GPA Europe January 2025 Newsletter
All the latest news from GPA Europe...
Promoting Technical and Operational Excellence Throughout the
European Gas Industry
Message from the GPAE Chairperson
Happy New Year to you all! I'm Samantha Nicholson, and I had the honour of being elected as the new Chair of the GPA Europe at the AGM last November. I'd like to thank Myrian Schenk for her leadership and contribution during the last 2 years. I hope to be able to benefit from her and other Board members support and advice while I get my feet under the table.
Lesley Potts has joined us to provide maternity cover for our Executive Administrator and many of you were able to meet her at the AGM. She and the team are busy organising our programme for this year. With the webinar series starting in April and the Annual Conference date set as 4-6th June in the Hague, there is already a great deal of work going on behind the scenes. Please “save the date” for this excellent event in The Netherlands.
The call for papers for the Annual Conference is open and the technical committee would be delighted to receive your abstracts for review. It is the attendees and quality of papers which make a GPA Europe conference unusual (perhaps unique) in the industry. A face-to-face conference encourages networking and builds your contacts in ways that virtual conference just cannot.
As a reminder we endeavour to enable you and your younger team members to:
In addition, we will continue to run Key Strategic Initiatives and a Young Professional group.
If you have any questions and interest in joining these groups, please don't hesitate to reach out to [email protected]
2025 Schedule of Events
** Save the Dates! **
- 17th April, 11.30am-12.30pm UK time: free Technical Webinar
- 4th-6th June 2025: GPAE Annual Conference, The Hague, The Netherlands
- 25th September, 11.30am-12.30pm UK time: free Technical Webinar
- 20th November 2025: GPAE Technical Meeting & AGM, London
Be part of our conferences promoting a new energy future and the transition of our industry towards that future: we are looking for stories about the development of technology and best practices affecting Natural Gas processing. As well as a look at Hydrogen, Biogas, Ammonia, Carbon Capture and Storage, and LNG amongst others, to inspire the gas processing community.
Do you have a story to tell? To start with, all we need is a 100-200-word abstract. Send your abstract (Title, Author and 100-200 words) to [email protected]. It will be reviewed by our Technical Committee and, if accepted, we can help you to develop it into a technical paper and presentation.
Be an Award Winner: each year we present an award at our AGM for the best paper. The Best Paper Award is selected by our conference attendees and is based on the feedback scores received.
The Aungier Award is also granted for the best paper presented by one of our Young Professionals at our conferences. The winner is decided by our Technical Committee. Alongside the award, the winner will also receive £1,500.
Could this be you?
The Bi-Annual In Brief Publication
** We want to get a head start for the Spring/Summer 2025 In Brief, to be published May 2025 **
If you have any ideas for a lead article, have something to share with the community, or would like to sponsor the next In Brief publication, let us know at [email protected]
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Our Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of In Brief is available - Click here to check it out!
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Paper of the Year 2024
In this month's Newsletter, we are looking back at the most popular paper of 2024, which was ...
Clean Hydrogen Purification with Catalysts and Adsorbents
This paper was presented at the GPA Europe 2022 Paris Conference, by François-Savier Chiron, Axens.
Regardless of its color (green / blue / pink / white / …), hydrogen will certainly play a major role in the industry energy transition and the future of transportation. While a lot of efforts are naturally put to decrease the CAPEX of clean Hydrogen production, purification is often seen as a black box that still has to deliver up to 99.999 vol % H2. Hydrogen coming out of a manufacturing process (methane reforming / Electrolysis) or stored geologically come together with an array of impurities: oxygen, water, carbon oxides and sulfur to name the major components. Usages in mobility via a fuel cell or the use of hydrogen as a reactant in a catalytic conversion impose tight specification especially on oxygen and water.
This paper focuses on some key purification steps that use catalysts, adsorbents or scavengers to meet the required hydrogen purity.
The first application is the PDU (Purification & Drying Unit) located directly downstream an electrolyser. This purification package includes a deoxo catalyst (Axens commercial name is DO 125) and molecular sieve driers packed in a “zero-loss TSA system”. Depending on the electrolysis technology (AEL / PEM) hydrogen comes out with different levels of oxygen, but always water saturated. Oxygen is easily reacted with hydrogen over a precious metal catalyst: H2 + ½ O2 = H2O. Axens has developed in its historic facility at Salindres, France, a very active Pd based catalyst, supported on a specific alumina. Subsequently, the gas is cooled down and water is knocked out before entering the dehydration section. Based on years of experience in refining and Natural gas treatment, the drying section utilizes Axens MultiBed™ configuration so that water levels as low as 0.1 ppm mol can be guaranteed at the PDU section outlet.
Similarly, a PDU can be installed on blue hydrogen, just downstream the PSA. This unit is very similar to the PDU on electrolysers, with the difference that it is not O2 that has to be removed but traces of CO/CO2. Carbon oxides are well known poisons to fuel cells as well as for catalyst used in the hydrogenation of toluene for LOHC application for instance. Axens proposes MT 201 R, a pre-reduced methanation catalyst that effectively brings the CO/CO2 level to ultra-low concentration. Methanation is classically followed by a zero-loss TSA system, integrated on a skid.
Other purification with Axens adsorbents include the purification of white H2 (native H2) and hydrogen stored in salt caverns where hydrogen comes out enriched in sulfur. Sulfur scavengers produced in Axens factory in Saint-Louis are used to bring the hydrogen back to the highest standard.
Originating from years of experience in Adsorbents and Catalysts manufacturing, Axens proposes purification solution on all kind of hydrogen streams so that any specification can be met.
GPSA Engineering Databook CDs - 14th Edition
We have the 14th Edition GPSA Engineering Databook in SI format, available as a digital download or in CD format.
The GPSA Engineering Databook is almost 1,000 pages of technical information and is the worldwide authoritative resource for technical and design information.
GPAE members receive a £50/€60 discount.
Every Process Engineer should have one!
It’s a Boy!
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Helen, our GPAE Executive Administrator, safely delivered a baby boy, Sebastian Ellis Boddy, 5lb 8oz, on 5th January! Mother and baby are doing well. I'm sure Helen will share more information when she's up to it. |
If you have news you would like to share with our members, please email us at [email protected]
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