Hydrogen from Food Waste Feasibility Study

Motivation: 

Goal7 partnered with a university research team to assess the commercial-scale feasibility of a process developed by the research team that converts food waste into hydrogen, using novel anaerobic digestion and catalyst-based plasma reforming technology as key processing stages. Goal7's role was to provide technical consideration, costs and opportunities to scale up whilst the research team focused on plasma reforming optimisation and catalyst development.

Our Approach: 

Goal7 assessed the techno-economic feasibility of a process plant based on the research team’s solution. Key steps in the assessment included:

• Engaging with relevant industry OEMs to understand key scale-up considerations of anaerobic digestion, plasma technology and catalytic processes
• Conducting process design and simulation of the proposed system to produce a high-level process flow diagram
• Providing a summary of key operational considerations including process equipment, power and heat requirements
• Conducting a high-level screening exercise of power supply options considering renewable energy integration options
• Establishing project costs
• Calculating a levelised cost of hydrogen to compare process with conventional green hydrogen production methods, applying sensitivities based on process catalysts used
• Identifying technical, economic and regulatory risks
• Identifying challenges and opportunities to improving process scale-up potential

Benefit and Impact: 

• Contributed to progressing an innovative hydrogen production system that promotes the development of the circular economy
• Informed the university research team of key process considerations for the catalysts they are investigating
• Contributed to addressing knowledge gaps in the commercialisation ambitions of the university research team

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