Biogas Magazine Edition 09

* Bio-CNG: Should you consider entering this business? : Pg 12 * Role of Family Size Biogas Plants in Mee�ng India’s Sustainable Develop-ment Goals : Pg 16 * CNG-Mobility – Challenges and Opportuni�es for Biomethane: Pg 22

Edition 09| 2019

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Index IBA News

Indian Biogas Association provides thrust to Anaerobic digestion at the “Biogas Kumbh”-2019

06

Research and Development

Research and Development landscape of Biogas in India

08

National Corner

Role of Family Size Biogas Plants in Meeting India’s Sustainable Development Goals

16

International Corner

CNG-Mobility – Challenges and Opportunities for Biomethane

22

Biogas Corner

Biogas Plant Biogas production in Punjab: Scope and prospective

31

Advance Biogas AD mixing technology with higher throughput and operational excellence

25

Biogas Upgradation

Biogas Purification and Upgrading

Market Introduction

Bio-CNG: Should you consid

er entering this business?

Published by

Financed by

36

12

Coordinated by

In-Cooperation with

Foreword Recently concluded Biogas Kumbh at Renewable Energy India Expo – 2019 shows application of Bio energy is no longer only about science and technology; it’s also about on ground implementation of appropriate business models, which not only solves waste issues in a scientific manner but, also take care of circular economy with agriculture at its core.

The conventional fuel industry has been subsidized for decades with tax-breaks and government backing, while renewable esp. Bio-energy has struggled to compete.

price of Bio-CNG than the INR 46 plus taxes per kg set under SATAT, keeping the holistic viewpoint of biogas.

But, now with the welcome step of GoI to support BioCNG under Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) - an initiative aimed at putting forth developmental effort that would benefit vehicle-users, farmers and entrepreneurs; it is sending positive vibes to the biogas industry, to make a mark towards making biogas projects viable. There are many LOI holders under SATAT scheme but financial closure is still an open issue. OMCs need to look beyond the comparison with fossil fuel rate and GoI definitely need to introduce blending criterion of at least 10 % Bio-CNG with CNG .This will ensure growth of the biogas industry at its true potential. Biogas industry has further been demanding a higher off-take

A proper skilled manpower would be needed in the near future; in this regard IBA has already started the regular online biogas training apart from classroom training and the annual biogas training tour that it conducts. Specialized version of trainings are also coming up, for e.g. in November 2019 – a special session on Biogas from Paddy straw is planned. Further, Indian Biogas Association recently participated in IFAT – 2019 with a training cum workshop on, “ Comprehending fundamentals of Anaerobic Digestion”, and the enthusiasm towards Biogas was clearly seen during the event.

IBA has been putting effort towards market development of bio-slurry through the introduction of Buyer-Seller feature in the biogas app, the mobile application of IBA. The demonstration run of this feature in Varanasi has already shown promising results. Also, IBA is advocating to have INR 1.5 per kg of bio-slurry (in dried form), which at present is limited to city compost only.

The third General Assembly of IBA took place on the last day of REI-2019, where IBA solicited inputs and suggestions from its participating

members to further align the organizational strategies in line with their requirements.

In the forecoming months, Indian Biogas Association in cooperation with KREDL, shall further enhance its regional presence in the Southern parts of India through conglomeration of IBA members commencing the Southern regional working group at Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Continuing with the trend, the present edition of Biogas magazine presents to you diverse facets of biogas in form of interesting opinions, case studies, innovative models, experience sharing by field experts, good practices, happenings across the globe - related to the biogas industry. Hope, you enjoy the wide array of contributions from our numerous stakeholders. We try our label best to keep our readers enticed to the green sector in the most exciting manner.

Happy digesting!

Gaurav Kedia Chairman Indian Biogas Association

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 6

Indian Biogas Association provides thrust to Anaerobic digestion at the “Biogas Kumbh”-2019

T

he Biogas Kumbh, an initiative of Indian Biogas Association (IBA), was held from September 18, 2019, at the REI-2019, India Expo Mart, Greater Noida. The Kumbh comprised of Joint Pavilion of Biogas, Biogas Conference, and third General Assembly of IBA. Over the course of the event, i.e. 18th 20th September, the “Kumbh” featured exhibitors spanning the entire spectrum of biogas industry disseminating the comprehensive information about biogas industry, thus promoting biogas as the sustainable and fuel of choice for India. On 20th Sept 2018, i.e. the final day of the event, a biogas conference was organized, which was followed by the third General Assembly (the annual event for the members of IBA). The biogas conference included panel discussions and presentations by national and international experts from across the biogas industry. The conference proved to be an ideal platform for Biogas and Waste to Energy industry to congregate, discuss industry challenges, deep-diving into possible solutions, which would indeed help in proliferation of industries in a renewable domain or even otherwise looking for sustainable solutions.

The Biogas Kumbh attracted over 2000 trade

visitors at Joint Pavilion of Biogas and witnessed over 250 business meetings. The Biogas Kumbh catered the different industry players, aspiring entrepreneurs, environmental enthusiasts, research scholars, academics associates, and NGOs, associated with renewables, especially biogas domain at the expo.

The Biogas conference also had the participation of over 200 participants and over 20 eminent speakers addressed the conference.

In the Biogas Kumbh, the various facets of biogas covered under a single umbrella provided tremendous networking opportunity for all the relevant stakeholders of the industry.

One important objective of the Kumbh was to emphasize upon the experience of the German Biogas Association in the successful installation of over 9000 biogas plants over last decade in Germany. India needs to take a proper understanding out of the German road map in biogas and similar success stories can follow upon customizing as per the local needs and conditions. Representatives from the German Biogas Association were present across all the days of the Kumbh and

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 7

exchanged their immense experience in the field from the German standpoint with various Indian stakeholders over the course of the Kumbh.

Undoubtedly, the versatility of the biogas remains the key to utilize the immense potential trapped in abundant quantities of various waste feedstock, primarily in form of Agro-residues and animal manure, across diverse terrains of India. The dedicated stakeholders at the Biogas Kumbh provided the perfect opportunity to explore solutions emphasizing on biogas, thus leading to scientific waste management, harnessing green energy leading to self-sustainable farming and animal husbandry practices.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 8 Biofertilizer Upgradation

Value Chain

Substrate & Logistics

Pretreatement

Biogas Plant

Biogas Upgradation

Market Introduction

Research and Development landscape of Biogas in India

I

ndia is one of the pioneers in the Biogas movement. In fact, the global biogas journey began in India in the late eighteenth century at Matunga, Mumbai, wherein biogas was used for lighting purpose. Thereafter, the concept of biogas gained much traction world-wide, because of its promise to meet dual demands-as fuel and fertilizer along with scientific treatment of waste. However, despite the potential to produce and use biogas in India, to say the least, the movement so far hasn’t really lived up to its true potential.

ambit of biogas through establishment of medium scale (institutional and community scale) biogas plants. All this while, the primary focus area of research activities converged on improvement in design and efficiency of biogas burners, or the cooking stoves, and minor design developments in design of small-scale digesters. With sparse involvement from academic institutions, even in the late nineteenth century, the technological development for the industrial scale of biogas production happened at a slower pace.

