Conversion of natural gas to hydrogen and compressed CO₂ using protonic membrane reformer technology — PROTONIC Phase II

Protonic Membrane Reformer (PMR) technology extract hydrogen from natural gas with superior energy efficiency and directly deliver by-product CO₂ as a concentrated stream that can easily be liquified for cost-effective transport storage.

The current project is a continuation of Climit project 618191 PROTONIC phase I, and the main objective of phase II was to further advance the technology readiness level by manufacturing and testing of a pilot.

Project activities focused on three work packages:
i) performance and lifetime testing of membrane modules;
ii) engineering, building and testing of pilot;
iii) multiphysics and techno-economic modelling and assessment of technology and manufacturing maturity.

Project results have confirmed high performance in terms of producing high purity hydrogen (>99.995% achieved) and pressurized CO₂ retentate ( > 90% at 40 bar) ready for direct liquification without need for a carbon capture step. Stack lifetime testing has reach 3 100 hours (and running) and two pilot installations (at 2 kg H2/day each) was installed at a research location (Sintef) and a major energy company.

Key computational models and techno-economic considerations, along with supporting laboratory test results, have been shared with the public domain through the paper «Single-step hydrogen production from NH3, CH4, and biogas in stacked proton ceramic reactors» published in Science April 2022. The Science publication has further been amplified by national and international media outlets, blog posts and social media.