UK's PeroCycle to Test 2-Tonne CO2 Conversion Reactor in 2027

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On November 9, PeroCycle, a spin-out company from the University of Birmingham, UK, announced a pilot program for industrial carbon recycling technology. The company will collaborate with UK industrial research organization Glass Futures to build a 2-tonne test reactor in St Helens, Merseyside, England, with testing scheduled to begin in 2027. The two parties plan to use local industrial test facilities to advance the perovskite catalytic technology, which has completed laboratory validation, to the high-temperature industrial environment testing stage.

The collaboration involves a thermochemical process for converting carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide. PeroCycle uses a proprietary perovskite catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide at temperatures lower than conventional processes, and the resulting carbon monoxide is then reintroduced into industrial production processes as a feedstock. The company will validate the actual performance of the catalyst and reactor under high-temperature operating conditions.

Glass Futures will provide gas supply conditions with varying compositions, industrial testing infrastructure, and materials processing equipment. The partners plan to establish a process system for scaling catalyst production from laboratory preparation to pilot-scale manufacturing, and will use Glass Futures' existing materials mixing equipment and industrial furnaces for catalyst production, formulation optimization, and structural performance evaluation.

The pilot work also includes performance testing of the reactor in real industrial operating environments, as well as scale-up of catalyst production batches and optimization of reactor operating parameters. Under the collaboration arrangement, the test facility can conduct integrated validation in combination with glass, ceramic, and combustion testing systems, and the related work will provide operating data for the design of subsequent industrial demonstration units.

PeroCycle has previously completed catalyst performance validation under laboratory conditions. The company claims that the technology has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 90% when applied in basic industries such as steel. The 2027 testing will focus on examining the operational performance of the catalyst and reactor under industrial high-temperature conditions and the process scale-up capability.