Ecological Transport and Efficient Heating from Waste. Spin-off with a License for Technology from Gdańsk Tech
An innovative reactor for the pyrolysis of industrial and municipal waste has been developed at Gdańsk Tech. It enables the safe disposal of waste and the recovery of energy in the form of syngas, and subsequently hydrogen with purity sufficient for use, for example, in public transport buses, as well as char for heating purposes. The creators of the technology, Prof. PhD Eng. Bogusław Kusz and PhD Eng. Bartosz Trawiński, are co-founders of the company W2H2, which, under a licensing agreement, acquired the rights to commercial use and development of the technology.
An innovative reactor for the pyrolysis of industrial and municipal waste has been developed at Gdańsk Tech. It enables the safe disposal of waste and the recovery of energy in the form of syngas, and subsequently hydrogen with purity sufficient for use, for example, in public transport buses, as well as char for heating purposes. The creators of the technology, Prof. PhD Eng. Bogusław Kusz and PhD Eng. Bartosz Trawiński, are co-founders of the company W2H2, which, under a licensing agreement, acquired the rights to commercial use and development of the technology.
A pyrolyzer is a reactor in which complex hydrocarbon materials decompose in an oxygen-free process of heating raw materials at high temperatures into simple elements and compounds. As a result of waste pyrolysis, according to the technology developed at Gdańsk Tech, synthesis gas is produced, which is a gas containing, among others, methane, carbon monoxide, and a very large amount of hydrogen. Then, the syngas undergoes separation, resulting in one of the most desirable sources of green energy, i.e., pure hydrogen. The process also produces carbonizate containing 60-80 percent pure carbon, which can be used for heating purposes or in many other technological processes.
– In Poland, we "produce" millions of tons of waste that cannot be reused. Our original technology allows for very efficient and inexpensive recovery of energy contained in hydrocarbon waste. Thanks to the innovative design, complex hydrocarbons are reduced to basic elements and simple compounds already in the reactor. As a result, without the need to use many costly filters and with the highest efficiency, we obtain from the reactor pure syngas with the following composition: up to 50 percent hydrogen, about 25 percent carbon monoxide, around 15 percent methane, and approximately 10 percent carbon dioxide – explains Professor Bogusław Kusz.
Waste disposal, ecological fuel
The technology developed by the research team from the Faculty of Technical Physics and Applied Mathematics at Gdańsk Tech is characterized by great care for environmental protection, while simultaneously providing a real alternative to obtaining conventional fossil fuels.
– Using the well-known PSA method on syngas, we can obtain hydrogen with purity sufficient for applications such as public transport buses. The carbonizate produced during pyrolysis mainly contains porous carbon, and its absorption and catalytic properties can be utilized in purification processes or used as a solid fuel. In summary, we propose a technology that enables ecological transport and efficient heating from unnecessary waste – emphasizes Prof. Kusz.
The technology has been patented in Poland (patent no. 241665) and submitted for international patenting procedures.
License agreement with W2H2 company
At the helm of the company established based on Gdańsk Tech's technology is Wojciech Białecki, CEO of 4E Energy. The company participated in the research on the pyrolysis of municipal and industrial waste during the stage of verifying the business potential of the invention from Gdańsk Tech.
– The key short-term goal of W2H2 is to achieve the construction of a pilot installation with a partner from the waste or energy sector. Ultimately, we plan to become a supplier of industrial equipment for hydrogen production. We will strive to expand into the European market as well as global markets. It is important for us to leverage the potential of partnership with Gdańsk Tech in the further development of our company – comments Wojciech Białecki.
The preparation and negotiation of the license agreement terms at Gdańsk Tech were carried out by: MSc Sławomir Ćwikliński from the Technology Transfer Center at Gdańsk Tech, legal counsel Joanna Ratasiewicz from the Legal Counsel Department at Gdańsk Tech, and patent attorney PhD Justyna Pawłowska from the Patent Attorneys Team at Gdańsk Tech.
From scientific project to spin-off company
The concept of establishing a spin-off company based on the reactor design and proprietary pyrolysis technology developed at the FTAPM was born thanks to cooperation with the Technology Transfer Center at Gdańsk Tech. The Innovation Broker, based on conducted project analyses and talks with potential business partners, planned a comprehensive commercialization strategy for the technology, which led to the creation of a company with the participation of the invention's creators.
In the first stage, the construction and properties of the pyrolyzer were tested using funds from the Innovation Incubator 4.0 project. After obtaining promising research results conducted in cooperation with the company GSC sp. z o.o. sp. k., a decision was made to apply for protection of the solution in an international patent procedure using funds from the university’s Titanium program. The next step was the establishment of a spin-off company. The creators decided to found the company W2H2 with the participation of Gdańsk Tech’s special purpose vehicle — Excento sp. z o.o.
During further development of the pyrolysis technology, Professor Kusz and PhD Eng. Bartosz Trawiński filed three new invention applications. One element of the pyrolyzer’s design is currently being refined using funding from the Innovation Incubator 4.0. This is a feeder that can be used independently from the reactor; in devices where it is necessary to move materials between two zones differing in, for example, pressure, temperature, and primarily atmospheric composition.