Protonic membrane reformer technology for conversion of natural gas to hydrogen and CO₂

Protonic Membrane Reforming (PMR) is a single-step hydrogen production process from natural gas with integrated carbon capture.

PMR technology enables electrificatiPMR technology enables electrification of hydrogen production from natural gas and biogas, where the protonic electrochemical membrane makes it possible to simultaneously, as a single-step process, deliver a concentrated and pressurized CO₂ stream for transport to storage. The PMR process can operate with near-zero theoretical energy loss, and predicted practical efficiencies are above 90%. The objective of the project was to advance the technology readiness level (TRL) of this technology to a semi-integrated system (TRL5).

Project activities focused on there work packages: i) membrane fabrication development and manufacturing of PMR units through semi-automated production steps, ii) performance testing of PMR units under various natural gas testing conditions catered to centralized and distributed hydrogen production scenarios, and iii) computational models of PMR units and systems to help guide future development as well as to better understand techno-economic performance expectations under dynamic load.

Key outcomes include:
– Developed and demonstrated manufacturing route for fabrication of complete membrane stacks, a 36x scale-up compared to previous development stage of single-cell reactor manufacturing and testing.

– Performance testing of 10 reactor stacks under industrially relevant conditions for natural gas conversion to hydrogen with carbon capture.

– Computational results and models shared with six major global energy companies as industrial partners for planning of further industrialization efforts.

Evaluating the outcomes of the project, all industrial partners have agreed to continue the funding of a next phase that will further increase the technology readiness level of the technology through the deployment of a demonstrator at a partner industrial location, while also continuing the long-term testing at Sintef and building higher fidelity techno-economic models for larger scale investment decisions.