In real terms, the journey of biogas in India gathered momentum during the mid-nineteenth century, wherein several models featuring fixed dome and floating dome technology customized to local requirements were developed. The actual growth story began from 1980 onwards, with a newly carved out Department of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (DNES), now Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) provided thrust to the construction of small-household based plants through its flagship program NBMMP (National Biogas and Manure Management Program). With DNES getting actively involved, the era also saw some research work being carried out alongside expansion in the

In the yester years, traditionally the feedstock used for biogas production had been predominantly cattle manure. However, the early twentieth century saw India bringing innovation into biogas by exploring new and unique feed options such as rotten potatoes, vegetable waste, fruit waste, rotten grains, agricultural waste, and Industrial Waste (press mud, food processing waste, spent liquors, etc.).

Still, with feedstock used in India differently compared to that used globally, many research institutes focused on characterization studies of potential feedstocks, both from its biogas potential and utility of the unspent bio-slurry as organic fertilizer. Coffee husk, for instance is an interesting agro-industrial

www.biogas-india.com waste, which resists bio methanation due to acidic pH and the presence of polyphenols.

Indian Institute of Science (IISc) carried out extensive research on coffee waste around 2010-11 and reported positive results for potentially taking it to commercial scale.

Recently, Government of India (GOI) made many bold announcements in the energy domain, like electrification of villages by 2018, and universal electrification with 24x7 electricity by 2022, targeting reduction of oil imports by 10% from 2014-15 levels, by 2022, and so on. At global forum as well, India has set voluntary ambitious targets of 175 GW renewable energy capacity addition by 2022 with a contribution of 10 GW from biomass, which includes biogas. The present cumulative installed capacity of biogas plants lag significantly behind at less than one GWeq. Thus, from policy standpoint, the need to refocus attention on Research, Design & Development and Demonstration (RDD&D) in biogas has arisen even more to supplement energy supply in the country, and propelling biogas industry to become competitive and self-sustainable.

As reported by MNRE, presently (2018), many premier academic institutions including the IITs (Indian Institute of Technology), and deemed Universities are involved in biogas related research work. The area of research

Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 9 spans diverse innovative areas across biogas value chain, such as use of ultrasonic waves for slurry homogenization, refrigeration using waste heat, improving efficiency of gensets producing power using biogas, design & development of prefabricated high rate digester for rapid biogas production, development of anaerobic technology for biogas recovery and stabilization of unsorted municipal solid waste, characterization of bio-slurry as potential organic fertilizer, co-generation of biofuels and biogas from biomass, alternative utilization of bio slurry to grow algae mass with onward biogas production, harnessing energy potential from lingo-cellulosic feedstock, and so on.

Presently, the typical setting of RDD&D projects happens to be on an individual basis by academic institutes depending upon specialization of its research professionals and their area of interest, or in partnership with corporate players. Joint participation of academic institutes in research work is an extremely rare scenario in Indian context. Nevertheless, most of the research projects are supported by government bodies, like Department of Science and Technology (DST) in coordination with MNRE have specifically earmarked funds for such initiatives.

RDD&D projects should be aligned with contemporary industry requirement and impend-

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 10

ing issues on hand. This ensures that industry is involved right from the conception stage of any undertaken RDD&D project. Some of the burning contemporary issues that need attention right away feature, scientific processing of the ever-growing problem of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) through bio-methanation route, treatment of harvested agro-residues which is being openly burnt in fields causing air-pollution, integrating the biogas with biofuels production through biorefineries, and so on. Corporates needs to actively come forward to foster partnership with the research institutes and pave the way towards addressing such real challenges.

In the fore coming years, roping in international cooperation in RDD&D projects should be the focus of policymakers, so as to avoid reinventing the wheel and lever upon the expertise and experience of other countries to explore advanced areas in the field of biogas.

One such instance is setting -up and managing an upcoming Biogas Lab at one of the premier institutes in India, IIT-BHU, Varanasi by the Indian Biogas Association in cooperation

with the German Biogas Association and field experts from Germany. The lab is proposed to come up in 2018, and shall be equipped comprehensively with contemporary testing facilities, like determining composition and yield from various substrates, laboratory fermentation tests of co-substrates, determining environmental and nutrient requirements for substrate degradation, identifying potential inhibitors in biogas processes, evaluation and interpretation of the analysis results, discussion of suggested measures for the Biogas plant to improve performance, and potential incubator for onward R&D activities.

In nutshell, the ecosystem for RDD&D activities in biogas looks conducive in terms of the defined problem statements w.r.t current burning issues seeking immediate attention, adequate availability of resources, along with the positive intent of the policymakers.

However, on certain fronts such as collaboration with national/international institutes, increased participation from corporates, there still remains huge scope for improvement.

Abhijeet Mukherjee Project Head Indian Biogas Association

Disclaimer: Articles published in the newsletter are individual views of respective authors. IBA has only provided a platform to share their views. IBA is not responsible for the content/images of the articles

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 12 Biofertilizer Upgradation

Value Chain

Substrate & Logistics

Pretreatement

Biogas Plant

Biogas Upgradation

Market Introduction

Bio-CNG: Should you consider entering this business?

T

hough Biogas has been around for nearly three decades, it has been a small industry, dominated by family size plants used for providing cooking fuel and power.

Prospects for Biogas plants are improving slowly but significantly, largely driven by the government policies that have allowed use of Bio-CNG (purified Biogas, also known as Compressed Bio Gas or CBG) in commercial vehicles and availability of subsidy for large scale plants. In September 2018, government of India (GOI) announced a policy on Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT), which proposes to set up 5,000 new Bio-CNG units across the country by 2025 and generate 15 million tonnes of Bio-CNG. India is the third largest energy consumer in the world with fossil fuels accounting for over 90 per cent of the energy mix. Renewable fuels such as Bio-CNG present a huge opportunity as they not only reduce our dependence on imports but also offer a solution to tackle the growing amount of organic waste and pollution arising out of crop burning.

No wonder then that Bio-CNG industry is suddenly attracting several entrepreneurs, including existing Biogas facilities that are looking to upgrade to Bio-CNG. Profitability

of Bio-CNG businesses depends on a host of factors including macro issues that influence demand for cleaner fuels and local elements such as availability of feedstock, capital requirements and ability of entrepreneurs to market their products. This article analyses four key factors that affect viability of BioCNG ventures.

1. Demand for cleaner fuels Natural gas contributes to around 23% of primary energy mix (see Figure 1) in India, with a consumption of around 164 MMSCMD (equivalent to 45 million tonnes per annum), growing at around 4 per cent per annum. Power, Fertiliser and City Gas Distribution (CGD) are key consuming sectors (see Figure 2). Since the domestic production of gas has not increased significantly, consumption of imported gas (LNG) has been rising (see Figure 3).

