UAE state-owned ANDOC Gas has successfully installed methane-to-graphene and hydrogen technology at its Habshan Gas Processing Plant.
Working with Baker Hughes, the gas major deployed UK-based Levidian’s LOOP technology with the capacity to produce over one tonne of graphene per year and a further tonne of hydrogen annually.
The pilot deployment also collected data to further refine and develop AI modelling and digital twins to reduce energy consumption and maximise graphene output for future installations.
Graphene produced by the pilot plant will be evaluated and used by ADNOC’s technology team to explore applications.
Mohamed Al Hasemi, Chief Operation Officer of ADNOC Gas, said, “By transforming methane into valuable graphene and clean hydrogen, we are unlocking new value from natural gas.”
ADNOC has suggested future “industrial-scale” projects could deliver 15 tonnes of graphene and hydrogen per year.
The LOOP technology uses electromagnetic waves to ionise methane into plasma to separate hydrogen and carbon in the form of graphene.
Carried without the use of water, the technology captures carbon pre-combustion to reduce the amount of CO2 created through the process.
Graphene has been hailed as a ‘super-material’, offering greater strength than steel, high flexibility and conductivity, providing potential use cases in electronics, healthcare and construction.
“We’re seeing huge appetite within the market for our graphene and are excited to be working with Baker Hughes and ADNOC to unlock a new source of this super-material,” said Levidian CEO, John Hartley, adding that the collaboration could establish the firm as a key producer of graphene.
Levidian: Producing hydrogen within a full circular economy
With more than two billion metric tonnes of municipal solid waste generated worldwide every year according to statista¹, innovators are beginning to consider landfill as an opportunity as opposed to a greenhouse gas (GHG) threat.
Expected to increase by around 70% by 2050 to 3.4 billion tonnes², the release of methane into the atmosphere will also increase, methane being much more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide (CO2) over a 100-year period.
However, by managing the waste and coupling it with technologies that can capture and utilise methane, the harmful gas can be used as a valuable resource whilst also having its environmental impact mitigated.
One example of this is UK-based company, Levidian, and its methane-to-hydrogen and graphene technology, known as LOOP. The process uses methane as a feedstock to produce both hydrogen and Net Zero graphene…
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