In the United States (US), Mayekawa USA Inc. and Unconventional Gas Solutions LLC (UGS) have announced the successful completion and delivery of a biogas upgrading system at Novilla RNG LLC’s new Bellevue RNG facility in northern Vermont (VT). Mayekawa USA and UGS have partnered to deliver seven upgrading systems to RNG projects operated by Novilla over the past three years.
Designed to convert organic waste on dairy farms into renewable energy, Novilla’s RNG sites efficiently process raw biogas from their digester using UGS’s gas upgrading systems.
The systems are powered by MYCOM two-stage compressors, constructed with materials specifically built to handle high hydrogen sulfide content.
What’s really great about the MYCOM compressor is that we’re able to put raw biogas in there. That gas is fully saturated with water at 100°F, and because we don’t have to do any pretreatment, it saves us about US$500,000 to US$600,000 a year in hydrogen sulfide removal costs, said Mark Hill, co-CEO of Novilla RNG.
The raw gas is composed of 53-58 percent methane (CH4), 42-47 percent carbon dioxide (CO2), and about 3000 PPM hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
The MYCOM compressor on each upgrading system controls the pressure levels on the digester, moves the gas through the system, and pressurizes it to about 180 PSI.
We had to have a compressor that could handle highly corrosive environments. MYCOM compressors are highly reliable, quiet, and energy efficient. All of these result in saving OPEX. The net result of this system is that we would expect greater than 99 percent uptime based on historical operations we’ve done with Novilla with this same, exact setup, said Mark Pastore, Director of Sales and Business Development at UGS.
Novilla’s newest RNG plant, based in Berkshire, VT, utilizes MYCOM compressors in UGS skids to digest dairy manure in an anaerobic digester.
The process produces biogas containing methane that is purified to above pipeline quality standards. The plant will contribute to reducing imported fossil-based natural gas by 110,000 MMBtu a year in Vermont.
Efficiency and reliability are hallmarks of the MYCOM brand and our products. We are pleased to see Novilla exceed its uptime targets across multiple projects while continuing to produce high-quality renewable natural gas. By leveraging the MYCOM compressor’s capabilities, the company has also been able to drastically reduce operating costs across its facilities. We look forward to continuing to support our partners at UGS and Novilla for years to come, said Curtis Smith, Biogas/RNG Account Manager at Mayekawa USA.