Consumption of gas is constrained by the limited availability of infrastructure related to its supply and distribution. Gas distribution network pipelines are available only in 96 districts in Northern and Western parts of country. Similarly, there are only 1424 CNG dispensing stations, 82% of which are located in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNRB) is expanding City Gas Distribution (CGD) network

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 13 Fig 2: Sectoral consumption of natural gas

Fig 1: Primary Energy Mix by Fuel type

4% 4%

Misc

Gas

7% 34%

21%

Nuclear

25%

Petrochemicals

Renewables

Refinery

6%

Oil

28% Coal

CGD

21%

12%

23%

Power

15%

Hydro

Fertiliser

Source: BP stastical review June 2018

Source: CRISIL report on natural gas, Feburary 19

200 150 47%

71%

74%

83%

94%

72%

74%

88%

2013

2018

2019

2023

LNG

100 50

Domestic sale of Natural gas

0

late, and landed prices of LNG in the near term are expected to be around $13 per MBTU, thus translating into a price of Rs. 48 per kg bio-CNG equivalent. Over the long term, significant decrease in LNG prices, would put pressure on Bio-CNG prices also.

significantly so as to cover 400 districts and set up additional 9000 CNG pumping stations. The CGD network will be used to supply Bio-CNG also, therefore boosting its demand.

2. Cost competitiveness of Bio-CNG vis-a-vis other fuels For large scale adoption, Bio-CNG would need to be cost competitive with LNG, commercial LPG and fuel oil that are used by the transport and industrial sectors. As per SATAT, the introductory price (ex- factory) of Bio-CNG is likely to be Rs. 46/kg and retail price could be around Rs. 52-55 per kg ($14-$15 per MBTU).

With regard to Bio-CNG’s cost competitiveness with industrial fuels such as LPG and fuel oil, according to CRISIL , at an average crude price of $64 per barrel, landed cost of fuel oil and LPG would be $12.1 per MMBtu and $16.9 per MMBtu respectively, as against Bio-CNG’s expected prices of $14-15 per MMBtu. Therefore any significant decline in crude prices from current levels could also put pressure on Bio-CNG prices.

The prices of LNG have been decreasing of

Pic 4: LNG prices ($ per MBTU) 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

17.7 13.7

14.9 10.9

11 7

FY15

Fy16

FY 17

PNG landed price for customer

11.9 7.9

FY 18

13.8

13.2

9.8

9.2

FY 19

FY 20

LNG contract price (India)

Source: CRISIL report on Natural gas for contract prices of LNG Note: landed prices of LNG have been calculated by adding $5 to the cost of contracted LNG, to account for cost of regasification and distribution.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 14

Table 1: Bio-CNG cost (Rs/Tonne) Raw Material

16,931.22

Direct Labour

4,162.26

Power

5,333.33

Others

3,153.54

Operating costs

29,580.35

Interest and depreciation

12,195.66

Total cost

41,776.01

The key question that needs to be analysed is whether a Bio-CNG plant will be profitable at a price of Rs. 46/kg (ex-plant). Important components of Bio-CNG cost include feedstock, power, and manpower and capital costs, with feedstock cost accounting up to 40 per cent.

Therefore feedstock cost (including transport) and its biogas yield play a critical role in determining viability of Bio-CNG unit. For example, a feedstock such as cow dung has a poorer biogas yield vis-a-vis other sources, resulting in lower Biogas output and higher capital costs. However it may be available free of cost, thus reducing the operating cost and making the operations viable .

An indicative cost structure for a press mud based BIO-CNG unit is provided in Table 1. It has been assumed that the capacity of the plant is 10 TPD of Bio-CNG and its capital cost is Rs. 34 crores, with a subsidy of Rs. 8 crores.

The plant procures press mud at a price of Rs. 800 per tonne and press mud yields about 105 cubic meter of Bio gas per tonne.

3. Capital cost As a thumb rule, cost of a project that handles around 200 tonnes of waste per day (produces 10 tonnes of Bio-CNG per day) is likely to be around Rs. 30-35 crores. The fixed cost (interest and depreciation) contributes to as much as 30 per cent of the total cost of production and this can vary depending on the cost of land and machinery and timely receipt of subsidy, as described below: • Land cost: Around 4 acres of land is required to set up a plant that can handle 200 tonnes of waste per day. The cost can vary hugely depending on the location and whether the land is agricultural or industrial, land cost is typically funded by the entrepreneur.

• Machinery and civil work: These together contribute to almost 70 % of the cost of a BioCNG plant. The machinery comprises biogas holder, scrubber, upgradation unit, plant automation equipment and piping/electricals and its cost can vary a lot across vendors depending on whether they are manufacturing it in house or procuring it from others. Civil work is typically executed through local contractors and its costs may not differ across vendors.

• Timely receipt of regulatory approvals: A Bio-CNG unit requires a number of permissions including a license from Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), fire safety certifications and a certification from MNRE (Ministry of New & Renewable Energy).

Ability of the company to secure these licenses on time can minimize delays in commissioning of the plant and result in cost savings.

Additionally, receipt of subsidy is also subject to project completion and commencement of commercial production and any delay in project commissioning would also delay the subsidy, therefore increasing the interest cost.

As can be seen from the Table 2, the cost of Bio-CNG increases from Rs. 39,000 per tonne to Rs. 52,000 per tonne due to an increase in the feedstock cost from Rs. 600 per tonne to Rs. 1100 per tonne.

Since purity/quality and specifications to standards is of topmost priority for a BioCNG unit, quality of machinery/upgradation technology should not be compromised.

Significant cost savings can be realised by working directly with OEMs who can provide both biogas fabrication and CBG upgradation technology, instead of engaging with contractors who would outsource critical plant components.

As such, to be competitive, the Bio-CNG unit must get feedstock almost free; therefore units with captive access to the feedstocks are more likely to succeed.

4. Market While the offtake for Bio CNG from OMC is assured to an extent, it would be important to develop alternate set of customers such as

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 15

Table 2: Cost of bio-CNG (Rs/tonne) at different feedstock prices and yield Feedstock price (Rs/Tonne)

Feedstock yield (cubic meter of biogas/ tonne of feedstock)

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

90

39,660

42,129

44,598

47,067

49,536

52,005

95

38,880

41,219

43,558

45,897

48,237

50,576

100

38,178

40,400

42,623

44,845

47,067

49,289

105

37,543

39,660

41,776

43,892

46,009

48,125

110

36,966

38,986

41,006

43,027

45,047

47,067

115

36,439

38,371

40,304

42,236

44,236

46,101

industries/hotels, who can perhaps provide better pricing/payment terms and provide cushion when the demand from OMC declines. Also, the potential for sale of organic fertiliser would need to be assessed. Fertilisers/compost are typically sold through dealer network and require large sales force that can educate farmers on benefits of organic fertilisers. Alternatively, the option of bulk sale to fertiliser companies needs to be explored.

Our view The need for cleaner fuels is evident given that by 2030, under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, India has committed to meeting 40% of its electricity con from renewable energy sources. While macro environment remains positive, the key risk to a Bio-CNG

Bharti Krishnan Author

plant viability is lack of any linkage between the feedstock and final product price and lack of clarity on the price revision mechanism under SATAT. Since Bio-CNG would compete with fossil fuels, its pricing would depend on the price of CNG/LPG, whereas the price of its feedstock may move very differently. This is already the case with biogas based power plants/waste to energy plants that are not able to compete with decreasing tariffs of solar/wind power plants. Therefore, feedstock analysis, availability and long term agreements for purchase of feedstock are critical to the viability of Bio-CNG plants. Industries such as sugar mills, distilleries, and poultry farms that have captive access to feedstock would be most favourably disposed to take advantage of this opportunity.

