Biogas & Bio-methane

Biogas

Biogas is a renewable gaseous fuel containing approximately 50-70% methane and 30 to 40% carbon dioxide. Biogas is produced as a by-product from the decomposition of organic waste in landfills and anaerobic digesters that process agricultural waste and municipal waste water. Anaerobic digestion of animal manure and other agricultural wastes offers a number of additional benefits to farmers, including:

• reduce air and water pollution
• odor management
• production of environmentally benign co-products including
• organic fertilizer and animal bedding material
• new revenue streams such as sales of renewable natural gas and
• more environmentally friendly fertilizers

The recovery of pipeline grade methane or compressed natural gas ("CNG") from biogas has emerged as an increasingly popular pathway for the production of renewable energy from biogas, driven by the following factors:

• government incentives for replacing imported gas with local, renewable energy
• public demand for renewable, cleaner energy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions
• concerns about waste management in the agriculture and food industry
• concerns about energy security

A key step in the processing of biogas is the separation of carbon dioxide present in the gas. The Xebec BGX PSA systems offer compact, low-cost, carbon dioxide separation solutions incapacities up to 4,000 NCMH of product methane. The compact design and optimized performance of Xebec’s PSA is an excellent fit with biogas upgrading plants.

Xebec’s methane purifiers are used around the world to upgrade biogas to renewable natural gas. For instance, the Xebec gas purification system at Cincinnati’s Rumpke Landfill, one of the largest landfills in the U.S., upgrades biogas from the landfill into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas. The purified gas is piped to more than 8,700 homes for use by Duke Energy customers.

Sources of biogas are widely distributed: they include landfills, municipal wastewater treatment, livestock manure lagoons, agricultural silage, and industrial organic waste digesters. Each source produces its own particular blend of biogas with varying compositions and trace components. Biogas is useful as a fuel to operate small power generators and boilers or, after upgrading by removal of water and carbon dioxide, as a green gas supply for the natural gas pipeline network. Xebec offers other biogas treatment options depending on the source and end-use of the biogas. Products available include dryers and adsorption units for removal of carbon dioxide.

Bio-Methane

Biogas is a renewable source of natural gas generated from the anaerobic digestion of waste materials in municipal landfills, waste water treatment plants and anaerobic digesters processing agricultural and industrial organic wastes. 

The growing trend towards higher natural gas prices and a demand for renewable energy has created strong demand for equipment to upgrade raw biogas to purified biomethane. Biomethane is a purified form of renewable biogas that meets pipeline natural gas quality specifications and can be distributed and sold by injection into existing pipeline gas utility pipelines. 

Biomethane can also be used as a carbon-neutral compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle fuel for vehicles including refuse trucks, heavy duty transportation trucks, transit buses and passenger cars.

XEBEC's integrated biogas plants provide customers with a packaged solution including all the equipment necessary to upgrade biogas to purified biomethane meeting pipeline or compressed natural gas quality specifications. As a result, clean renewable natural gas for a sustainable future.