News

MACBETH Project

November 2019 - April 2024

Horizon 2020
European Union Funding
for Research & Innovation

MACBETH is a European research project within the Horizon2020 program. Its aim is to exploit technologies and knowledge on membrane reactors developed within ROMEO, BIONICO, and CARENA projects bringing them up to a TRL factor of 7 (Technology readiness levels).

The new reactor promises a substantial increase in the overall efficiency in many industrial processes and a marked reduction in emissions. The improved performances are achieved thanks to the innovative reactor’s membrane and their ability to selectively remove only one reaction product (for example pure hydrogen in reforming reactions), thus allowing the completion of the reaction at lower temperatures than usual (i.e. for the reforming reaction, 500° C instead of 850° C).

Context

The decarbonization objectives for the European Union are reviewed and updated every year. In 2019 the goal was set to bring the European continent completely climate-neutral by 2050.

Achieving this result involves the progressive reduction of the impact of industrial processes on the environment.

Project goals

Within the European Horizon2020 program, there are numerous projects dedicated to the development of membranes reactors.
The 3 from which MACBETH originated are:
BIONICO (focused on the production of pure hydrogen from biogas),
CARENA (focused on propane dehydrogenation),
ROMEO (homogeneous catalysis of various processes).

These projects have brought membrane reactor technology to a Technology readiness level (TRL) 5.
MACBETH intends to continue the technology development by achieving a TRL factor of 7, a Step before large-scale commercialization.

The new technologies developed by MACBETH project promise a reduction of up to 35% of emissions and an increased efficiency by 70% for industrial processes.

Thanks to components’ simplification and optimization, investments in Capex (capital) and Opex (operating expenses) will be cut by 50% for the former and 80% for the latter.

Project steps

  1. Exploitation & Business Plan:
    Early business case definition, clear understanding of market barriers and needs, regulatory framework and potential risks.
  2. Project Management and Coordination:
    To ensures an effective project management all along the execution of the work plan which includes the following actions: Overall administrative, contractual and financial reporting Organization of project meetings Coordination of internal communication Risk planning
  3. Building Blocks:
    Technical work package where the individual building blocks will be further optimized and tested before the final scale-up to TRL7. The supports, catalysts and membranes will therefore be further developed, testing their performance and their interactions.
  4. Scale up building blocks:
    The optimized building blocks (supports, catalysts and membranes) from the third step, will be scaled up to TRL7 for the installation in all the demo plants.
  5. Engineering:
    Demo plants (5 in total for 4 lines) will be engineered following these steps: Engineering of case demonstration units (engineering design and construction for all cases) Procurement, manufacturing of components and construction of pilot demonstration units Conceptual engineering of full-scale industrial plant
  6. Demonstration:
    Final commissioning and demonstration of the demo plants at TRL7 for a cumulative demonstration runtime of more than 8000 h.
  7. Modelling:
    Translation of the general framework established in the initial business model into a coherent set of specifications for the CMR systems that will be demonstrated within the project, as well as defining the requirements of the different materials and their scale up.
  8. Dissemination & Education:
    Run throughout the whole project, feeding from the results of previous work packages, and providing support to exploitation of project results through highly focused communication and dissemination activities. This work package will also pave the way for an effective education of the chemical industry regarding CMRs.

Ici Caldaie’s rule

ICI Caldaie designed and built the heart of the project: the reactor where we installed the membranes for the separation of pure hydrogen.
The membranes, developed by TUE (Eindhoven University of Technology) and TECNALIA, are introduced into a mixture of gases comprising reagents, products and catalysts. The chemical reaction for biogas transformation into hydrogen, as well as the one for the propane dehydrogenation, to take place needs special catalysts and temperatures around 500 °C.
Thanks to the membranes and their permeability to hydrogen, it is possible to separate hydrogen from the reaction environment thanks to the partial pressure difference between the upstream and downstream sectors of the membranes. All this takes place inside the reactor developed by ICI. The rest of ICI Caldaie’s activities concerned the assembly of the Bionico package with all its internal and external components. The package includes control systems, the connection of the reactor inputs and outputs, the management of cooling fluids, and the control of chemical reactions. In other words, the complete machine, ready to be put into operation. Thanks to the ICI Caldaie laboratories, it was, therefore, possible to start the system and generate hydrogen.