Cost of Bio-CNG at a feedstock yield of 90 cubic meter per tonne and price of Rs. 1100/tonne

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 16

Figure 1: Family size biogas plant

Role of Family Size Biogas Plants in Meeting India’s Sustainable Development Goals 1. Introduction ccording to census 2011 India’s population crossed 1.2 billion mark, and as per latest estimates of World Bank it has surpassed 1.33 billion in 2017. With this rising population, need of energy resources to provide basic energy access is also on surge but unfortunately, majority of India’s population is still deprived of clean cooking energy access. As per census 2011, cooking fuel use pattern of Indian population includes fuelwood (49%), LPG/PNG (28.5%), Crop residue (8.9%), cow dung cake (8%), Coal, lignite & charcoal (1.4%), kerosene (2.9%) and biogas (0.4%). It shows that around 65% solid biomass fuel is utilized for cooking activities, which is majorly used by rural populace in their inefficient (= 8-12%) three stone chulhas and/or C-type mud chulhas. The usage of solid fuels in cooking is prime reason behind various health, economic and environmental issues which causes a serious bottleneck in human development. Availability of afford-

A

able, reliable, resilient & clean cooking energy is need of the hour, which is unfortunately unavailable to more than 50% of Indian population at present.

Government of India (GoI) have started various programs at regular intervals to provide basic services since independence; adopting to United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a major step to bridge the gap of inequalities among its residents and providing access to basic services. As reliable availability of clean cooking energy access is an essential element in the development of a country, this article discusses about potential of family size biogas plants in providing a clean cooking fuel and the role, biogas can play in achieving India’s Sustainable Development Goals. Promotion, development and dissemination of biogas as cooking fuel could help in the holistic development of families in an economic & environmental friendly manner and ultimately provide an impetus to

SDG 2

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

SDG 3

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

SDG 5

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

SDG 6

Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

SDG 7

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

SDG 7

Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

SDG 7

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss Table 1: List of Sustainable Development Goals that have bearing on biogas

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 17

achieve SDGs mentioned in Table 1.

This article is divided into four sections. First section discusses the need of clean cooking fuel and list of SDGs that have bearing on it.

Biogas technologies with state-wise potential are briefly explained in the second section.

Impact of biogas with respect to other cooking fuels in terms of cost- benefit and emis-

ties. It is produced from anaerobic digestion of variety of biomass resources including animal waste, food and horticulture waste etc.

Conversion of biomass waste to biogas can be achieved through various technologies at present era. Deenbandu fixed dome, Solid-state deenbandu, KVIC, Prefabricated fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) and Balloon-di-

sions are discussed in the third section and concluding remarks are mentioned in the fourth section.

gester are most common and prominently used family size biogas plant models in India.

The generation of biogas produces organic manure as co-product, which is a potential organic fertilizer and contains, 1.5%N, 1%P and 0.8%K.

2. Biogas: brief overview and potential of family size biogas plants in India Biogas is a clean cooking fuel mainly composed of methane (55-70%), carbon-dioxide (30-45%) and other gases in trace quanti-

S. No.

SDG 7 targets to achieve, access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy Biogas Plants under NNBOMP (Size 1-25 m3 per day/ plant)

Particulars of CFA and States/UTs, Regions & Categories of beneficiaries 1m3

2-6m3

8-10m3

15m3

20-25m3

1

NER States, including Sikkim and including SC & ST Categories of NER

17000

22000

24000

25000

35000

2

Special Category States (J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Andaman & Nicobar Islands) and SC/ STs of all other states

10000

13000

18000

21000

28000

3

All other States (General Category)

7500

12000

16000

20000

25000

Table 2: Central Finance Assistance (CFA) under the New National Biogas & Organic Manure Programme

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 18

1m3 Biogas= 0.43 kg LPG

LPG Equivalent to LPG = 3502 million kg/year 14.2 kg cylinders subsituted (Nos.) = 246 million/year Subsidy burden reduced= INR 37 billion/year

Biogas Total Biogas plants (Nos.) = 12.3 million Daily generation potential = 24.6 million m3 Annual generation period = 8144 million m3

Fuelwood 1m3 Biogas= 3.5 kg fuelwood

Equivalent to Fuelwood usage = 28 million tons/year Trees saved (Nos.) = 9 million/year Net CO2 emission mitigated= 19 million tons/year

According to New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme (NNBOMP), statewise estimated potential of family-size biogas plants in India is mentioned in Figure 2. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra holds top five positions in this list. Financial assistance is also provided by Central and State government for setting up of family size biogas plants, details of Central Finance Assistance (CFA) is mentioned in table 2.

ing 35 days/year in worst case scenario for maintenance) biogas generation potential will be around 25 and 8144 million cubic meters respectively. The annual biogas potential is equivalent to 246 million nos. domestic LPG cylinders (14.2 kg). Total domestic LPG consumption in India was 21.15 million tons in 2016-17, by comparing to this, family size biogas plants have potential to replace ~16.5% of LPG usage. To achieve this feat, around 152 billion financial assistance is required from central government, which ultimately could reduce the subsidy burden of ~ 37 billion on LPG annually. It is important to mention that the savings mentioned above could only be accrued if all the biogas plants works satisfactorily. As a significant share of LPG requirements are met by imports in India, setting-up biogas plants will also help in diminishing trade deficit to a sizeable extent.

3. Comparative assessment of Biogas with LPG and fuelwood

Case 2: If all the estimated biogas potential replaces the usage of fuel wood.

In this article two thought experiments (Case 1 & Case 2) are undertaken to explain the importance of family size biogas plants in present context. Assuming all the biogas plants mentioned in Figure 2 are set up of 2 m3 capacity then the cumulative effect of these plants in terms of environmental and financial perspective are detailed under the two cases.

Case 1: If all the estimated biogas potential replaces the usage of LPG

Total fuelwood consumption in India is around 216 million tons (forest survey of India, 2011) and the biogas equivalent of fuelwood is 3.5kg/m3. The annual biogas generation potential is equivalent to 28 million tons of solid fuelwood usage which could save around 9 million trees annually and ultimately helps in net annual reduction of 19 million tons of CO2.

The CO2 emissions after biogas burning and embedded CO2 in biogas are considered in calculating net annual CO2 reduction.

for all by 2030. Providing clean cooking energy access is a major component of it and among the clean cooking fuels, biogas could play a significant role across India due to inherent benefits (clean, reliable, resilient and affordable) associated with it. An image of SPRERI developed biogas plant is shown in figure 1.

