An innovative process for simultaneous utilization of hydrogen and in-situ biogas upgrading

This project proposes an innovative process in which hydrogen produced by water electrolysis using excess electricity from wind mills, will be biologically converted by binding CO2 to CH4 in biogas reactors. Simultaneous H2 utilization and in-situ biogas upgrading will be achieved in such process, giving synergistic advantages for both wind mills and biogas plants. The effects of hydrogen on the biochemistry and microbiology of the process, and the technical solutions for improving hydrogen utilization in the biogas reactors will be studied in order to optimize the conversion of hydrogen to methane in biogas reactors. This idea of the current project has never been applied and it offers several advantages: (1) Contributes to cheaper upgrading cost of biogas due to low CO2 content in biogas; (2) Increased energy efficiency by full utilization of the wind mill capacity; (3) Possibility to control electricity production according to the energy demand variations.