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BIOROBUR: 

“Biogas robust reforming with combined catalytic ATR and trap units”

OBJECTIVE

The BioRobur project developed a robust and efficient biogas reformer aimed at covering a wide span of potential applications, from fuel cells feed (both high temperature SOFC or MCFC fuel cells and low temperature PEM ones, requiring a significantly lower inlet CO concentration) up to the production of pure, PEM-grade hydrogen. The nominal production rate of pure hydrogen of the BioRobur fuel processor is 50 Nm3/h with an overall efficiency of the conversion of biogas to green hydrogen of 65%.
There is an increasing amount of biogas streams within Europe. The conversion of this continuously available feedstock can produce a steady amount of renewable hydrogen. The production of H2 from renewable sources, such as biogas, helps to largely reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Within this context, the integration of biogas reforming processes and the activation of fuel cell using H2 represent an important route for generating clean energy, with added high-energy efficiency.
Biogas is a gas mixture composed mainly by methane and carbon dioxide. Biogas can be used directly as a combustible; however, the problem of using biogas for energy is its low heating value. The problem of removal of CO2 from biogas mixture requires expensive capital and lowers the efficiency of the process. The direct reforming of biogas will reduce the costs and increase the well-to-wheel efficiency of producing renewable hydrogen.
Catalytic reforming to hydrogen production is an option that has the potential to fully utilize the energy contained in the biogas. The current available catalysts and reactor systems degrade rapidly in time due to carbon formation on the catalyst and reactor and heat exchanger walls.

Overall project objectives / Scope of Work

The main scope of work comprises research and technological development activities on materials, catalysts and processes for chemical conversion, as well as their integration and prototyping in an efficient, thermally optimized system.
The project is focus on hydrogen production by direct biogas reforming (not from purified biomethane), with no preliminary CO2 separation, aimed at covering a wide span of potential applications, from fuel cells feed (both high temperature SOFC or MCFC fuel cells and low temperature PEM ones, requiring a significantly lower inlet CO concentration) up to the production of pure, PEM-grade hydrogen. To reform this gas stream identifying suitable catalytic systems is needed, so to that over time lower susceptibility to degradation due to carbonaceous material fouling or sulphur poisoning is achieved.
The overall originality of the project is the use of structured catalyst for the ATR reaction, which is based on high thermal conductivity cellular materials to disperse the heat axially in the reactor, and the adoption of a novel approach to retain particulate matter emissions in a catalytic wall-flow trap based on transition metal catalysts, downstream from a biogas ATR, which could entail effective filtration and gasification of soot particles eventually generated in the inlet part of the reformer during steady or transient operation, or due to the decomposition of traces of incomplete reforming products. 

AGENDA

14th June 2016 - Palacio de Congresos