The largest ethanol producer in Brazil has teamed up with a hydrogen technology company, along with others, to build what is believed to be the world’s first ethanol-to-hydrogen fueling station. Located on Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo campus, by mid-year the pilot plant will begin fueling three buses and a car powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Planning is also underway for a 10-fold scale-up to serve as a demonstration of how the technology could be used in an industrial facility.Raízen and Hytron are behind the project, with several other entities supporting it. The Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) is involved as is the University of Sao Paulo’s Research Center for Greenhouse Gases Innovation, which will validate costs and emissions. The SENAI Institute for Innovation in Biosynthetic and Fibers will conduct computer simulations to optimize the process. And Toyota is provid­ing a Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to the project, which is being funded through a R$50 million investment by Shell Brasil, in compliance with the RD&amp;I clause established by ANP.&nbsp;In a fuel cell, the electrolytic process of making hydrogen by passing electricity through water gets reversed. Hydrogen and oxygen-rich air are combined with a catalyst in a fuel cell to produce electricity and water. The growing attraction to fuel cell vehicles is largely about the efficiency of electric drives—and water being the only tailpipe emission.&nbsp;In an industrial setting, hydrogen produces three times the power of an equal amount of natural gas, says Hytron’s commercial director Daniel Lopes. But hydrogen isn’t the only useful industrial target. Because the chemical industry is based on organic chemistry—the carbon side—he believes biogenic carbon dioxide will be an important source in the future for chemical companies seeking to defossilize.Founded in 2003, Hytron is a spin-off from the hydrogen laboratory at the University of Campinas in the state of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil. By 2014, the company had developed its first pilot-scale ethanol-to-hydrogen unit with industrial components. The company is now part of NEA Group, a global manufacturer of piston and diaphragm compressors. Today, Hytron offers a suite of hydrogen technologies including electrolyzers and steam reformers using biomethane and ethanol feedstocks. The University of Sao Paulo project will be the first “real world” demonstration of its ethanol-to-hydrogen technology.Hytron’s ethanol steam reformer is similar in concept to refinery SMRs (steam methane reformers) that currently supply virtually all the world’s hydrogen used for fuel and chemical production. Using a catalyst, steam (water) is combined with methane (natural gas) to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide.&nbsp;Hytron’s first-stage reactor combines ethanol and water as steam with the aid of a catalyst to produce steam reformer gas. “The main component is hydrogen,” Lopes explains, “the second is CO—carbon monoxide—and a small percentage of other components. After that, we have two other reactors. In the high temperature shift-reactor we react the CO with water (steam) again and produce CO2 plus hydrogen. After that, we have a PSA system—pressure swing adsorption—for purification of the hydrogen to 99.99 percent.” &nbsp;The University of Sao Paulo fueling station is essentially a pilot-scale project, with a target production of 5 kilos (12 pounds) of hydrogen per hour. The goal is to use 6 liters of ethanol to produce 1 kilo of hydrogen—enough to run a vehicle for 130-150 kilometers, depending on the fuel cell. (Converting to U.S. units and rounding: The unit will make 12 pounds of hydrogen per hour. The goal is to use 1.5 gallons of ethanol to produce 2.5 pounds of hydrogen, which will power a vehicle for 70 to 90 miles.)Hytron estimates the cost of production will be comparable to Brazil’s large SMR units, which Lopes says is due to Hytron’s thermal management. “The magic step is how we manage the heat we have inside the steam reformer. We have up to 80-percent efficiency in our equipment.” As for carbon intensity (CI), he says the potential is there to meet net zero, or even negative CI, largely dependent upon the feedstock and the ability to move towards renewable fuels for transport.Feedstock from Energy Parks&nbsp;&nbsp; The feedstock for the university pilot plant is coming from Raízen (pronounced hi-ee-son). The integrated energy company was formed in 2011 as a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Cosan SA—a large Brazil conglomerate with sugarcane and ethanol