Research

SAFphyre’s work is organised into a set of interconnected work packages, spanning use-case definition, process simulation, cell development, system integration, demonstration, large-scale assessment, and project coordination. Jump to any work package below.

Led by EPFL and running across the project’s first 18 months, WP1 defines the use cases and operating points that ground SAFphyre’s subsequent modelling and experimental work. Key deliverables include:

  • Use cases definition — mapping promising co-SOE/FT configurations across European geographical, energy, and CO₂ source contexts.
  • State-of-the-art performance map — benchmarking current cell and stack performance as a reference point.
  • Stack and reactor models with identification of operating points — defining the specific conditions tested experimentally in WP3 and WP4.
  • Synthesis pathways comparison — comparing fuel synthesis routes, including thermal integration potential.

The work begins with an analysis of existing state-of-the-art Fischer-Tropsch plants operated by industry leaders such as Sasol and Shell, supplemented by a literature review. This informs use-case definition across location and energy considerations, CO₂ source and purity, steam source and heat requirements, production scale (10–300 MW), and waste-heat utilisation potential — before converging on the specific operating points tested experimentally later.

WP1 will deliver a validated set of use cases and operating points that ground SAFphyre’s modelling, cell testing, and demonstrator design in realistic European deployment conditions.

Led by EPFL, WP2 runs from month 13 through to project completion, developing the process models and heat exchanger design that determine how efficiently the co-SOE and Fischer-Tropsch processes can be integrated. Key deliverables include:

  • Plant configuration optimisation — an optimised heat exchanger network design for the 25 kWe co-SOE system.
  • Demonstrator simulation — a dynamic model of the demonstrator, validated against real operating data from WP5/6.

The work first establishes a steady-state plant configuration, then extends it into a dynamic simulation incorporating real thermal mass and heat loss data as the physical demonstrator comes online. This is what allows SAFphyre to quantify how much of the co-SOE’s steam-generation energy demand can be met by recovered Fischer-Tropsch reactor heat, rather than relying on design assumptions alone.

WP2 will deliver a validated process model and heat exchanger design underpinning both the demonstrator and SAFphyre’s techno-economic case for industrial-scale deployment.

Led by CEA and running from month 1 to month 24, WP3 establishes harmonised testing protocols and characterises how state-of-the-art cells perform under co-electrolysis conditions. Key deliverables include:

  • Test protocols — harmonised testing protocols ensuring cell and stack results from TNO, CEA, and Topsoe remain directly comparable.
  • Performance and lifetime of state-of-the-art cells — baseline characterisation of current cell performance and durability in co-electrolysis mode.

Establishing common protocols across the consortium is a foundational step: without it, results generated by different partners using different equipment could not be reliably compared. The baseline performance and lifetime data gathered here defines the benchmark against which WP4’s next-generation cells are measured.

WP3 will deliver validated testing protocols and a state-of-the-art performance baseline that anchors all subsequent cell development work in the project.

Led by CEA, WP4 runs from month 12 to month 45, taking the WP3 baseline and developing, manufacturing, and validating next-generation cells against it. Key deliverables include:

  • Numerical optimisation of cell materials and morphology — modelling electrode microstructure and materials to improve performance and durability.
  • Performance and lifetime of next-generation cells — characterising the optimised cells against the WP3 baseline.
  • Stack performance and durability test — validating results at short-stack level.

Numerical models target the two degradation mechanisms identified as most significant in co-electrolysis mode — carbon deposition at the fuel electrode and nickel migration within the electrode microstructure — translating mechanistic understanding into concrete design recommendations. Next-generation cells manufactured by TNO and Topsoe are then tested alongside state-of-the-art cells, targeting a degradation rate of 0.8 voltage%/khr at 750°C and –1.0 A/cm² over 3,000+ hours of short-stack operation.

WP4 will deliver validated next-generation co-SOE cells with demonstrated durability, directly informing the cell technology deployed in the WP5/6 demonstrator.

Led by Topsoe and running from month 12 to month 30, WP5 designs and builds the integrated 25 kWe co-SOE/Fischer-Tropsch system that WP6 will then operate and test. Key deliverables include:

  • Integrated co-SOE/FT system — the physical demonstrator coupling the co-SOE stack to a pilot Fischer-Tropsch reactor.
  • Updated co-SOE core — incorporating learnings from WP3/4 cell development into the demonstrator’s core design.

This work package is where SAFphyre’s separate strands of cell development and process design first come together as a single physical system, incorporating the cell technology validated in WP4 and the process design developed in WP2.

