[featured_image]
Download
Download is available until [expire_date]
  • Version
  • Download 0
  • File Size 150.00 KB
  • File Count 1
  • Create Date September 23, 2024
  • Last Updated September 23, 2024

Upscaling Plan

technology for sour biogas desulfurization based on anoxic biological processes, being able to obtain a high quality biogas and final valuable by-products. An inlet hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentration of 500 ppmv is considered the highest concentration generally accepted for internal combustion engines using biogas; the BIOGASNET technology will allow to reduce the H2S concentration of biogas up to 25 ppmv. To that end, two prototypes were designed and constructed for two different relevant operational environments: (1) a municipal (medium size) solid waste landfill in Cádiz (Spain) and (2) a municipal (large size) solid waste treatment plant in Fili town, Athens (Greece).
Although originally this deliverable was devoted to developing the upscaling plan of the prototypes for both project’s sites, Cádiz and Athens, the characteristics found at these sites made it necessary to discard this. On the one hand, Cádiz site presented a leachate, N-source of the process, extremely saline, besides a lower than expected H2S concentration (an average of 150 ppmv). On the other hand, Athens site also showed a lower than expected H2S concentration (an average of 74 ppmv) and an unexpected bureaucratic issue consisting in the fact that the N-source belongs to one company while the biogas to be treated belongs to another, which would greatly hinder the possibility of an industrial plant operation. Thus, it was necessary to study an alternative site for the upscaling of the technology. Fortunately, an international company showed interest in the project and request for a viability plan of the technology for one of its sites, a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) where there is a necessity of desulfurization of the biogas produced from the digestion of sewage sludge (148,800 m3/day and a H2S concentration of 3,359.75 ppmv): The plant also provides an existing N-source (centrate from digestate) of 2,850 m3/day (NH4 concentration of 1,230 mg/L).

The site characteristics provided by the interested company enabled the project’s consortium to determine the suitability of the site for the technology under study. The relevant information resulting from the prototypes operation during the project was used to estimate the industrial scale up of the BIOGASNET technology at the selected site. Based on this information, a comparative analysis, confronting a chemical scrubbing system with BIOGASNET technology plant was carried out. Such analysis revealed that the BIOGASNET technology presented a better economic and environmental performance than the chemical scrubbing technology. Regarding the annual cost of the biogas desulfurization, the total cost per year of the chemical scrubbing amounts to 5,581,361 € (657,637 CAPEX and 4,923,724 OPEX) while the BIOGASNET technology achieve a very competitive cost, 1,225,606 € (919,723 CAPEX and 305,883 OPEX). This annual cost of BIOGASNET enables a very competitive LCOE value of 0.029 €/kWh. Regarding the environmental performance of the technology, the environmental impact of the BIOGASNET technology is significantly lower that the chemical scrubbing, ranging between ~50% and 95% among the impacts assessed. While Chemical Scrubbing is dominated by sodium hydroxide followed by hydrogen peroxide (consumables), which was something expected given the way the process works (by oxidizing H2S consuming those chemicals), the BIOGASNET technology is co-dominated by the sodium bicarbonate and the electricity consumption, the latter being something easily reducible through the use of self-produced electricity or with guaranteed renewable origin.
The BIOGASNET desulfurization process has been proven to be an advantageous alternative compared to chemical systems, being an exemplification of an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective biogas desulfurization technology, which aims to enhance the utilization of biogas as a sustainable energy source, mitigating the carbon footprint of the energy cycle, and promoting the circular economy.