Landfill gas upgrading with pilot-scale water scrubber: Performance assessment with absorption water recycling

Abstract A pilot-scale counter current absorption process for upgrading municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill gas to produce vehicle fuel was studied using absorption, desorption and drying units and water as an absorbent. Continuous water recycling was used without adding new water to the system. The process parameters were defined by a previous study made with this pilot system. The effect of pressure (20–25 bar), temperature (10–25 °C) and water flow speed (5.5–11 l/min) on the upgrading performance, trace compounds (siloxanes, halogenated compounds) and water quality were investigated. Raw landfill gas flow was kept constant at 7.41 Nm3/h. Methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) contents …

Ionic liquids versus amine solutions in biogas upgrading: the level of volatile organic compounds

Background: This article provides information related to the occurrence of volatile organic compounds before and after biogas purification, by means of both aqueous amine solutions and ionic liquids. Results & discussion: Encouraging results were obtained. Under the experimental conditions, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ionic liquid appeared to perform at least two-times better than aqueous amines solutions, since it captured 65 wt% of the identified volatile organic compounds, while aqueous amine solutions retained around 35 wt% only. However, in the case of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and dichlorobenzene, aqueous amine solutions rendered better purification performance and diminish…

Landfill gas upgrading with countercurrent water wash.

A pilot-scale countercurrent absorption process for upgrading landfill gas to produce vehicle fuel was studied using absorption and desorption units and water as absorbent. The height-to-diameter ratio of the absorption column used was 3:1 instead of the more conventionally used 20:1 ratio, and a higher pressure was used along with a lower water flow rate. The effects of pressure (10-30 bar) and water and gas flow-ratios on the upgrading process were studied. Methane content in the product gas increased to near or above 90% with both gas flows (50 and 100 l/min) used at over 20 bar pressure with 10 l/min water flow and at 30 bar pressure with 5l/min water flow. Carbon dioxide content with t…

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and methane from food waste and cow slurry: Comparison of biogas and VFA fermentation processes

Upgrading landfill gas using a high pressure water absorption process

Abstract The upgrading of landfill gas (methane 54.2 ± 2.0%, carbon dioxide 42.1 ± 2.4% and nitrogen 3.7 ± 1.2%) was studied with a pilot-scale high pressure water absorption system consisting of absorption, desorption and gas drying units. The gas was upgraded in two phases and with two absorption columns operating in sequence in pressures up to 180 bar, and with initial pressures of 8 and 10 bar. This type of high pressure process, where water is used for increasing the gas pressure, does not need a separate compression unit to produce the gas pressure required by gas vehicles. Product gas with a methane contents ranging from 83.0% to 92.1% was achieved with differing process parameters, …

Determination of organic silicon compounds in biogas from wastewater treatments plants, landfills, and co-digestion plants

Abstract The study determined the organic silicon compounds in biogases from landfills, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and biogas plants processing different organic material. The aim was to provide information for gas utilisation applications, as siloxanes are reported to shorten the life time of engines when biogas is used for energy production. In total, 48 samples were measured. The total concentration of organic silicon compounds in landfill and WWTP gases varied from 77 to 2460 μg/m3 while the concentrations in biogases from biogas plants varied from 24 to 820 μg/m3. The total concentration of organic silicon compounds was lowest (24 μg/m3) in the biogas plant processing grass a…

Trace compounds affecting biogas energy utilisation – A review

Abstract This paper investigates the trace compounds affecting energy utilisation in biogas that come from different production sites. With biogas being more widely used in different energy applications more interest has arisen for the specific composition of biogas. In traditional energy applications, methane and hydrogen sulphide contents have had the most influence when energy utilisation application has been considered. With more advanced processes also the quantity and quality of trace compounds is more important. In regards to trace compounds, it was found that the concentrations and the variations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be high in different landfills, especially, wi…

Biogas composition and upgrading to biomethane

Saija Rasin tutkimus osoittaa, että jätteistä tai energiakasveista tuotettua biokaasua voidaan hyödyntää sähkön ja lämmön tuotantoon. Biokaasua voidaan käyttää jalostettuna myös korkealaatuista polttoainetta vaativissa kohteissa, kuten ajoneuvoissa ja polttokennoissa. Fossiilisten polttoaineiden korvaaminen uusiutuvilla polttoaineilla, esimerkiksi biokaasulla, vähentää merkittävästi kasvihuone- ja muita haitallisia päästöjä. Biokaasun pääkomponentit ovat metaani ja hiilidioksidi, ja lisäksi se voi sisältää pieniä pitoisuuksia energiakäyttöä haittaavia yhdisteitä, joiden määrä ja laatu vaihtelevat. Nämä yhdisteet voivat esimerkiksi estää koko teknologian käytön tai lyhentää laitteistojen huo…

Organic silicon compounds in biogases produced from grass silage, grass and maize in laboratory batch assays

Abstract In the present study the occurrence of volatile organic silicon compounds in biogas produced from grass silage, grass and maize in laboratory batch assays was analyzed and methane potentials were determined. Inoculum from a mesophilic farm digester was used, and its effects were subtracted. Methane yields from grass silage, grass and maize were 0.38, 0.42 and 0.34 m3CH4/kg – volatile solids added (VSadd), respectively. Trimethyl silanol, hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane (D3), octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4) and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) were detected from all the biogases. Higher yields of volatile organic silicon compounds in the grass (from 21.8 to 37.6 μg/kgVSadd) were detec…

Risk of Invasive Lupinus polyphyllus Seed Survival in Biomass Treatment Processes

Invasive plant species threaten native species and habitats causing ecologic, economic and social burden. When creating climate friendly solutions by utilizing plant biomasses in biogas and fertilizer production, safety should be ensured concerning the use of residues. This study concentrates on the treatment of biomasses containing invasive plant material by tunnel and windrow composting, and by farm-scale and laboratory-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) in mesophilic conditions. Germination of the nationally settled and harmful invasive species Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl. was investigated after these processes. In addition, the role of the conditions found in the processes that destroyed seed…

CO2 capture from biogas: Absorbent selection

The development of proper biogas upgrading technology offers a viable means to utilize biogas in conventional power systems. In this paper, various molecular and ionic solvent systems were evaluated for CO2 removal from biogas in a loop reactor system. The performance of amine solutions, ionic liquids and their mixtures, amino acid salts and solutions blended with piperazine was compared in terms of their CO2 loading capacity. The experimental results revealed that addition of small amounts of piperazine can increase on average by 30 vol% the efficiency of above-mentioned solutions. The CO2 capturing capacity achieved for the most promising solvents was in the range of 50–60 L CO2/L absorbe…

Trace compounds of biogas from different biogas production plants

Biogas composition and variation in three different biogas production plants were studied to provide information pertaining to its potential use as biofuel. Methane, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulphur compounds were measured in samples of biogases from a landfill, sewage treatment plant sludge digester and farm biogas plant. Methane content ranged from 48% to 65%, carbon dioxide from 36% to 41% and nitrogen from <1% to 17%. Oxygen content in all three gases was <1%. The highest methane content occurred in the gas from the sewage digester while the lowest methane and highest nitrogen contents were found in the landfill gas during winter. The amoun…