Xebec Adsorption, a provider of biogas upgrading, natural gas, field gas and hydrogen purification and filtration solutions for the clean energy and crude-derived fuels displacement markets, announced that it has commissioned the first biogas to renewable hydrogen purification system in Europe.
This system was started up on 17 January, 2014 by ex-French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg.
The system is part of a hydrogen pilot project executed by Xebec’s local partner company Verdemobil. The plant is located at the Trifyl landfill site in Tarn, France. Syndicat Trifyl is a large domestic waste treatment facility near Toulouse, France.
The biogas is first purified to renewable natural gas by a biogas upgrading plant which is utilizing Xebec’s advanced PSA technology to separate methane from CO2. After the biogas cleanup, the renewable gas is fed into a methane reformer which produces the renewable hydrogen.
A Xebec hydrogen purification PSA, installed after the reformer upgrades the raw hydrogen to 99,999% pure hydrogen. The trials will last until the summer of 2014. If conclusive, Trifyl will use the hydrogen in fuel cells for mobile or stationary applications.