Levidian and United Utilities have unveiled plans to use sewage biogas as a sustainable feed source for graphene and hydrogen production.
In a first for the UK’s water industry, Levidian’s LOOP technology will be used to decarbonise biogas created through the wastewater treatment process at United Utilities’ Manchester Bioresources Centre. This will then be used to produce hydrogen and graphene. Following a successful feasibility study, this will mark the first demonstration of Levidian’s LOOP100 system, with £3mn backing from the government’s Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme competition.
Levidian and United Utilities are expecting this to deliver more than 1,000 hours of in-situ testing. This should verify the production of separated hydrogen and graphene. The LOOP100 system is capable of processing around 15m3 of biogas each hour. The ambition that this demonstration will pave the way to larger installations, helping United Utilities to sustainably produce hydrogen from biogas.
Liverpool John Moores University will explore the potential usage of hydrogen within the Liverpool City Region as part of the project, while Jacobs will be tasked with providing expertise in the carbon lifecycle assessment, social value analysis and commercialisation.
