SK ecoplant will conduct a project to develop a technology for the direct production of hydrogen from organic waste resources such as sewage and food waste in conjunction with industry, academia, and research institutes.
The corporation said on Wednesday that it will collaborate with Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) and Yonsei University on a state initiative initiated by the National Research Foundation of Korea under the Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology.
The five-year initiative intends to manufacture hydrogen via a fermentation process in which hydrogen-producing bacteria, such as clostridium butyricum, consume and breakdown organic matter in the absence of light.
According to the business, this technology can shorten the time necessary to produce hydrogen by more than 20 times compared to the current process of collecting methane gas from organic waste and then reforming it into hydrogen.
In addition, this technique does not require a reforming process that demands a high temperature of 1,000 degrees or higher, decreasing the consumption of fossil fuels to create a high-temperature environment and contributing further to sustainability.
SK ecoplant stated that its joint research team will maximize bio-hydrogen production performance in the future and ensure stability for long-term continuous hydrogen production, with the aim of increasing the hydrogen production yield to 75% to ensure economic viability and advancing the technology to a point where commercialization is feasible.
