Hydrogen Leader City Project

～Demonstration of hydrogen generation from sewage biogas source～

Abstract

A on-site hydrogen refueling station (HRS) with the capacity of 300 kg (3,300 Nm3) H2 production per day for fuel cell vehicle (FCV) was installed in a wastewater treatment plant (WTP) in Fukuoka city, Japan and operated around one year. The hydrogen was produced by the steam reforming of methane in biogas which generated from anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge. Membrane separation of methane from biogas and PSA separation for purifying the reformed gas were also implemented. Despite of the fluctuation of biogas quality including the methane concentration, the hydrogen quality is satisfied with ISO 14687-2 standard. The impurities in biogas such as siloxane and high boiling point hydrocarbons were removed by activated carbon and no significant damage was observed. This is the world first report of long continuous operation result of on-site HRS from biogas.