EReTech proposes to develop and validate at TRL 6 a transformative electrically heated reactor, together with the tailored catalyst for steam methane reforming, using a 250 kW unit. Based on SYPOX technology the reactor hosts ceramic supported structured catalyst, electrically heated by internal direct contact resistive heating elements. This allows achieving an energy efficiency close to 95%, i.e., nearly twice the value typical for gas-fired heat boxes, and a reactor volume that is two orders-of-magnitude smaller. As designed, the 250 kW reactor integrated with all required peripherals in a reforming skid will be used to produce approximately 400 kg/day of 99.999% pure H2. This is equivalent to the size of a commercially relevant biogas reforming plant for the decentralized production of renewable H2. The targeted design will allow to increase the power via parallelization, while scale-up will be conceptually targeted for larger capacities (>20 MW electrical input). EReTech?s final goal is to offer solutions for the decentralized market and for the decarbonization of existing or new centralized reforming plants.

TERRA project aims to develop, from TRL 3 to 5, a tandem electrocatalytic reactor (TER) coupling an oxidation reaction to a reduction reaction, with thus the great potential advantage of i) saving resources and energy (needed to produce the oxidant and reductants for the two separate reactions), and ii) intensify the process (reduce the nr. of steps, coupling two synthesis processes and especially eliminating those to prepare the oxidation and reduction agents). The proposal address one of SPIRE Roadmap Key Actions “New ways of targeting energy input via electrochemical”. The TER unit may be used in a large field of applications, but will be developed for a specific relevant case: the synthesis of PEF (PolyEthylene Furanoate), a next generation plastic. TERRA project aims to make a step forward in this process by coupling the FDCA and MEG synthesis in a single novel TER reactor, with relevant process intensification. Between the elements of innovation of the approach are: i) operation at higher T,P than "conventional" electrochemical devices for chemical manufacturing, ii) use of noble-metal-free electrocatalysts, iii) use of novel 3D-type electrodes to increase productivity, iv) use of electrode with modulation of activity, v) possibility to utilize external bias (from unused electrical renewable energy) to enhance flexibility of operations. In addition to scale-up reactor and test under environmental relevant conditions (TRL 5), the approach in TERRA project is to address the critical elements to pass from lab-scale experimentation to industrial prototype with intensified productivity. These developments are critical for a wider use of electrochemical manufacturing in chemical and process industries.

CO2 from the flue gases of a rotary kiln in a cement industry (CO2: 25 vol%) will be used for the production of value-added chemicals (acid additives for cement formulations) and materials (CaCO3 nanoparticles to be used as concrete fillers). A circular-economy-approach is enabled: the CO2 produced by cement manufacturing is re-used in a significant part within the plant itself to produce better cement-related products entailing less energy intensity and related CO2 emissions by a quadratic effect. Ionic liquids (bare or amine-functionalised) will be the key technological playground for the efficient and cost-effective (20% accounting for direct and indirect means) and the good market potential of their products at a mass production scale. The first two years of the project will be focused on the development of key functional materials and process units at TRL 4-5, the third year on the assembly of single-process lines certified at TRL 5-6, and the fourth year on the assembly and testing at a cement manufacturing site (TITAN) of the TRL 6 integrated CO2 process.