Read Professor Keith Riley’s Article - The two-fold approach to helping the Environment

Hydrogen Utopia International Plc (HUI) is a newly formed British company with its roots firmly in Poland. HUI’s fundamental precept is a belief in the transformative power ofengineering and technology which it is using to address two of the major challenges in the world today – pollution and climate change.

Through its Polish daughter company, Hydropolis, HUI is planning to construct facilities in Poland and across Europethat will convert waste plastic into hydrogen which can then be used to power transport vehicles, feed fuel cells and replace fossil fuels in power applications. The company’svision is to accelerate the development of a circular and net zero carbon economy in Europe and contribute to achieving the European Union’s 2030 and 2050 environmental goals. Its strategy for achieving this lies in an innovative technology whose roots are thousands of years old – pyrolysis.

Pyrolysis is a well-known technology that consists of heating of a substance in the absence of oxygen to a temperature above its decomposition temperature. As there is no oxygen, the substance cannot oxidise, so the molecular structure breaks down to form a gas known as syngas. The syngas comprises mostly of methane, hydrogen and carbon monoxide with some oils, tars and a solid residue produced, depending on the process conditions. HUI takes this technology and uses it in a way that is innovative in the true sense of the word.

This innovation also has a true international flavour. HUI is working with Powerhouse Energy Group plc from the UK, Electron Thermal Processing Equipment BV from the Netherlands and Linde Engineering from Germany to perfect the application and put it into operation initially at Konin in Central Poland, on which HUI is also working with the international consultancy, Sweco. An environmental assessment of the project has already been submitted to the authorities and whilst awaiting its approval, the team is carrying out the engineering of the plant and equipment required. Once all the permits are in place, site clearance and construction will commence – expected to be during 2023.

Thermal decomposition of plastics commonly found in post-consumer waste, such as polyethylene and polypropylene,produces a mixture of different hydrocarbons that can be used as a pre-cursor for producing hydrogen. Plastics will pyrolysewithin a temperature range between 350 – 900°C, with most polymers yielding a hydrogen rich syngas at between 450 and 600 °C, provided the process is carefully controlled.   The hydrogen content can then be supplemented by steam reforming of the gas to supplement the hydrogen content. Once reacted, the syngas is passed through a cleaning process where the [oils and] tars are removed and the hydrogen then extracted from the mixture and purified using pressure swing adsorption (PSA), a process commonly use in the gas industry. The hydrogen can then be compressed to whatever the local market demands.

HUI’s partners, Powerhouse Energy, conducted trials on various plastic polymers at their research facility on the campus of the University of Chester, identifying the process conditions that yielded the optimum hydrogen production. Through its collaboration with Powerhouse, HUI is applying this know-how to its own purpose-designed plant and working with its international partners to achieve it. A summary of the process is as follows:  

Shredding & Feeding - the waste plastic is shredded to give a consistent particle size. It is then fed into HUI’s nitrogen-sealed chemical conversion chamber for the low temperature pyrolysis.

Pyrolysis - the plastic feedstock is turned into a syngas and a carbon-rich char which can be extracted and recycled.

Gas Cleanup – the syngas is scrubbed and filtered. Controlcan be placed on the input feedstock to avoid formation of acid gases, so neutralisation can often be avoided.

Hydrogen extraction and compression - the clean gas is passed to the PSA, where the the hydrogen is extracted, reaching a purity of 99.999% if so required. It is then compressed to meet local requirements for the transportation of the gas.

Energy recovery and Heat Recycling - the tail gas remaining after hydrogen extraction still contains combustible gas that can either be exported or used within the plant itself. HUI uses residual heat recycling to minimise energy consumption. 

A HUI facility can be configured in various ways. It can be fired by the very syngas it produces; the syngas can be exported without the hydrogen extraction; or it can be injected into pipelines or used in other chemical processes. It can also be optimised to supply power and heat to local distribution networks. 

The Electron chemical conversion chamber currently under development can be configured to consume only renewable energy, but even when the tail gas is combusted within the facility, the carbon intensity of the process is negative compared to disposing of plastic by incineration. Whilst landfill will have a lower carbon intensity, it is not a good option for light materials such as plastics that can thenbecome wind-blown and polluting. 

The HUI system is modular and can be located on relatively small areas of land. It can, therefore, be sited close to the source of waste plastic or the hydrogen use. In this way, HUI foresees it becoming the normal way of dealing with plastics that are not currently recycled. This will help to enhance the proportion of material recycled and reduce the quantity of plastic being dumped, littering our countryside, and polluting the oceans. 

The hydrogen produced can fuel trucks and buses, and, indeed, most forms of transport. It will also provide energy, making whatever the use is carbon free. It therefore addresses both pollution of the environment and climate change mitigation. 

HUI’s vision of a two-fold approach to helping the environment is becoming a reality. One that is being realised thanks mainly to engineering and technical innovation.