after the project end.

Liquid hydrocarbon fuels are ideal energy carriers for the transportation sector due to their exceptionally high energy density and most convenient handling, without requiring changes in the existing global infrastructure. Currently, virtually all renewable hydrocarbon fuels originate from biomass. Their feasibility to meet the global fuel demand and their environmental impact are controversial. In contrast, SUN-to-LIQUID has the potential to cover future fuel consumption as it establishes a radically different non-biomass non-fossil path to synthesize renewable liquid hydrocarbon fuels from abundant feedstocks of H2O, CO2 and solar energy. Concentrated solar radiation drives a thermochemical redox cycle, which inherently operates at high temperatures and utilizes the full solar spectrum. Thereby, it provides a thermodynamically favourable path to solar fuel production with high energy conversion efficiency and, consequently, economic competitiveness. Recently, the first-ever production of solar jet fuel has been experimentally demonstrated at laboratory scale using a solar reactor containing a ceria-based reticulated porous structure undergoing the redox cyclic process. SUN-to-LIQUID aims at advancing this solar fuel technology from the laboratory to the next field phase: expected key innovations include an advanced high-flux ultra-modular solar heliostat field, a 50 kW solar reactor, and optimized redox materials to produce synthesis gas that is subsequently processed to liquid hydrocarbon fuels. The complete integrated fuel production chain will be experimentally validated at a pre-commercial scale and with record high energy conversion efficiency. The ambition of SUN-to-LIQUID is to advance solar fuels well beyond the state of the art and to guide the further scale-up towards a reliable basis for competitive industrial exploitation. Large-scale solar fuel production is expected to have a major impact on a sustainable future transportation sector.

The key objective of the MEMERE project is the design, scale-up and validation of a novel membrane reactor for the direct conversion of methane into C2H4 with integrated air separation. The focus of the project will be on the air separation through novel MIEC membranes integrated within a reactor operated at high temperature for OCM allowing integration of different process steps in a single multifunctional unit and achieving much higher yields compared with conventional reactor . To achieve this MEMERE aims at developing novel, cheap yet more resistant oxygen selective membranes (target costs 30%) as compared to currently available techniques contributing to the implementation of the Roadmap and Implementation Plan for process intensification of the SET-Plan. Additionally, as air integration is integrated in an efficient way in the reactor, the MEMERE technology can be used a small scales to convert methane produced in remote areas where conventional technologies cannot be exploited.

EReTech proposes to develop and validate at TRL 6 a transformative electrically heated reactor, together with the tailored catalyst for steam methane reforming, using a 250 kW unit. Based on SYPOX technology the reactor hosts ceramic supported structured catalyst, electrically heated by internal direct contact resistive heating elements. This allows achieving an energy efficiency close to 95%, i.e., nearly twice the value typical for gas-fired heat boxes, and a reactor volume that is two orders-of-magnitude smaller. As designed, the 250 kW reactor integrated with all required peripherals in a reforming skid will be used to produce approximately 400 kg/day of 99.999% pure H2. This is equivalent to the size of a commercially relevant biogas reforming plant for the decentralized production of renewable H2. The targeted design will allow to increase the power via parallelization, while scale-up will be conceptually targeted for larger capacities (>20 MW electrical input). EReTech?s final goal is to offer solutions for the decentralized market and for the decarbonization of existing or new centralized reforming plants.