production facilities alongside other energy and transportation assets and a wholesale and retail fuel supply network. Today, Raízen serves over 8,000 Shell retail stations and more than 1.6 thousand Shell Select stores in Brazil and Argentina, and another 250 OXXO stores in Brazil (Nós Group).Raízen operates 35 production units, most within what it calls Bioenergy Parks, processing sugarcane from around 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) of cultivated land into sugar, ethanol and bioenergy. The company produces 3 billion liters (792.51 million gallons) of first-generation ethanol from sugarcane juice. In 2021, the company produced 30 million liters of cellulosic ethanol. Raízen’s second 82 MMly capacity cellulosic ethanol facility came online recently, with more in development. On its website, the company touts its first-generation ethanol as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 89 percent compared to Brazilian gasoline, and its second-generation ethanol achieving 97 percent fewer emissions. &nbsp;The exact numbers for GHG reductions are dependent on the metrics and methodology used, admits Mateus Lopes, Raízen’s global director for energy transition and investments. “The numbers change, but we like to talk potential,” he says. “When talking about biogenic ethanol, we could deliver something that has a negative footprint. We think this is a key message, independent of whether it is sugarcane or corn ethanol.”&nbsp;The main reason cane ethanol is deemed to have a low CI rating compared to U.S. grain ethanol, he adds, is the former not requiring natural gas to produce steam. “Here in Brazil, we use bagasse to produce steam for our process.” Currently, excess steam capacity is used to generate electricity as a coproduct, which also helps to lower CI, but M. Lopes says weak electricity prices that are projected to continue in the future are behind the company’s decision to divert bagasse from electrical generation to second-generation ethanol production.Ethanol as Hydrogen Carrier Feedstock&nbsp;&nbsp; Future projections also underly Raízen’s interest in hydrogen. “Electrification and hydrogen play a large role in all of the energy transition road maps,” M. Lopes says. “Hydrogen will be such an important market in the future and if ethanol can play a role, somehow, even if a small role, it could be really significant in comparison to the volume of ethanol that we produce today.”&nbsp;Hydrogen projections peg future demand anywhere from 50 to 200 million metric tons annually, he points out. “Our pitch is not that ethanol will lead this hydrogen market, but it will be part of the solution. It’s a piece in this energy transition puzzle.”&nbsp;While ammonia and methanol are often talked about as hydrogen carriers for transcontinental shipping, M. Lopes says there’s a case to be made for ethanol. “Ethanol is very easy to transport. It’s non-toxic. It’s liquid at room temperature. If you talk about ammonia, it’s highly toxic. If there is a leak in the ocean, you kill everything within kilometers. Methanol is also toxic. Ethanol seems to be an elegant solution and complementary.”&nbsp;Hytron’s Daniel Lopes agrees. “We need to open the eyes of stakeholders. Why not use a feedstock that is logistically ready to transport hydrogen right now—ethanol?” Hytron’s goal is to scale to a size that could be used in ports around the world to produce hydrogen and biogenic CO2 to replace fossil sources in multiple processes. When looking at sustainable aviation fuels, he points out, leading technology starts with Fischer-Tropsch syngas. “What is that? Syngas is hydrogen plus CO. The first gas we produce is hydrogen plus CO.”&nbsp;Raízen’s Mateus Lopes advocates Brazil and the U.S. work together to improve ethanol’s profile. “There’s this huge opportunity in the energy transition. And somehow ethanol seems to be left behind in many of the energy transition discussions.” He points to the September launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi as a positive sign. “More and more we don’t need to think about ethanol from sugarcane or corn, or from Brazil or the U.S. or India. We need to create this united voice where we echo the possibilities and work together to develop new solutions from lignocellulosic ethanol, hydrogen, diesel, aviation, chemicals. The potential of those applications is huge.”Author: Susanne Retka Schill&nbsp; Contact: writer@bbiinternational.com&nbsp;&nbsp;

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A high-profile, multi-participant project in Brazil is poised to demonstrate ethanol-to-hydrogen technology.    

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