INTERREG "OBIWAN" project

OBIWAN aims at converting organic waste streams into advanced chemicals and sustainable aviation fuels. After an initial anaerobic digestion for biogas production, a mixture of CH4 and CO2, the further chemical conversion will harness the CO2 in the final products. Excess carbon is then captured as solid carbon with applications in, e.g., gas cleaning and tires. In this manner, OBIWAN will generate technology to mitigate climate change, not only by avoiding greenhouse gas emissions but also by turning such gases into valuable products.
The key priorities in the strategic vision of the Interreg program addressed by OBIWAN are circular economy, development of innovative technologies supporting adaptation to climate change, reduction of all types of land, air and water pollution and waste recycling. The entire value chain as well as individual parts thereof created within OBIWAN will be of impact on waste collecting and management companies. Also energy companies and airports will be affected. The concerned companies situate themselves on the multinational as well as on the SME level. Particularly farmers will be able to apply the developed technology and reduce their emissions (e.g., nitrogen).

While the European Green Deal and the ‘Fit for 55’ program aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55%, this does not mean that all carbon-based products will be phased out. E.g., sustainable aviation fuels are expected to play a major rule in a sustainable European future, especially if the carbon needed to produce them can be sourced within the region (Europe) rather than from distant, and often politically less stable, locations – as it is the case for fossil carbon.

Organic waste related to human activity and, hence, largely available in densely populated areas such as the regions involved in the programme (Flanders, Wallonia and Hauts-de-France), is converted by Anaerobic digestion (AD) into biogas, a mixture of CH4 (biomethane) and CO2 (bio-carbon dioxide). While at present biogas is mainly employed for its calorific value it has a high potential for chemical/fuels production by converting methane into hydrogen (H2) and solid carbon via pyrolysis, and subsequently hydrogenating the carbon dioxide into methanol, i.e., a sustainable aviation fuel precursor, using the obtained H2.. The competences required to successfully achieve the OBIWAN objectives are present at partners situated over the involved regions: Hauts-de-France (biogas production, catalysis), Flanders (chemical/catalytic reaction engineering, reactor and process design) and Wallonia (gas treatment, gas separation and analysis). The need for the cross-border approach of the project thus presents itself both because of the issues and opportunities for the region (availability of organic waste streams and impact to be generated with the envisioned end products) and because of the unique partnership across borders.

Major innovations are targeted within the project:
1) The conversion of biogas into chemicals/fuels ideally requires a biogas composition of 60% CH4 and 40% CO2 with a minimum of impurities. Considering the variance in substrate types and their seasonal changes, it is a major challenge, even at laboratory scale, to produce biogas with a stable composition. That is why the experimental measurements will be complemented by the development of an innovative numerical tool to simulate the process and give relevant control of the reactors to ensure the stable biogas production in terms of both production rate and gas composition. 
2) The catalytic decomposition of methane into solid carbon with a H2 rich gas as a side product is lately gaining popularity for the production of s-called ‘turquoise’ hydrogen of high quality. However, this typically comes at the expense of the solid carbon properties. Within OBIWAN, the aim is to bring the hydrogen-focused process from the laboratory scale to an industrially relevant one for which the proof of concept will be demonstrated in an original Electrothermal Fluidized Bed Reactor (ETFB).

Other significant innovations will be made with respect to biogas purification/separation as well as CO2 hydrogenation into methanol.

For more information, visit the project's dedicated website OBIWAN