Meet ZEUS: the largest independent testing facility for CO2 electrolysis cells, stacks & components in Europe!

12-03-2023 | P2Chemicals

VoltaChem is pleased to announce the arrival and initiation of its cutting-edge ZEUS pilot CO2 electrolyser at TNO facilities in Rijswijk, The Netherlands.

The 20 feet container sized installation is a demonstrator system for the next generation direct electrochemical production of formate from CO₂. The 10 kW CO₂ electrolyser includes a large stack with high performance for CO₂ conversion to formate including all the needed infrastructure to test and optimize this reaction.

Unique features compared to available commercial solutions are:

• The capability to operate at elevated pressures and temperatures (up to 20 bars and 85 °C)
• Completely metal-free internals
• In-line analytics for gaseous product detection and in-line sampling system
• Flexible reactor configurations
• Stack reactor of 15 cells of 400 cm² each, which makes a total area of 6000 cm²!
• Fully automated pilot
• Accurate monitoring of process conditions
• Continuous operation feed and bleed
• The ability to operate GDEs at elevated pressures thanks to the its sophisticated pressure control system
• Production of formate up to 1kg/h

The ZEUS pilot is larger than any other known testing system available in the EU and is designed to be flexible, able to handle a wide range of chemicals and conditions, and with an easily interchangeable electrochemical stack. While initially designed for formate production, the setup is designed in such a way that CO production from CO₂ is also feasible. The system builds on lessons learned from the operation of smaller scale feasibility systems, filling an important gap towards commercialization of electrochemical CO₂ conversion technology.

ZEUS is designed for a capacity of continuous formate production from CO₂ at a scale of 1 kg/h. As such, the innovative setup is a major step forward in the field of CO₂ conversion and its value to the electrochemical conversion routes with the family of CCU technologies.

The ZEUS pilot is here to help drive progress towards a more sustainable future, and within the VoltaChem program, powered by TNO, we welcome collaborations from academia and industry to make use of this installation. This makes it a very attractive option for parties to get further acquainted with CO₂ electrolyser technologies, including small and mid-sized (SME) enterprises.

This state-of-the-art installation is available for public research and accessible to a wide range of organizations and individuals. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to be part of this innovative technology, and contact Matti van Schooneveld now to collaborate!

The project is sponsored by Interreg 2 Seas, Province of South Holland (NL), Smartport, and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

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