Our partners

EVONIK PERFORMANCE MATERIALS GMBH

Leading provider of polymer materials and intermediates

ENGIE

Major energy uBlity company providing highly efficient and innovaBve energy and services soluBons to residenBal, commercial and industrial customers

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK

Lading technical university in Scandinavia

KT – KINETICS TECHNOLOGY S.P.A

InternaBonal Process Engineering Contractor with high experBse in hydrocarbon processing industry

LIQTECH INTERNATIONAL

Technology-based company that has its major acBviBes in the development, producBon and markeBng of Silicon Carbide (SiC) membranes and catalyBc coaBng for water, wastewater and flue gas treatment

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI SALERNO

Research and educaBonal programmes, developing links with the surrounding area while respecBng the environment, with the aim of creaBng, enriching and, at the same Bme, offering a scienBfic, cultural heritage to students, enterprises, insBtuBons

FRIEDRICH-ALEXANDER-UNIVERSITÄT ERLANGEN- NÜRNBERG

Top 5 universiBes in Germany for Chemistry; Chemical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering

CIAOTECH S.R.L.

PNO Consultants is Europe’s largest independent innovaBon and public funding consultancy

EVONIK TECHNOLOGY & INFRASTRUCTURE GMBH

One of the world's leading specialty chemicals companies and is an internal service unit of EVO

ENZYMICALS AG

Interdisciplinary team of 17 scienBsts and technicians currently engaged to provide integrated soluBons for industrial biocatalysis

CENTRO NACIONAL DE EXPERIMENTACIÓN DE TECNOLOGÍAS DE HIDROGENO Y PILAS DE COMBUSTIBLE CONSORCIO

Spanish NaBonal Research Centre devoted into research and development of hydrogen technologies covering the whole cycle: hydrogen producBon, hydrogen storage and purificaBon, and hydrogen conversion into energy using fuel cells

CHIRALVISION BV

The company develops chemo-enzymaBc processes for various markets including environmental, cosmeBc, fine chemical and pharmaceuBcal industries

VLAAMSE INSTELLING VOOR TECHNOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK N.V.

Research organisaBon providing scienBfic advice and technological innovaBons for a sustainable society, comprising the areas of energy, chemistry, materials, health and land use

HELMHOLTZ-ZENTRUM GEESTHACHT ZENTRUM FÜR MATERIAL- UND KÜSTENFORSCHUNG GMBH

One of 19 members of the Helmholtz AssociaBon of German Research Centres, Germany’s largest science organisaBon

JOHNSON MATTHEY PLC

UK based speciality chemicals company focused on its core skills in catalysis, precious metals, fine chemicals and process technology

SOLUTEX GC SL

Technology-based company that uses sustainable technologies to extract, concentrate, purify and fracBonate natural products of the highest quality, purity and potency, to be readily applied in the pharmaceuBcal, nutriBonal, and cosmeBc markets

EINDHOVEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Research university specializing in engineering science & technology

MICROINNOVA ENGINEERING GMBH

Founded as a spin-off of the Technical University Graz in 2003 is leading in engineering and consulBng services for chemical and pharmaceuBcal companies

FUNDACIÓN TECNALIA RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Largest private non-profit applied research center in Spain and the fixh in Europe

TÜRKIYE PETROL RAFINERILERI ANONIM ŞIRKETI

Turkey’s largest industrial enterprise, with 28.1 million tonnes crude oil processing capacity

POLITECNICO DI MILANO

Italian public technical university established in 1863, nowadays organised in 12 departments and a network of 6 Schools of Engineering, Architecture and Industrial Design

RAUSCHERT KLOSTER VEILSDORF GMBH

Independent company with more than 120 years of experience in the manufacture of both technical ceramic and plasBc components

SPANISH NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

Largest public insBtuBon dedicated to research in Spain and the third largest in Europe