As per MNRE Annual Report 2017-18, the total family size biogas plant potential of India is 1,23,39,300. Daily and annual (Consider-

In Figure 4 authors try to establish a relationship between benefits of family size biogas

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 19

Family Size Biogas Plants

Benefits

Outcome

Related SDG

Reliable, resilient, clean cooking fuel

1. Clean cooking fuel at affordable price

SDG 7

Usage of manure as organic fertilizer

2. Reduced usage of inorganic fertilizersd and promotes sustainable learning

SDG 2

3. Reduction in fuelwood collection time Reduction on usage of solid fuelwood

SDG 2, 15

4. Increase in time available for livelihood generation opportunities

Reducing women & children’s burden of collecting firewood

5. Achieving gender equality

SDG 5

Reduction in occurence of disease

6. Improves health status for entire family

SDG 3, 6

Lower GHG emissions

7. Climate change mitigation

SDG 13, 15

plants and related sustainable development goals. The family size biogas plants could play an instrumental role in meeting the aforementioned SDGs viz. 2, 3, 5, 6,7,13 and 15 in the most sustainable and reliable manner. It is important to mention that, though, family size biogas plants cannot meet the respected targets of SDGs alone, but certainly can help to achieve the targets in the most reliable manner and ultimately guides in creation of an inclusive society. All the outcomes mentioned in Figure 4 are definitely measur-

able, and could help in monitoring the entire process in regular intervals.

4. The way forward Family size biogas plants are effective and reliable source of clean cooking energy access.

In country like India, where animal husbandry is practiced as a major economic activity; it can be taken to a step further to provide reliable clean cooking gas and solid organic fertilizer through proper management and utilization of animal waste.

Ashutosh Negi, Samir Vahora

Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute, Gujarat

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 20

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 21

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 22 Biofertilizer Upgradation

Value Chain

Substrate & Logistics

Pretreatement

Biogas Plant

Biogas Upgradation

Market Introduction

CNG-Mobility – Challenges and Opportunities for Biomethane (from German perspective)

The eternal underdog... ontrary to current political trends, vehicles powered by CNG (compressed natural gas) or LNG (liquefied natural gas) are still the most environmentally and climate-friendly mobility solution. Especially when comparing them to both traditional petrol / diesel based engines as well as electric vehicles.

C

E-mobility not reducing emissions...

With a shift in current of individual transportation solutions, electric mobility is politically pushed in a lot of cities and countries through subsidies, reduced taxes, free charging stations and exclusive access into the inner cores of multiple modern cities.

With the consequences for environment and climate largely known for internal combustion engines, electric mobility is still described ambivalently. However, one thing is quite clear: due to electric vehicles, particle emissions are not removed from the atmosphere. The location of the pollution is simply shifted – not decreased- if electricity is generated from conventional sources.

Since currently just under 60% of the electricity generated in Germany is produced from non-renewable sources – primarily from burning fossil coal and nuclear power plants – both particle and CO2-emissions still occur – just at a different location.

Drive technologies for public transport Due to massive investments, the politically desired e-mobility is currently strongly subsidized in German and European cities. Berlin for example ordered a total of 30 electric buses for public transportation at the beginning of 2019, which will cost them about 18 million euros total. The costs of around 600,000 € per electric bus is subsidized proportionately by the Federal Ministries of Transport (BMVI) and the Environment (BMU). Furthermore, this number is planned to increase to a total of 120 vehicles by 2022.

A lot of focus at this moment seems to be exclusively on e-mobility. This poses the important question: will there be a niche for CNG or biomethane vehicles in the future? And if yes, where will it be?

As a matured and ready-to-use technology, CNG vehicles are the perfect alternative to the classic internal combustion engine, burning diesel or gasoline. It’s ideal for public transportation, individual mobility and the transport sector. And although public transportation with biomethane buses has been working successfully and sustainably in several German cities (since 2011 in Augsburg), there are currently no new investments in projects of other municipalities on the horizon.

With no mobility solution that is more climate-friendly in fuel production than bio-

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 23 methane produced from organic residues, this is hard to understand. Yet cities and municipalities invest almost exclusively in electric vehicles when upgrading their fleets.

Admittedly, mobility solutions primarily based on CNG or biomethane vehicles seem like a far-fetched vision at this moment in time. But especially long distance transportation, both commercial and individual, can really profit from the impressive possible range of more than 1,000 km with one LNG-charge.

Biomethane in freight transportation Over 99% of road freight transportation and the majority of commercial traffic on European roads is fueled by diesel engines. Their dangerous exhaust emissions were responsible for lots of negative headlines in the last couple of years.

A very suitable fuel alternative to diesel for long-distance transport is biomethane, either compressed (CNG) or liquefied (LNG).

Below is an infographic from DVGW (German Association for Gas and Water) makes an impressive case for more renewable gas on Europe’s highways, especially when it comes to freight transportation.

Picture: advantages of using biomethane in freight transportation by DVGW (German Association for Gas and Water)

Michael Köttner Tristan Gruszkos IBBK

International Biomethane Conference in autumn To shed some light on the opportunities and challenges of a biomethane-based mobility, the international conference “Progress in Biomethane Mobility” will take place from 15th to 17th of October 2019, in Schwäbisch Hall, Baden-Württemberg.

During this event, current trends, concepts, technologies and innovations are presented to an international audience.

All information about the event for participants, visitors and exhibitors can be found on the conference under: https://ibbk-biogas. com/schedule/biomethane-2019/

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 24

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 07 | 25 Biofertilizer Upgradation

Value Chain

Substrate & Logistics

Pretreatement

Biogas Plant

Biogas Upgradation

Market Introduction

Biogas production in Punjab: Scope and prospective

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rastically increasing world population and changing lifestyle of masses is resulting in intensification of energy demand around the globe. In the present era, the fossil fuels and the conventional energy resources have major share in power production which is leading to the menacing issue of global warming and climate change. In 2012 the world energy consumption was estimated as 557 EJ/yr with only 10% from the biofuels and waste [1]. Due to the alarming consequences of overusing fossils, mankind is forced to opt renewable energy resources and reduce carbon emissions. India is the third largest energy consuming and the third largest greenhouse gas emitting country in the world [2]. India is producing 10% of global coal, but state-owned coal company Coal India Ltd (CIL) is facing several problems [2].

Meanwhile, the upgradation of energy resources seems to be limited to the developed countries. For an instance, in developing countries like India and China it is substantial challenge to maintain the triple bottom line [3]. The main reason of lagging behind in renewable energy resource development is lack of infrastructure, management and awareness among the people [4]. According to EY 2019 reports India ranks at 4th place in RECAI (Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index) dropping from rank 3 in 2018 [5]. Currently, Indian government aims to in-

troduce of 175 GW in renewable power until 2022 which will include 100 GW solar, 60 GW wind, 10 GW biomass and 5 GW small hydro power [6].

Renewable energy resources are heavily supported in the country as they are well suited for the resources and the energy needs.

In case of bio-fuels, biogas is primarily used for cooking and heating in the households in India produced by domestic scale plants [7].

