CO2-free, on-demand, on-site production of low-cost green hydrogen produced with micro-wave plasma

Project Information

South Beach

Grant agreement ID: 190188862

DOI

10.3030/190188862

Project closed

EC signature date 19 December 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 30 June 2025

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 5 435 545,00

EU contribution

€ 2 500 000,00

Coordinated by

SAKOWIN
France

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - South Beach (CO2-free, on-demand, on-site production of low-cost green hydrogen produced with micro-wave plasma)

Reporting period: 2024-08-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The South Beach technology, which was part of the project CO2-free, on-demand, on-site production of low-cost green hydrogen produced with microwave plasma, Acronym South Beach, funded by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) within call HORIZON-EIC-2022-ACCELERATOR-01 is based on the direct decomposition of CH4 (CH4 ➨C + 2 H2, 75 kJ/mol) found in natural gas and biomethane, using a microwave-assisted plasma at atmospheric pressure. The reaction products are hydrogen gas H2 (green from biomethane and turquoise from natural gas) and solid carbon, both of which have industrial added value.
South Beach implements efficient, sustainable, low-carbon production of H2 and solid carbon, significantly reducing CO2 emissions from industry, transport&mobility, oil&gas. At the same time it establishes a new value chain based on innovative production technology enabling green/turquoise H2 and solid carbon to be produced cost-effectively on site and on demand.
As social acceptance of alternative and circular industrial solutions is essential for a successful transition to the EU Green Deal, involving cultural and behavioural changes among customers, the SOUTH BEACH project takes a multidisciplinary approach encompassing technical innovation, testing, and market positioning. This approach helps to gain acceptance and trust from stakeholders, industry end-users, and citizens, helping them to visualise and experience the benefits of alternative H2–based fuels for the energy transition by integrating them into three value chains: industry, mobility and oil & gas. The uptake and impact of South Beach solutions will be evaluated beyond the EIC project by measuring industrial and customer needs via feedback from customers.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project’s main scientific and technical achievements are:
- Developed and tested novel 0D-1D and 2D plasma models including mixture of the CH4 and H2 with the main chemical reaction products and the principal chemical species, coupled with the electromagnetic field, the gas flow dynamics and reaction parameters evolution with temperature.
- Developed and built 6 kW, 2.45 GHz equipment for hands-on testing of the entire South Beach process and for measuring the microwave plasma parameters - information required for the scaling up to a 100 kW module, the technological building block of South Beach technology.
- Built an industrial-level test bed, including obtaining all permits for construction, safety measures and indoor and outdoor utilities, on which the Alpha prototype South Beach 100 kW was installed and tested. This is a complete industrial pilot consisting of a 100 kW plasma reactor, gas-solid filter and carbon recovery.
- The certification and complete documentation of the first 100 kW Beta Demonstrator for on-site, on-demand natural gas plasmalysis to produce H2 for use as a fuel gas in an industrial enamelling oven were obtained.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Over the course of the 33-month project, Sakowin collaborated with EU scientific and technical partners to overcome the main limitations to the scalability of microwave plasmalysis of CH₄. This involved microwave plasma and thermodynamics modelling, in situ plasma characterisation using optical emission spectroscopy, testing and analysis of the produced solid carbon and its potential applications, development and scale-up of microwave plasma and the process, risk analysis, certification and compliance with EU directives and Swiss regulations.
The main results of the project are:
- The development of a technology based on the decomposition (plasmalysis) of CH4 contained in natural gas or biomethane using an atmospheric microwave plasma. This represents an efficient alternative to current solutions for producing H2 such as CH4 steam reforming, water electrolysis and pyrolysis. It produces H2 on site and on demand, without CO2 emissions at a competitive cost, which is essential to meeting the imperative goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
- The first South Beach 100 kW Demonstrator was built and shipped to an industrial user who is going to test the on site and on demand H2 production for heating an industrial enamelling oven and to collect the solid carbon and use it in novel applications such as cement and construction.
- The equipment developed and manufactured thanks to the EIC project — the South Beach 6000 for industrial R&D and the South Beach 100 kW industrial prototype — is modular and therefore highly adaptable to different production needs.

The key enablers for the implementation of the South Beach beyond the EIC funding are classified in three categories:
• Technology factors related to the optimisation of the process based on the field trials .
• Economic factors related to finding adequate financial resources to facilitate the implementation of South Beach. Many of the co-benefits associated with South Beach can be realized only in the long-term, beyond the EIC funding of South Beach, and including additional exploration of economic opportunities in order to encourage private investment and the participation in the hydrogen trade, policy and regulatory actions.
• Environmental factors related to market positioning and gain of acceptance and trust from the stakeholders, therefore attracting future investments to implement the technology in other applications and to reach commercialization.

Shematics of 100KW SOUTH BEACH Data Demonstrator including Microwave-Plasma and the Gas-Solid Filter

SOUTH BEACH 6000 installed at EMPA in Switzerland

The South Beach 6000