UK wastewater site to scale hydrogen and graphene production

United Utilities has been awarded £9.5m ($12.7m) to lead two wastewater resource recovery projects, including a scale-up of Levidian’s methane cracking technology to produce hydrogen and graphene from sewage-derived biogas.

Funded by government water regulator Ofwat, it follows an earlier demonstration at the company’s Davyhulme wastewater treatment works in Manchester, where Levidian’s technology used electromagnetic waves to split methane extracted from sewage waste.

While production volumes were not disclosed, the full-scale installation is expected to produce three times as much hydrogen and graphene as the initial system.

The UK water company told H2 View that the system will be on the same site as the demonstrator, which was used to power an onsite generator.

United Utilities also confirmed that the pilot system was returned to Levidian.

It has secured offtake for the graphene with a local low-carbon concrete company which will integrate it into its product, while hydrogen mobility firm UlemCo is assessing offtake of the hydrogen.

A second project funded through the Ofwat scheme will see United Utilities evaluate whether US-based General Atomics’ super critical water oxidation (SCWO) technology is suitable for adoption in the UK.

SCWO destroys contaminants and organic material in wastewater sludge to reduce volumes and produce cleaner byproducts.

Graphene is a lightweight, conductive form of carbon used for strengthening composite materials as well as applications across electronics and medicine.

According to Mordor Intelligence, the global graphene market is expected to grow from $2.91bn in 2026 to $15.2bn by 2031 as industrial-scale applications accelerate.

The development comes as Levidian expands commercial deployment of its technology, having a deal to develop a graphene production site in Sharjah, UAE.