Mainly, biogas is used for cooking purposes only which took over 2100 tones of wood, traditionally used as fuel [8]. Despite of tremendous amount of available biomass in form of crop residue and animal waste, Punjab state lacks in large scale high rate Bio-methanation power Bio-CNG projects with respect to the true potential. This can be a magnificent alternative to fossil fuels which will be a substantial step towards reduction of greenhouse emissions produced by open field burning of paddy stubble. The Punjab State has high power consumption per capita as compared to the average national value of India. At present in Punjab the majority of power production is from the conventional sources of energy such as coal, gas and diesel. From last few decades the quantity of agricultural [9] as well as municipal waste is increasing drastically. For instance, around 12 million tons of rice straw is burnt every year in Punjab creat-

Figure 1. Potential Realization of Different Renewable Energy Technologies in Punjab.

ing an immense environmental issues of both air and soil pollution [10]. Consequently, the government of India focuses to achieve 244 MW of biomass power generation by 2022 in state of Punjab [11].

Rice is grown in 2.85 million hectares in Punjab. So, the biggest challenge can be the collection and storage of huge amount of decentralized biomass. One of the prominent hurdles is that the time window to sow next crop is around 7-8 days after rice harvesting.

As per the available machinery, the cost of bailing the 100 kg of paddy straw is around 50-60 INR and it is sold for 140 INR per 100kg to the existing plants [12]. So, for the effective implementation of collection of paddy straw the area can be divided into small clusters

and the machinery can be provided by the government.

Present scenario of Biogas in Punjab India has huge potential of renewable energy production from wind, hydro power, solar and biomass. According to report by Ministry of statistic and programme implementation (Government of India) total estimated potential of renewable energy in India is 1198856 MW in year 2016-17 [19]. The total biomass reserves contribute to 17538 MW of total power across the country from which 18% of biomass is available in Punjab only which is the highest among all other states.

Domestic biogas plants were hugely encouraged in the last few decades. There are

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 27

around 4.5 million domestic biogas plants in India [11]. For improving the rural economy and enabling the best use of cattle dung to provide smoke free cooking fuel, the cattle dung is put into a specially designed structure called a ‘‘Biogas Plant’’, where, after anaerobic digestion of the slurry, the biogas is produced. So far, nearly 1,75,000 family size (i.e., from 1 to 6 m3 capacity) biogas plants have been set up in Punjab. For the Punjab, the hydraulic retention time of a biogas plant is 40 days and there are three popularly known models of family size biogas plants which are the KVIC model, Janta Model and Deenbandhu Model approved by the MNRE, Government of India [11] . Though the basic principle of biogas production is the same in all the three models, but they differ in design, shape and their requirement of space and their installation cost. Due to the lack of managerial and technical know-how regarding selection, installation and operational aspects of a biogas plant, the full potential of the biogas producing material is not utilized, and the plants often function below the desired efficiency level.

1. Collection 2. Bailing 3. Transport

Rice

1. Mechanical 2. Chemical 3. Biological

Pretreatment

1. Biomethanation 2. Biogas

Power

Largescale biogas plants in Punjab To overcome the problem of burning rice stubble, the Govt. of Punjab has taken progressive initiatives such as the Govt. of Punjab has signed Memorandrum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for setting up of biogas and bio-CNG plants as part of efforts to find sustainable solution to paddy straw burning. Along with the green energy production these projects will also generate the additional income to the farmers. The plants will be set up at a total investment of Rs 5,000 crore and will generate employment for around 4,000 people. The project will be initiated with 42 plants becoming operational in 2018, probably before the paddy season. It will be scaled up to 400 plants over the next 3-4 years. It is estimated that 400 units will consume biomass of about 10 million tpa and will produce about 1,400 million kg bio-CNG per annum and 6,000 mil-

lion kg manure per annum. Along with this the Punjab government is also providing subsidy of Rs 24 lakh, through the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), to at least 200 farmers for installing biogas plants in rural areas of the districts by the end of 2019.

Challenges and mitigation strategies in Indian biogas industry The challenges are almost common throughout the country so before planning any project these hurdles should be considered and relevant solutions should be proposed. The most subsequent challenge in case of marketing is the sale of fertilizer and collection of decentralized biomass. It has been observed that the farmers are unaware about the presence of vital nutrients in the digestate of biogas plant due to which the farmers deny purchasing the fertilizer produced from the biogas plant. Another aspect of digestate is that the effect of using the digestate as fertilizer is observed after 2 to 3 years after it is exposed to the soil. So, it is very important to aware the farmers about the positive side of using biogas plant digestate as fertilizer.

Reference: [1] Agency IE. IEA. 2014. Key World Energy Statistics,. Paris: n.d.

[2] S KSABAS. Aaaesment of status quo of the implementation and potentials of anaerobic digestion in India. 2018.

[3] Mittal S, Dai H, Fujimori S, Masui T. Bridging greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy deployment target: Comparative assessment of China and India. Appl Energy 2016;166:301–13. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.12.124.

[4] Hossain, Jahangir and AM. Renewable Energy Integration - Challenges and Solutions | Jahangir Hossain | Springer. 2014.

[5] Ernst Young. Renewable energy country attractiveness index: Issue 41. Recai 2014;2019:40.

[6] Kumar H kumar; UM. ENERGIZING INDIA A joint project report of NITI aayog and IEEJ. 2017.

[7] Information I. RENEWABLE ENERGY IN PUNJAB : RENEWABLE ENERGY IN PUNJAB : 2013.

[8] Energy World 2018.

[9] Trivedi A, Verma AR, Kaur S, Jha B, Vijay V, Chandra R, et al. Sustainable bio-energy production models for eradicating open field burning of paddy straw in Punjab, India.

Energy 2017;127:310–7. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2017.03.138.

[10] Sood J. Not a waste until wasted. Down to Earth 2015.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 28

[11] 30 Annual Report 2017 (13.10.2017).indd. pdf n.d.

[12] Jassowal G. Come March, Jaitu biomass plant in Punjab to generate power from paddy stubble. Hindustantimes 2018.

[13] Weiland P. Biogas production: Current state and perspectives. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2010;85:849–60. doi:10.1007/s00253009-2246-7.

[14] Tom Bond MRT. History and future of domestic biogas plants in the developing world. Energy Sustain Dev 2011. doi:https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2011.09.003.

[15] HU Qi-chun XB. Dissemination of Rural Domestic Biogas Technology in Asian Countries. 2006.

[16] Jingming L. The future of biogas in China.

Biogas world berlin, 2014.

[17] Asia S. Making Renewable Energy a Success in Bangladesh : Getting the Business Model Right Making Renewable Energy a Success in Bangladesh : 2015.

[18] AgSTAR: Biogas Recovery in the Agriculture Sector n.d. https://www.epa.gov/agstar (accessed March 26, 2019).

[19] CSO. Central Statistics Office - Transport 2015.

Buta Singh Author

SUPPORTED EVENTS

19-20 APRIL, 2019 Hyderabad, India 21- 23 FEBRUARY, 2019 Chennai, India

RenewX Renewable Energy Expo

1-3 NOVEMBER, 2018 Mumbai, India

Envirotech Asia 2018

22-24 MAY, 2019 Delhi, India

IFAT India

13-16 NOVEMBER, 2018 Germany

Biogas Convennon

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 29

What to expect: » Lectures on current topics within the industry » Key topics: · Biomethane · LNG · Best practice examples in Europe and worldwide · Innovations

Organiser:

10 – 12 December 2019 Nuremberg, Germany

The world‘s largest meeting of the biogas sector: an international biogas exhibition, organised tours around the fair for international guests and an evening event!

