Swiss waste-to-energy (WtE) and biogas technology specialists Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) AG has announced that it has recently handed over the largest membrane gas upgrading plant ever delivered by HZI to StormFisher Ltd, who in turn have partnered with Enbridge Gas Distribution Inc. to inject low-carbon renewable natural gas (RNG) into the company’s natural gas distribution system in Ontario (ON), Canada.
Generating electricity from waste is not new in the city of London in the southern part of the Canadian province of Ontario. For years a local waste treatment plant has been producing biogas from all kinds of organic waste and used it to generate electricity in a combined heat and power (CHP) unit.
But now the biogas will also be upgraded to produce biomethane aka renewable natural gas (RNG). The upgrading technology has been supplied by Hitachi Zosen Inova via HZI BioMethan, its German subsidiary specialized in developing and constructing gas upgrading plants based on two different processes.
First in Canada with membrane separation
By taking over regular operations of the upgrading plant, StormFisher can now extend its business case. According to HZI, it is not just the size of the project in London, Ontario (ON), that makes it a special one.
In London, the biomethane is produced by means of membrane-based gas permeation. The raw biogas is introduced under pressure into modules containing hollow fiber membranes made of high-performance polymers.
In the modules, the carbon dioxide (CO2) contained in the biogas is removed from the methane, which at the end of the process is extracted and – with the same quality as natural gas – forwarded to a feed-in station to be injected in the local gas grid.
According to HZI, this is the first gas upgrading plant in Canada to use this process. It enables upgrading capacities of 360 to 1 200 Nm3 per hour of raw biogas.
This degree of flexibility is a special feature of the plant. By means of gas upgrading, the client can utilize surplus biogas and generate additional energy.
Enable overall AD plant expansion
StormFisher intends to successively increase the volumes of waste accepted, so more biogas can gradually be fed into the upgrading system. For this reason, the flexibility to process varying raw gas feed capacities was a key factor in the awarding of the contract. The HZI plant covers a range of 30-100 percent feed capacity.
The project will thus enable the client to optimize the sustainable management of resources in the region, as well as contributing to the Canadian government’s climate policy and global decarbonization efforts.
Pilot project for North America
This project in Canada was HZI BioMethan’s first inter-company venture within the group, with the German gas upgrading pioneer developing and delivering the project in collaboration with HZI Canada in Toronto and HZI US, the group’s subsidiary in Knoxville, Tennessee (TN).
The adaptation of the technology to local market requirements set down in the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Code and the Canadian standard paves the way for further growth in the US and Canadian markets.
The Canadian project developer and HZI are already collaborating on another project to produce biomethane. Furthermore, a second inter-company project is currently being developed in southern California (CA).
There, besides biogas upgrading, an additional-technology from the HZI Group’s Renewable Gas portfolio is being used – producing biogas with Kompogas dry fermentation process.
