In the Walloon region of Belgium, the 500th reference plant for biogas upgrading using Evonik's SEPURAN Green membranes is under construction. The German specialty chemicals company Evonik Insdustries AG is celebrating another milestone in its young history as a technology provider for membrane-based gas separation. The anniversary plant is a biogas project of the French plant manufacturer Prodeval on behalf of the Belgian company Biométhane du Bois d'Arnelle.
Since the product was launched in 2011, Evonik has worked with selected partners to develop its membrane-based gas separation technology into a new quality standard in biogas upgrading. The anniversary plant is a biogas project of the French plant manufacturer Prodeval on behalf of the Belgian company Biométhane du Bois d’Arnelle.
In it, 55 000 tonnes of organic substrates, one-third of which is renewable raw materials, one-third are by-products of food production, and one-third is slurry and manure from livestock farming, are used annually to produce biogas.
In the first instance, this produces 1 400 Nm3/h of raw biogas. Two-thirds of this biogas is upgraded to high-purity biomethane using SEPURAN Green membranes from Evonik and fed into the local natural gas grid as a climate-friendly energy source. The remaining biogas is used on-site for power generation.
We have been relying on SEPURAN Green technology for years. In the Wallonia project, we interconnect the membranes using Evonik’s patented 3-stage process, which enables the highly efficient production of biomethane. In terms of plant construction, the membrane technology convinces with its flexibility, scalability, ease of handling, as well as plant availability, which together ensure on-time project implementation of all plant sizes and capacities, as well as economical operation, said Sébastien Paolozzi, CEO at Prodeval.
In the future, biogas production in the Walloon region of Belgium will be doubled in stages. The purified biomethane will be made available to the transport sector via the local gas filling station network as a climate-friendly fuel, thus reducing local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by transport.
With Evonik’s innovative power, we have shaped a global technology leader for membrane-based gas separation in less than ten years and had a decisive impact on the global biogas market. In close cooperation with our partners such as Envitec Biogas, Tecno Project Industriale, Hitachi Zosen Inova, Bright Biomethane, and Prodeval, we are setting new standards in terms of plant efficiency and methane yield. We have established our membrane technology as the new quality standard for biogas upgrading. emphasized Dr Goetz Baumgarten, Head of the Membranes Innovation Growth Field at Evonik.
SEPURAN Green membranes for efficient biogas upgrading
The particularly selective SEPURAN Green hollow-fiber membranes from Evonik easily and efficiently upgrade raw biogas, which consists of the energy carrier biomethane plus carbon dioxide (CO2), into high-purity biomethane. The membranes are made of a high-performance polymer
According to Evonik, compared with other biogas upgrading processes such as pressurized water scrubbing, pressure swing adsorption (PSA), or amine scrubbing, Evonik’s membrane technology has significant advantages: It requires comparatively little energy and does not need any auxiliary materials or chemicals. No waste or wastewater is produced that would otherwise have to be treated and disposed of.
