Biogas as the future of renewable energy
Biogas plants are transforming the energy scenery, similar to how lithium-ion batteries are powering the electric vehicle revolution. By efficiently converting organic waste into valuable biogas, these plants significantly reduce CO2 emissions and lower the environmental impact.
Optimize your biogas production process with the correct combination of the most sustainable equipment, including air and gas compressors, dryers, filters, and gas generators. With a focus on low life cycle costs, our installations ensure a constant supply of high-quality, dry, and unpolluted air.
Compressed air, gas and oxygen generation solutions for biogas production
In modern biogas plants, air and oxygen help turn organic waste into useful biogas.
Biogas plants use compressed air to mix organic matter and oxygen to remove hydrogen sulphide and upgrade biogas.
We design our solutions to improve your operations, increase efficiency, and reduce waste, minimizing environmental damage.
Biogas production: the role of compressed air and gas in 5 steps
Biogas Compression and Purification
Gas blowers for transportation of biogas
No matter where biogas comes from, like digesters in sewage plants, landfills, or farms, biogas requires transportation for compression, purification, and separation.
For this application, you need a powerful gas blower. It should be able to handle raw gas without any pretreatment or purification. Additionally, it should be highly reliable and long-lasting. Our ZM blowers can handle raw biogas, transport it for purification, and produce methane and CO2 with low maintenance.
On-site Oxygen generation for H2S removal
Oxygen (O2) has several applications in biogas production.
One of the harmful byproducts of biogas production is hydrogen sulphide (H2S), which must be removed from the biogas flow across the plant as it is corrosive and can damage downstream equipment.
Oxygen dosing is the most sustainable and cost-effective method of removing hydrogen sulphide. The oxygen is microdosed into the headspace of the digester where it removes the sulphur. As a result, on-site oxygen generation is the ideal solution for biogas plants.
The OGP & OGP+ ranges supply oxygen concentrations from 90% to 95%. If your application only requires 93% purity for example, this is what the oxygen generator will supply at the touch of a button - there is no need to pay for a higher purity than is necessary. This means that on-site generated oxygen comes at a lower cost per unit than bottled or liquid oxygen.
CO2 compression in biogas production
Do you know that the anaerobic digester creates a big part of the biogas as CO2?
We all know by now that CO2 – when released into the atmosphere – triggers unwanted climate effects. Therefore, it’s a major concern for biogas stations to capture this CO2 and prepare it for re-use, injection into a CO2 pipeline, or underground storage.
You typically need to compress the CO2 to a pressure of around 20 bar for re-use.
Our oil-free CO2 compressors bring the CO2 gas to these desired pressures. You need an oil-free solution to maintain high-quality CO2 for reuse in industries like Food & Beverage, ensuring its purity. The capturing and re-use of CO2 play a major role in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Atlas Copco has a whole portfolio of CO2 products that will help you in this challenging journey.
Upgrading biogas into biomethane
When we upgrade biogas to biomethane, we can use it as fuel in vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) or inject it into the natural gas grid.
Different processes like water scrubbing, amines scrubbing, membranes, Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA), and cryogenic distillation upgrade biogas into biomethane. All these methods of upgrading require a biogas compressor to push and increase the pressure of the biogas from the digester to the upgrading process from usually atmospheric pressure up to 15 barg.
You can do this by using the Atlas Copco GG screw compressor. Once you upgrade it, you can reinject the biomethane into the gas grid by using an additional compressor, depending on the gas grid pressure. Biomethane can fill vehicles on a CNG refuelling station by taking them from the grid and using compressors with outlet pressure up to 250 barg, using the same accounting principles of green electricity. Our CU or BBR CNG piston compressors can accomplish this.
Advanced monitoring, control & connectivity
Our advanced monitoring, control, and connectivity features allow you to optimize performance and efficiency.
The central controller Optimizer 4.0 is the ideal solution to manage the complexities of controlling multiple compressors. The central controller monitors the fluctuating air demand 24/7. It automatically selects the most optimal configuration of multiple compressors to run at a low energy consumption.
Ebook compressed air and oxygen for biogas production
Whether you are exploring solutions in the biogas field or operating a large-scale biogas plant, we have the right solution for you: read more about compressed air and oxygen solutions for biogas production in our eBook.
Our proposed compressed air, gas systems and oxygen generation solutions for your biogas plant
- CO2 compressors are used for upgrading biogas to biomethane before it can injected into the natural gas grid or used as fuel in vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG). Atlas Copco's GG compressors are the ideal solution.
- Biogas plants require large quantities of oxygen and on-site gas generation using an oxygen generator like the Atlas Copco OGP oxygen generators offer the solution with a low life cycle cost for your biogas production.
- To monitor and manage the multiple compressors, we recommend using a central control system, the Optimizer 4.0. A central controller ensures the most optimum configuration of the compressors for energy usage.
- For remote monitoring and alarm indication, we provide a remote monitoring system, SMARTlink.
- Our air piping system, Airnet & Airnet SS can help you in your search for a carbon steel-free environment.
Read more about our products by clicking on one of the products below.
