ECO2Fuel designs one of the largest 50kW stack electrolysers

The European Green Deal and the European Climate Law have significantly raised the EU’s climate ambitions, aiming for climate neutrality by 2050, with an interim target of cutting net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Achieving these ambitious objectives requires the development and wider adoption of advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) technologies. Innovations in these fields are crucial for turning bold climate targets into tangible results.

One such innovation is under development by the ECO2Fuel project, EU-funded under Horizon Europe programme.

“We are very proud to have developed one of the world’s large scale CO₂ electrolysers – with a total active area of 3.75 m². The journey from intricate design to meticulous assembly of the stack has been challenging but rewarding at the same time”, said Faria Huq, Project Coordinator at DLR. “This milestone brings us closer to delivering a robust, scalable system capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and producing e-fuels for the transport and energy sectors.”

This electrolyser system operates at elevated pressures, which can boost efficiency. It includes a system that constantly monitors the gases produced. Key to its operation, the system reuses the specific mixture of gases generated at the negative electrode (the cathode), which can significantly improve the conversion of carbon dioxide into new valuable products.

ECO2Fuel designed and set a unique 50kW stack for CO2 converter system

Following an intensive two-and-a-half-year development phase, the EU-funded ECO2Fuel project has achieved a major milestone: the assembly of the 50kW stack at electrolyser testing VITO site at Mol in Belgium. This accomplishment reflects extensive work on critical cell components, including advanced electrocatalysts, membranes, and bipolar plates, marking significant contribution towards European clean energy objectives.

ECO2Fuel is committed to pioneering sustainable energy solutions. With this milestone, it sets a promising foundation for the next stages of testing and implementation. Scaling up the system is a key objective of the project, with the aim of testing it at 1MW scale on the RWE site in Germany by 2026. This requirement necessitated a cell design of 1500 cm² exceedingly most currently used, pressurised CO2 electrolysis stacks. For the 50kW stack, in total 25 cells of 1500cm² are used, which creates a total area of 3,75m². The 1500cm² cell equals the current state-of-the-art in PEM (proton exchange membrane) water electrolysis.

As Joost Helsen, Project manager at VITO, explains: “The reason for choosing this size of the stack was mainly the possibility to easily scale this stack further to 1MW without changing the single cell design. Already now several challenges were encountered and dealt with, such as sealing of the stack at higher pressures, gas- and liquid flow management, structural integrity of the stack components, etc.”

Currently, the ECO2Fuel team is conducting extensive testing to ensure the system’s efficiency, focusing on the electricity conductivity of the membranes, the chemical conversion process, and overall system stabilisation.

CO2 electrolyser stack characteristics

Rectangular shape with crossflow design for extra degree freedom
Possibility for direct water injection
Suitable for gas/liquid process
Possibility to use very thin active components such as electrodes and membranes
Fir for higher pressures (up to 45barg)
New flow field design suitable for stamping/hydroforming

About ECO2Fuel

ECO2Fuel is an EU project under Horizon2020 (Green Deal). It aims to design, manufacture, operate, and validate the worldwide first low-temperature 1MW direct, electrochemical CO2 conversion system to produce economic and sustainable e-fuels and chemicals.

Partners

This ambitious project brings together a coalition of leading businesses and research institutions, fostering a cross-industry innovation network to achieve substantial technological and environmental breakthroughs: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR), RWE, Bekaert, De Nora, HyGear, ARIEMA, Energía y Medioambiente S.L., Monolithos Ltd., HYDROLITE, Think11, META Group, CENTRO RICERCHE FIAT SCPA, DTU – Technical University of Denmark, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), and VITO.

Website: https://eco2fuel-project.eu/

Community of Practice

Are you a stakeholder committed to a low-carbon, climate resilient future? Join our Community of Practice (CoP)! It is a place to learn, and exchange information dedicated to synthetic fuels technologies including ECO2Fuel’s results and outcomes. Join it here.

Project podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1xzn65oypGtOXc4suyU3w2