WP5 will deliver a fully integrated, operational co-SOE/FT demonstrator system, ready for the testing campaign carried out in WP6.

Led by Topsoe, WP6 runs from month 30 to month 45, operating and testing the integrated system built in WP5. Key deliverables include:

  • Coupling test results — validating that the co-SOE and Fischer-Tropsch units operate correctly together.
  • Durability test results — at least 2,000 hours of constant, full-load operation, measuring steady-state degradation.
  • Dynamic test results — at least 100 cycles of hot-standby and load modulation, reaching 4,000+ hours of total operational time.

Beyond steady-state operation, this work package specifically tests the system’s dynamic behaviour — how it responds to load changes and hot-standby cycling, conditions any commercial-scale plant will need to handle reliably. Results validate the dynamic process model from WP2 against real operating data.

WP6 will deliver validated, real-world operating data on the integrated co-SOE + Fischer-Tropsch process, demonstrating its readiness for industrial scale-up.

Led by EPFL and running from month 1 to month 24, WP7 develops the regional and economic framing that underpins SAFphyre’s later large-scale analysis. Key deliverables include:

  • Regional use cases — economic and regional deployment scenarios across Europe.
  • Case-based system configuration models for large-scale applications — early-stage models of how different configurations perform at scale.
  • Preliminary TEA and LCA — initial techno-economic and life cycle assessment, ahead of the full analysis in WP8.

Running in parallel with the technical use-case work in WP1, WP7 takes an economic and regional lens — establishing the preliminary cost and environmental baseline that WP8 will later refine once demonstrator data becomes available.

WP7 will deliver a preliminary techno-economic and environmental case for co-SOE + FT deployment, setting up the full-scale analysis carried out later in the project.

Led by EPFL, WP8 runs from month 25 to month 48, extending WP7’s preliminary work into a full large-scale optimisation and impact case once demonstrator results from WP5/6 are available. Key deliverables include:

  • Large-scale optimisation framework and deployment scenarios — modelling industrial-scale (100+ MW) configurations.
  • LCA of scaled co-SOE/FT systems — full life cycle assessment at industrial scale.
  • Safety & risk assessment — evaluating the safety implications of large-scale deployment.

This work package is where SAFphyre’s demonstrator-scale evidence translates into an industrial-scale business and sustainability case, incorporating real operating data from WP6 into the techno-economic and environmental models first established in WP7.

WP8 will deliver a validated large-scale techno-economic, environmental, and safety case for co-SOE + FT technology, providing the evidence base for future investment and deployment decisions.

Led by Linq Consulting across all three reporting periods of the project (RP1: months 1–18; RP2: months 19–36; RP3: months 37–48), this work package ensures SAFphyre’s results reach the audiences best placed to act on them. Key deliverables include:

  • RP1 (M1–18): Branding toolkit, online presence, newsletters, dissemination & communication content plan, and first impact & exploitation plan.
  • RP2 (M19–36): Updated dissemination & communication content plan and updated impact & exploitation plan.
  • RP3 (M37–48): Stakeholder workshop, dissemination & communication final report, and final impact & exploitation plan.

Dissemination activity evolves across the three reporting periods — establishing the project’s identity and channels early, refining the strategy as results emerge in the middle period, and converging on stakeholder engagement and final reporting as the project concludes.

This work package will deliver a comprehensive communication and dissemination record, demonstrated through the branding toolkit, online presence, and a final stakeholder workshop bringing together the audiences best placed to take SAFphyre’s results forward.

Led by TNO across all three reporting periods (RP1: months 1–18; RP2: months 19–36; RP3: months 37–48), this work package provides the administrative framework, progress monitoring, and risk management that keep the consortium on track. Key deliverables include:

  • RP1 (M1–18): Project Management Framework, Quality Control Plan, Risk Management Plan, Data Management Plan, and annual data reporting for the Clean Hydrogen JU (M13).
  • RP2 (M19–36): Updated Risk Management Plan, mid-project Data Management Plan, and annual data reporting (M25).
  • RP3 (M37–48): Final Data Management Plan.

This coordination role is what allows SAFphyre’s distinct strands of work — fundamental cell science, system modelling, demonstration, and dissemination — to operate as a single, accountable consortium rather than separate research efforts, with formal reporting to the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking at regular intervals throughout the project.

This work package will deliver a well-governed, on-track consortium, ensuring SAFphyre’s technical and dissemination objectives are met within the project’s funded timeline.

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