Bright Biomethane North America, a recently established subsidiary of the Netherlands-headed biomass combustion and biogas technology providers HoSt has announced that the first biogas upgrading projects will soon be realized in the northwest of the State of New York. These will be one of the first renewable natural gas (RNG) projects on the US East Coast and one of the first nationwide with high efficient 3-stage membrane separation technology.
According to a statement, the delivery of the renewable natural gas (RNG) systems is part of a big revamp project from partner Martin Energy Group, which includes an overhaul on five existing anaerobic digesters (AD) and replacing the combined heat and power (CHP) units with Bright Biomethane’s RNG technology.
The projects are in the range of 150 – 250 cubic feet per minute (cfm) and will refine biogas produced from manure to RNG as a natural gas substitute. Direct grid injection is not possible at all sites. Therefore, Bright’s virtual pipeline solutions are used. At a virtual pipeline, the gas is compressed to high pressure so it can be economically and safely transported to the grid entry point where the gas is injected into the pipeline.
We are responsible for engineering up to commissioning and all that surrounds the biogas upgrading and virtual pipeline solution. We will combine our vast experience from Europe with manufacturing in the US to get the best solution for each project, commented Marcel te Braak, CTO, Bright Biomethane.
3-stage membrane separation technology
For the separation of carbon dioxide (CO2) from methane (CH4) in the biogas upgrading stage, membranes with the highest selectivity available in the market are used. The 3-step membrane arrangement assures high biomethane quality (according to specifications) with maximum methane recovery of 99.5 percent and higher.
In this patented design the permeate gas from the different stages is recirculated to obtain not just the highest efficiency (>99.5 percent), but also the lowest methane loss (<0.5 percent). According to the company, this is a significantly higher recovery rate than many other technologies.
