FUEL AND ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE FUTURE

Metacon’s core business is based on unique, patented technologies, processes and systems for hydrogen production through catalytic steam reforming of various hydrocarbons, such as biogas, natural gas, LPG and ethanol. The development is made by the subsidiary Helbio S.A. in Greece, and verified in more than 25 different systems of different designs, delivered over more than 15 years. In many markets there is a good supply of biogas and biogas is an excellent raw material that gives carbon dioxide neutral hydrogen production without any other harmful emissions. The ability to integrate the in-house developed reformer with fuel cells and other sub-systems enables Metacon to offer complete, turn-key products, systems and plants, in different sizes for various applications.

REFORMERS AND ENERGY SYSTEM OF TWO BASIC DESIGNS

The reformer is offered in two different configurations, adapted for different types of fuel cells and market segments, but based on the same basic principle of catalytic, flame-less steam reforming:

• Compact plate design for mass-produced consumer products, primarily for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems in the power range of 1-5 kW electrical power and secondly for power units and battery chargers, known as Auxiliary Power Units (APU). In this embodiment, the reformer works under low pressure and can be integrated with fuel cells powered by the generated reformate, i.e. hydrogen where all CO is removed but CO2 is allowed to pass through both the reformer and the fuel cell.

• Tubular design for hydrogen processors with capacity 10 – 500 Nm3/h, where the application requirements are very high for the purity of the hydrogen. The reformer operates under 8 – 10 bar pressure, which enables efficient purification up to 99.999%, in a so-called PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption). With this combination of technologies, hydrogen of the required quality can be offered to industrial processes, CHP-systems and as fuel for fuel cell vehicles (passenger cars, buses, trucks, forklifts, ships, trains, etc.) and for hydrogen powered combustion engines.