Hydrogen from wastewater: Innovative approaches to environmental protection in Neu-Ulm

Hydrogen from wastewater: Innovative approaches to environmental protection in Neu-Ulm

The production of hydrogen plays a decisive role in efforts to protect environmental and climate protection, especially in water management. In this context, an event was recently held in the Neu-Ulm sewage treatment plant, in which experts came together from the water and hydrogen industry in order to discuss the possibilities of hydrogen electrolysis using cleaned waste water. Florencia Saravia from the DVGW research center at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) emphasized the importance of effective water management, which should be integrated as a central element into the considerations for hydrogen production.

project "KA4H2 - sewage treatment plants for hydrogen"

The project "KA4H2" is carried out by the Band Agency BW GmbH, the DVGW research center and the University of Kassel and aims to promote an integrated approach for hydrogen production in sewage treatment plants. The focus of this project is on the determination of optimal framework for the efficient use of cleaned wastewater for hydrogen electrolysis. The project is to run by November 2025 since the start in December 2023.

Awareness of hydrogen in public

A central goal of the initiative is to network stakeholders with each other and to sensitize them together with the public to the topic. This is considered essential to highlight the importance of hydrogen in the context of environmental protection and at the same time to define best practice standards that are important for future hydrogen projects. Philipp Otter from the University of Kassel emphasized that sewage treatment plants offer the potential to produce significant electrolysur and thus contribute to a sustainable energy supply.

potential for sewage treatment plant and the environment

The Zweckverband Klärwerk Steinhäle, responsible for the operation of the sewage treatment plant, has already identified the first approaches to use the oxygen and heat generated by the electrolysis process. This could not only increase the efficiency of the sewage treatment plant, but also bring positive environmental impacts. In order to understand the influence of hydrogen production on the processes in the sewage treatment plants and the waters, specific key figures are developed as part of the project.

Overall, the project "KA4H2" shows how water management and hydrogen production can go hand in hand to find future -proof solutions for the environment. Cooperation between different actors is a key resource to develop innovative approaches that not only benefit the water supply, but also climate protection.

Further information on the project will be published shortly ...

- Nag