Innovative process for natural gas production from C02 and hydrogen ready for market
Linz/Vienna (pts008/24.04.2013/09:15) – An innovative method for storing electricity from renewable energy sources is now ready for the market with a fourth patent application. The microorganism-based process of Austrian Krajete GmbH allows the highly efficient and environmentally friendly conversion of climate-damaging CO2 and hydrogen into – storable – methane.
This uses a natural metabolic process of the so-called archaea, which produces pure methane – i.e. natural gas – in the absence of oxygen. In addition to electricity storage, the clean solution of the Austrian innovation leader also offers resource-saving possibilities for the production of biofuels and for the cost-effective purification of bio- or waste gas.
Krajete makes process usable for industry
It took four billion plus four years, now it is ready: an industrially usable process for the direct conversion of CO2 and water into high-quality methane. For the first four billion years, the natural process was developed by so-called Archaea – microorganisms that are among the oldest life forms in the world. For the last four years, the Austrian Krajete GmbH has set about making the environmentally compatible process usable for large-scale industrial use. Successful. With a fourth patent application, the entire process is now optimized and ready for outlicensing.
The demand for this highly efficient process for the production of the purest methane is large and diverse, as Dr. Alexander Krajete, Managing Director of Krajete GmbH explains: In addition to the storage of renewable surplus energy from solar, wind and hydropower plants called „Power to Gas“, our process is suitable for two other industrial applications: for the refinement of raw biogas into pure natural gas and for the production of biofuels of the so-called fifth generation. Compared to the current production from (food) crops, the production of biofuels has the great advantage of not creating competition for crop areas.
Conversion to natural gas in the bioreactor
In fact, the conversion of the greenhouse gas CO2 (and hydrogen) to natural gas occurs in a bioreactor – a regulated system in which special strains of the microoganisms known as Archaea convert CO2. In nature, on the other hand, archaea usually occurs in locations with extreme environmental conditions.
Dr. Krajete: „As attractive as this process is for the energy industry, it was so difficult to ‚tame‘, i.e. to tailor it for a concrete useful application.“ That is what we have succeeded in doing. Thanks to our exclusive know-how in process management, we can achieve an economically optimized turnover for every application. The company succeeded in perfecting the process of methane production under controlled conditions in the bioreactor as a whole – high resource efficiency and sales speeds now distinguish it as well as its robustness and ability to cope with rapidly changing conditions.
Its high adaptability makes the process ideal for storing surplus electricity from renewable energy sources. That is, the amount of electricity that is produced under favorable conditions – for example, at high solar radiation or wind speed – beyond the demand. If it cannot be brought into the network, it is lost. However, the fact that excess current occurs suddenly and irregularly places high demands on any system for storing it; a rapid changeover from the idle state to the full production mode is therefore required. A requirement that the Krajete process optimally meets. In addition, the actual storage itself hardly consumes energy. Once converted, the methane can be stored passively until use – an important distinguishing criterion from other storage processes.
Overall, Krajete GmbH has succeeded for the first time worldwide in further developing this promising process for industrial operational readiness. With the registration of a total of four patents, the company is now in the position to license the entire process to customers from the energy industry, chemical industry and mechanical engineering.
About Krajete GmbH
The company based in Linz, Upper Austria, offers customer-oriented process optimization of a process for the production of methane based on the metabolism of Archaean microorganisms. Thanks to a complete patent portfolio, the company can also out-license the entire process to green electricity producers, biofuel manufacturers and the chemical industry. The company’s extensive R&D activities ensure constant optimization of use.
Contact:
Dr Alexander Krajete
Krajete GmbH
Scharitzerstr. 30
4020 Linz
Austria
T +43 (0) 699 172 668 20
E info@krajete.com
W http://www.krajete.com
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Source: Krajete GmbH
Contact person: Dr. Alexander Krajete
Tel: +43 (0) 699 172 668 20
Email: info@krajete.com
Website: www.krajete.com
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