Metacon AB’s Greek subsidiary, Metacon SA, has secured EUR 188,018 (USD 210,138) in European Union funding to produce high-purity hydrogen from biogas.
Metacon SA is taking part in the 36-month PUREHY2+ project. The team is developing an integrated system that lets biogas producers add hydrogen production to existing operations. It would also capture carbon dioxide on site. The target is fuel cell-grade hydrogen with a purity above 99.97%.
The consortium will study two production routes. One is biomethane reforming. The other is dark fermentation using cyanobacteria. Hybrid membrane and sorbent systems will purify the gas streams and capture the carbon dioxide.
Metacon is working with research centres NCSR Demokritos and CERTH/CPERI. Biogas producer Biogas Lagkada is also a partner.
The project builds on an earlier effort, PUREHY. The same partners developed and tested Greece’s first semi-pilot unit for on-site hydrogen production and purification from biogas. The unit is installed at Biogas Lagkada. It reforms biogas into 1 normal cubic metre of hydrogen per hour, at a purity above 99%.
Metacon says thousands of European sites already make biogas from organic waste. Upgrading that gas to hydrogen could give operators an extra product.
The work also tests how Metacon’s reforming technology fits within existing biogas infrastructure. That could offer a route to distributed renewable hydrogen that does not depend solely on new, electricity-intensive capacity.
Christer Wikner, Metacon’s president and CEO, said biogas plants already have renewable feedstock and established infrastructure. He sees great potential in using those assets for high-purity green hydrogen and on-site carbon dioxide capture.
