Design of a liquid-piston compressor for raw-wet-biogas to produce biomethane for vehicles and back up power.

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Title
Design of a liquid-piston compressor for raw-wet-biogas to produce biomethane for vehicles and back up power.

CoPED ID
8004a596-3990-466c-aa4a-70752d4c1c13

Status
Closed


Value
£139,292

Start Date
May 31, 2018

End Date
Nov. 30, 2019

Description

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"Engas UK Ltd is developing a novel raw-wet biogas compressor to directly produce ultra high purity bio-methane for i) refuelling of natural gas vehicles, and ii) Cloud-based back up power. This backup power will be suited for Smart Grid services and off-grid power generation. This solution will also be exported to abroad where CNG vehicles are common and the electricity grid is often unreliable.

**Problem:** There is often a lot of stranded biogas in smaller sewage treatment sites, landfill gas sites, and many existing biogas plants sites where moving raw biogas from one location to another location will create a significant business opportunity; unfortunately shipment of raw biogas is currently NOT feasible due to the high moisture content, high level of CO2 and corrosive H2S impurities. The moisture content in biogas will block the mechanical piston unless the gas is dried upfront of compression. Then CO2 will liquefy during compression at above 60bar at ambient temperature causing serious blockage of piston/valves etc. H2S in raw biogas will also cause corrosion inside the compressor. Drying of raw biogas is inefficient due to the relative humidity causing a high level of surface water in raw biogas.

**Solution:** Engas UK is developing a technology where wet-corrosive biogas having high CO2 content will be compressed and dried and the CO2 will be separated thus producing about 97% Biomethane at 200-250bar, which can be then shipped to a different location for usage e.g. refuelling of vehicles, or for power generation as back up power replacing diesel generators. There is an ongoing debate to phase out diesel backup generators to reduce local pollution and for example, the Government of Delhi has banned the use of diesel generators in Delhi from Nov 2017 to reduce the air pollution, which opens up a large market for bioCNG powered back up generators.

At 250 bar biomethane has 3 times greater volumetric energy density (kWh/lt) than hydrogen, and 3 times greater energy density than the best Li-ion batteries, which will be ideal for energy storage at the most economical options for £/kW installed, and £/kWh delivered.

The above solution addresses all three aspects of **energy trilemma of ""Affordable, carbon neutral, high efficiency, and energy security.** This solution would be suited for stranded biogas from existing sources and also to convert the organic waste to Biomethane at dairy farms, pig farms, new sustainable housing projects, University Campus, business parks etc."

Engas (UK) Ltd LEAD_ORG
Engas (UK) Ltd PARTICIPANT_ORG

Amitava Roy PM_PER
Amitava Roy PM_PER

Subjects by relevance
  1. Biogas
  2. Biofuels
  3. Emissions
  4. Renewable energy sources
  5. Natural gas vehicles
  6. Bioenergy
  7. Compressors
  8. Enterprises
  9. Greenhouse gases
  10. Energy production (process industry)
  11. Smart grids

Extracted key phrases
  1. Wet biogas compressor
  2. Raw biogas
  3. Biogas plant site
  4. Corrosive biogas
  5. Piston compressor
  6. High CO2 content
  7. Novel raw
  8. Design
  9. Grid power generation
  10. High moisture content
  11. Ultra high purity bio
  12. Backup power
  13. Natural gas vehicle
  14. Time great volumetric energy density
  15. Time great energy density

Related Pages

UKRI project entry

UK Project Locations