UU launches trial to turn sewage into hydrogen and graphene

United Utilities has entered a collaboration to produce hydrogen and graphene from biogas.

Biogas from the company’s wastewater treatment sites will be decarbonised as part of the treatment process with a method developed by climate tech company Levidian.

The UK’s first use of the system will be at UU’s Davyhulme sewage treatment plant. It will be capable of processing around 15m3 of biogas per hour, which the participants intend to step up after the trial to produce hydrogen with larger installations.

The project is funded through the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero Hydrogen BECCS Innovation Programme competition, which awarded it £3 million after a successful feasibility study.

Lisa Mansell, chief engineer of innovation at UU, said: “This is an incredibly exciting development. As well as enabling use to capture carbon from our biogas production, it will also recover two high value products – hydrogen and graphene – which is a positive step forward in reaching carbon reduction targets for both United Utilities and the wider North West.”

Concurrent to the work, Liverpool John Moores University will assess the potential uses of hydrogen and Jacobs will assess the carbon lifecycle of the products.

The graphene produced will be used to reduce the carbon footprint of concrete used in the water company’s capital programme.

Across the water sector in England and Wales, companies committed to reaching net zero by the end of the decade. Removing process emissions from wastewater treatment has long been highlighted as a crucial challenge to that goal.

Earlier this year, Severn Trent revealed its work highlighting that emissions were far higher than previously understood.

The Levidian Loop100 technology will undergo more than 1,000 hours of in-situ testing to verify the production of separated hydrogen and graphene as part of the DESNZ funded scheme.