EReTech Pilot 1 is the first step to allow biogas conversion into CO2-neutral hydrogen using the SYPOX reactor technology. The SYPOX reactor is an advancement of conventional fire-heated steam reformers, where the thermal energy is supplied not by fuel combustion but by integrated electrically heated elements in direct contact with the reacting gas mixture.
Testing the full-scale SYPOX biogas reforming reactor in real operating conditions is the main purpose of EReTech Pilot 1. With an input of biogas from agricultural waste, Pilot 1 produces synthesis gas, commonly known as “syngas”, a mixture composed mainly of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Within the duration of the project, a second full-scale plant, the EReTech Pilot 2, will be installed and used to test the whole hydrogen-producing process, including the syngas post-treatment to pure hydrogen.
The Pilot 1 plant is housed in a twelve-meter-long shipping container, with an electrical input to the SYPOX reforming reactor of 250 kilowatts.
Pilot 1 has been installed at the Biogas plant “Josef Kerner Energiewirtschafts-GmbH” in Dollnstein, Germany. In April 2024, the Dollnstein city council unanimously approved the operational run: this is set for 1500 hours over about two months. The test is solely for research purposes, assessing controllability and regulation for permanent operation.
As the produced syngas has not been used for other purposes at the moment, it is completely flared in a nine-meter-high enclosed chimney. There will be no noise or odour nuisance during the test run, and the combustion process will take place entirely within the chimney.
The EReTech Pilot 1 operations are led by TU Munich, with the technical components provided by SYPOX, which is also the contractor. Bayerngas handles the connections, outflows, and plant integration.
Pilot 2 is expected to replace Pilot 1 and start operation next year in June 2025, producing 400 kilograms of high-purity hydrogen per day, with an intended operational period of 4000 hours.
Pilot 1 and Pilot 2 are designed and built following ongoing laws and standards. Meanwhile, a Life Cycle Assessment and a Techno-Economic Analysis for the industrial replication of the hydrogen-producing plants are also under development.
Watch the interview with Gianluca Pauletto CEO of SYPOX and Angela Lotti Research Chemical Engineer at UNIPD and Visiting Researcher at SYPOX at Pilot 1 in Dollnstein!