Excursion to ts on biogas plan r 13 Decembe

Co-Organiser:

Programme and further information at:

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 30

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 31 Biofertilizer Upgradation

Value Chain

Substrate & Logistics

Pretreatement

Biogas Plant

Biogas Upgradation

Market Introduction

Biogas Purification and Upgrading 1. Introduction: iogas, a combination of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and impurities is a gaseous fuel but also a green-house gas (GHG) if untapped and released directly into atmosphere. As a gaseous fuel, biogas must be purified before being valorized through the production of electricity or of compressed natural gas (CNG). It is then referred to as Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) or Bio-methane and the biogas purification process referred to as Biogas Upgrading. AirScience Technologies provides technologies for biogas purification and upgrading.

B

2. AirSicence Technologies Capabilities: 2.1 Desulfurization System It offers two desulfurization processes. The Ferrachel II® Iron chelate process for high gas flows and high inlet hydrogen sulfide concentrations. Dry scrubbing catalyst for low inlet hydrogen sulfide concentrations. In cases where hydrogen sulfide concentrations of less than 100 ppmv are required, a dry scrubbing catalyst stage is required.

2.2 Dehumidification System Depending on the utilization of the biogas or biogas derived natural gas, different degrees

of dehumidification will be required. Generally the dew point required are as follows: • Use in internal combustion engine for electric power generation: Dew point <12°C @ 1 atm • Use as low pressure pipeline gas for residential/industrial use: Dew point <5°C @ 1 atm • Use as CNG for motor vehicle: Dew point <-10°C @ 1 atm • Use as LNG: Dew point <-165°C @ 1 atm In subcooling and reheating process, the biogasis cooled to a temperature lower, by a few degrees, than the desired dew point temperature, to condense the humidity along with desolved compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and siloxanes as well as low boiler hydrocarbons.

Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption (VPSA) Process is primarily used for the dehumidification of biogas destined to the production of compressed natural gas (CNG) whether for transportation CNG or pipeline CNG. Generally the process consists of four (4) towers in parallel which can be expanded up to eight towers. At all times one tower is in the adsorption mode while others are each in one of depressurization, vacuum, re-pressurization modes.

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Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Process also is used at high pressure for the drying of gas from the discharge of carbon dioxide removal system, to very low dew point prior to the liquefaction of natural gas. The duty of the PSA in this application is to remove all humidity from a gas saturated with humidity as it exits the amine scrubbing system (CO2 removal system).

2.3 Siloxanes & VOC Removal System For high siloxanes concentration Vacuum Swing Adsorption (VSA) will be recommended if no VOCs are present as VOCs which will be adsorbed by the media will not desorb by vacuum alone.

When siloxanes and VOCs at medium to high concentrations are present Thermal Swing Adsorption will be recommended. The gas purification performance of activated carbon and TSA is similar; however as activated carbon doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t desorb, it needs to be replaced as soon as it reaches close to saturation. The selection of one technology versus the other is based on the evaluation of capital cost versus operating cost as a function of siloxanes and VOCs concentration.

If the concentrations of both siloxanes and VOCs is low, activated carbon is recommended as it has the lowest capital cost of the three processes that are generally used for this application, however if the concentration of one or both of the impurities is high, the activated carbon will be rapidly saturated, translating into a high operating cost.

2.4 CO2 Removal System The Technology offers several processes to separate and remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from biogas and natural gas. To produce biogas for use in an internal combustion engine and power generation, operators usually do not remove carbon dioxide from the biogas, however for injection into the city gas net-

Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 32 work, the biogas needs to meet stringent specifications and carbon dioxide has to be removed. In the case where the gas will be liquefied, carbon dioxide has to be removed to ppm level. The most commonly used for biogas applications are vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) or multistage membrane system. In cases where ppm levels of carbon dioxide are required, amine scrubbing process is used.

2.5 Nitrogen Rejection Natural gas processing equipment requires a wide range of engineering and manufacturing capability. Nitrogen rejection units (NRUs) require a different technical approach than liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or natural gas liquids recovery (NGL). Sep-Pro has built both.

According to the Gas Research Institute, nitrogen rejection from natural gas is necessary in about 17% of US gas reserves. Most pipeline standards require that natural gas contain less than 4% nitrogen. If there is too much nitrogen present in a pipeline, there is a danger of vapor lock or combustion. Nitrogen also dilutes the heating value of the gas, resulting in a lower BTU and decreased value. High-nitrogen natural gas is essentially stranded, as it cannot feasibly be transported through pipelines to market. Nitrogen rejection is a difficult technical separation because of the similar molecular size of nitrogen (N2) and methane (CH4) and the lack of a selective reactivity such as there is with carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide in an amine plant. Pressure swing adsorption, cryogenic separation, and lean oil absorption have been employed to remove nitrogen from natural gas. â&#x20AC;˘ Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) uses a zeolite adsorbent to selectively separate nitrogen from methane. The gas is then regenerated from the adsorbent with a combination of pressure and thermal changes. PSA is used for gas dehydration, carbon dioxide remov-

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al, nitrogen rejection, and hydrocarbon dew point control.

• Cryogenic separation employs low temperature thermodynamic separation based on the comparative boiling points of methane (-259°F) and nitrogen (-320°F). As the mixture cools, methane will condense before nitrogen, allowing the two to be separated.

• Lean oil absorption absorbs the methane away from the nitrogen in a higher molecular weight hydrocarbon and then regenerates the absorbed methane either through staged pressure reductions or through thermally-driven distillation.

2.6 Oxygen Depletion System DeOxo is principally used in the production of high purity hydrogen and is also used in the upgrading of landfill gas to pipeline quality gas where allowable oxygen content is generally very low.

Today, AirScience is putting this experience to the purification of biogas/landfill gas.

One of the impurity in the gas is oxygen and it is removed through catalytic oxidation of methane in presence of a platinum based catalyst (the DeOxo process) at a temperature range of 350°C (662°F) to 500°C (932°F).

One mole of methane depleting two moles of oxygen in the process. The reaction produces one mole of carbon dioxide (CO2) and two moles of water as well as heat equivalent to the heat of combustion one mole of methane.

Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 33

2.7 Vent Gas Incineration In the biogas upgrading chain, three purification steps produce vent gases that contain enough methane and organic compounds to necessitate that these gases be incinerated prior to their discharge.

Carbon dioxide rejection systems using hollow fibre membrane or vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) technology reject CO2 with 4% to 5% methane. In the case of landfill gas upgrading the nitrogen content of the feed gas is generally above the allowed limit for pipeline injection and a nitrogen rejection unit (NRU) generally based on VPSA technology is necessary.

The vent gas from these NRUs varies from manufacturer to manufacturer but is generally above 8% methane, finally the removal of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and siloxanes from the biogas stream using thermal swing adsorption (TSA), produces during the regeneration cycle of the adsorption media, a vent gas with an organic load that varies as per a bell curve during each regeneration cycle.

