The University of South Wales (USW) is one of three partners awarded £267,954 to fund research investigating how hydrogen produced from sewage can aid in the reduction of contaminants in the environment.
Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, in conjunction with USW and Costain, is leading the HyValue project, which has received financing from the £200 million Ofwat Innovation Fund, which seeks to foster advancements in the water industry.
The partners will investigate ways to improve a technique that converts sewage sludge methane into hydrogen while also collecting the carbon dioxide generated. According to projections, the procedure might reduce CO2 emissions in the atmosphere by up to 90%.
Another major goal of the project is to further develop hydrogen as a replacement for diesel engines, resulting in lower carbon dioxide emissions as well as lower emissions of other pollutants including nitrous oxide and airborne particulates.
The partners will try to show how the method may assist the environment while still being cost-effective. If the project is a success, the team plans to develop a sewage gas conversion plant at one of Welsh Water’s anaerobic digestion plants.
“The Water Industry has adopted anaerobic digestion as an effective waste treatment technique and source of recovered energy in the form of methane,” said Jon Maddy, Director of the University of South Wales’ Hydrogen R&D Centre at Baglan. The HyValue project takes it a step further by looking at the production of hydrogen as a clean fuel and the capture of CO2, with the possibility of using it to make valuable compounds.”
“HyValue is a crucial stepping stone towards the industry becoming the bio-refineries of the Net-Zero future, in which hydrogen will play a big part,” stated Ben Burggraaf, Head of Energy, Welsh Water.
“On behalf of its clients, the initiative enables the industry to maximize the financial and environmental value that can be derived from sewage sludge.”
