Linde opens pilot synthesis gas plant
19 Oct 2015
Linde has invested €5 million (£3.7 million) in a new plant that will produce low-emission synthesis gas.
The German industrial and engineering company opened its pilot facility in Pullach, near Munich to refine steam reforming technology by focusing on a new process called dry reforming.
Dry reforming is a method of producing synthesis gas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide) that enables energy-efficient, low-emission, and economical industrial-scale use of carbon dioxide as feedstock.
Linde intends to use this pilot facility to test and optimise all kinds of approaches to reforming
Linde’s Christian Bruch
The synthesis gas can also be used to produce valuable downstream products including base chemicals and fuels.
Linde chief executive officer Wolfgang Büchele said that inventiveness and innovation are “ingrained in Linde’s DNA.”
“The official opening of the pilot reformer provides further proof of our customer-centric approach to development and sends a strong signal confirming Germany’s role as an innovation hub,” he said.
If the dry reforming pilot proves successful, there are plans to commercialise the process when the funded project comes to an end in 2017.
“Linde intends to use this pilot facility to test and optimise all kinds of approaches to reforming. The insights we gain will help us further improve reforming processes and concepts for our customers,” said Christian Bruch, a member of the company’s executive board.
This pilot project was also awarded nearly €1 million in funding by the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
Linde developed the dry reforming process in cooperation with partners BASF, HTE and KIT.
