Biogas cleans up its act
The development of waste-composting facilities and anaerobic waste-treatment plants, which produce smaller volumes of cleaner gas than landfills, has caused companies to reexamine how methane-rich offgas streams are handled. Now, biogas producers are beginning to extract further value from the methane, mainly by cleaning the gas to allow it to be fed to the growing natural-gas grids in the US and Europe. Another value-added route is to clean and boost the gas pressure to 250 bars for use as a fuel in compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. Depending on the volume and concentration of contaminants, absorption, carbon adsorption, biofilters, membrane separation, iron-based scavengers and wet oxidation are the principal clean-up routes being pursued. For high flowrates and sulfur loadings in excess o 500 lb/d, liquid oxidation or scavenger-based schemes are the most economic approaches. For lower volumes, however, liquid scrubbing, carbon adsorption and biofilters are more promising. These systems are discussed.
- OSTI ID:
- 500963
- Journal Information:
- Chemical Engineering, Journal Name: Chemical Engineering Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 104; ISSN CHEEA3; ISSN 0009-2460
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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