At a site in Goldenstedt in the German state of Lower Saxony, a research and project network is combining a high-temperature pyrolysis technology with Hitachi Zosen Inova’s proprietary "BiON" biological methanation process to produce biomethane.
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In Germany, a consortium of prestigious project partners – New Power Pack, Forschungszentrum Jülich research centre, Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the transmission system operator OGE, and HZI Schmack, a German subsidiary of the Japanese-Swiss cleantech company Hitachi Zosen Inova AG (HZI) – has developed and successfully commissioned a demonstration plant for the production of biomethane from biogenic residues.
The facility, built as part of the BiRG (BioReststoffGas) research project and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, is a promising solution for the utilization of biogenic residues.
The successful commissioning of a demonstration plant shows that the innovative BiON biological methanation process from HZI) is also suitable for processing the hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by pyrolysis, playing a key role in the solution.
A Lighthouse Project
The pilot demonstration plant processes biogenic residues and produces synthesis gas by means of pyrolysis, a downstream purification unit, and a water gas shift reactor.
Part of this synthetic gas is converted into biomethane using the BiON process, developed, and successfully brought to market maturity by HZI Schmack. The company is now opening up a new field of application by integrating the BiON process into the Goldenstedt plant.
It’s the first time that the biological process has been used to directly methanise pyrolysis and synthetic gas. The combination of pyrolysis and biological methanation is a promising alternative for the utilization of previously unused biogenic residues that will help strengthen the local energy supply, said Manuel Götz, Managing Director at HZI Schmack.
According to HZI Schmack, the biological process is robust and scalable as well as being highly tolerant to impurities such as hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and ammonia (NH3) in the pyrolysis gas.
In the future it will be possible to feed the synthetic methane obtained from the conversion of biogenic residues, after further treatment, into the existing long-distance gas grid, helping assure a sustainable supply of energy.