D. Paul Singh AirScience Technologies Inc.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 34

S AVE T H E DAT ES

FO R 201 9 EVE N TS

BIOGAS CHINA FORUM 2019 19 September, Qingdao International Convention & Exhibition Center, Qingdao, People‘s Republic of China Co-located with EuroTier China Animal Farming, the world’s leading trade fair for animal production.

With the aim of increasing regional cooperation in the development of biogas projects, the Biogas China Forum brings together stakeholders from across Asia Pacific and China keen on exploring collaboration opportunities. By working with EuroTier China Animal Farming, this event will bring together an unprecedented number of potential and existing project owners generating biogas from agricultural waste.

BIOGAS UPGRADING AND CBG ROUNDTABLE 2019 14 - 16 August, Northern Science Park, Chiang Mai Recently in the market, we are seeing a resurgence of interest in renewable natural gas and biogas upgrading with Thailand leading the way with a couple of projects due to come online this year. Several more projects from around the region also look at upgraded biogas as a vehicle fuel, and to meet the heating needs of several nearby industries. This forum will give project owners more information about biogas upgrading and renewable natural gas and help them make better decisions.

BIOGAS ASIA PACIFIC FORUM 2019 26 - 27 November, Balai Kartini Exhibition & Convention Centre, Jakarta, Indonesia Our flagship event will be moved to Jakarta this year with strong support from KADIN and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in Indonesia. Combined with ANGVA 2019, the CNG-NGV flagship event of the region, this event will be a major focal point for policy makers, industry and users of biogas to come together and advance our biogas agenda. Welcome to join us to know more!

INTERNATIONAL CLEAN ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 35

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 36 Biofertilizer Upgradation

Value Chain

Substrate & Logistics

Pretreatement

Biogas Plant

Biogas Upgradation

Market Introduction

Advance Biogas AD mixing technology with higher throughput and operational excellence

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iogas is third largest renewable energy source in the world followed by solar and wind energy.

TAT scheme, and to facilitate this initiative, already support is being provided by securing market via prestigious oil companies.

India is an agriculture dominated nation with one of the largest economy in the world. The potential to harness the biomass can prove to be a boon to Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growing energy desire. The Indian economy has been growing steadily over the last few years leading to a rise in demand for petroleum products. With limited availability of petroleum products domestically, India is compelled to import over 75 per cent of petroleum products every year.

India has total reserves of 763.476 MMT of crude oil and 1488.73 BCM of natural gas, according to a research study conducted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India, in FY 2014â&#x20AC;&#x201C;15.

India has abundant material to use as feedstock for Biogas plant. A variety of feedstock material can be used for Biogas to Bio-CNG plants.

The CGD (City Gas Distribution) Infrastructure consists of two componentsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Piped Natural Gas (PNG). CNG caters to public and private transport whereas PNG caters to domestic and industrial consumers.

Bio-CNG is a clean, low carbon technology for efficient management and conversion of fermentable organic wastes into clean cheap & versatile fuel and bio/organic manure. Bio CNG is the purified form of biogas where all the unwanted gases are removed to produce >95% pure methane gas.

Indian government is targeting to establish 5000 plants within next five years under SA-

Amount of biogas produced is highly dependent upon type and mixture of feedstock material. A biogas plant consists of Digestor which can be called as backbone of the plant and plant performance is result of biogas produced. It is highly desirable to adopt a proven technology, leading to higher life time of plant operation and performance.

With an ambition to demonstrate and provide a proven technology for Biogas generation, AstronSolpower, along with its partner, Olive Resolution GmbH and technology provider, Biogest Energie- und Wassertechnik GmbH established a demo plant, utilizing cattle dung and biomass for producing 100 KW electricity. For this plant, Biogest PowerCompact technology was used. For higher capacity plants for producing CNG, Biogest PowerRing technology is well proven and offers several advantages, as per Indian climatic conditions and raw material availability.

Biogas plant: Patented Power Ring Technology Around 38 plants are installed in last 6 years based on the versatile PowerRing digester was developed as a modular tank-in-tank di-

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 37

gester to overcome challenges of a modern biogas plant: - high feedstock and dry matter flexibility - reduced heat losses and electrical consumption - combined with easy access to all equipment and therefore need minimum maintenance These advantages lead to better performance, as proven in numerous reference plants.

Range of applications The outer ring, being the primary digester of the PowerRing, is fundamentally improving the mixing efficiency. Compared to a classic tank where complete homogenisation of the digester volume can represent a challenge, the substrate in the ring-digester is naturally led through the digester due to its channel-like shape.

Therefore, the PowerRing is suitable for a wide variety of feedstock. Even lignocellulosic feedstock with high dry matter can be used and easily processed. Compared to first-generation biogas systems, PowerRing reference plants hold the following scientifically proven advantages: High degree of degradation There is no substitute for digester volume. Up to 80% of the degradation takes place in the primary digester, while an optimum residual breakdown is ensured by low overall volumetric loading and selective biological activation of the secondary digester, resulting in lower feedstock costs.

Low energy consumption With the PowerRing, the agitation system and digester geometry are perfectly matched, so

that highly efficient mixing can be achieved while consuming less energy. Once the feedstock is fed into the digester, the overflow system works with gravitational flows through the two digestion stages, instead of pumping. This contributes to an even lower energy consumption. Heat losses can be minimised thanks to the thermally insulated digester cover. The plants are thus perfectly suited for use in continental climate conditions, and the heat can be used for other purposes on farm or in factories.

High performance numbers More than 90 % of full-load hours per year were registered at reference plants. This result is attributable to the high level of operational safety and our fully automatized control system. The external gas storage facility enables early recognition and automatic balancing of any fluctuations in gas production.

Mesophilic/thermophilic ring-in-ring digester The dimensioning of the PowerRing digester is based on recent scientific studies conducted at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. The aim was to achieve a more stable and effective biological degradation process resulting in state-of-the-art biogas plants which have proven their worth on more than 150 reference plants.

Various designs The PowerRing standard plant is available in various standard designs with power outputs ranging from 500 – 5,000 kWth (100 - 1,000 Nm3 biogas/ h) per unit. Combination of units and later extension of existing ones can be easily achieved due to the modular design of the plant.

Energy Crops: Plant exclusively grown from marginal lands for energy generation. Ex: Naper Grass

Municipal solid waste: Biodegradable such as food and kitchen watse, green waste, etc.

Feedstock for Biogas Production

Agro Industrial waste: Wastes from paper mills, molasses from sugar refineries, pulp wastes from food processing units, etc.

Agricultural Wastes: Straws of cereals and pulses, stalks of fibre crops, seed coats of oil seed, crop wastes like sugarcane trash, etc.

Following table shows data for bio-feedstock availability in India (including IIgno-cellulosic biomass)

www.biogas-india.com

Plant by product, liquid slurry and solid can be used as organic fertilizer. India is a country where rural population is in majority so scope for high efficiency biogas plant is huge in coming years.

Besides, a strong step towards cleaner India, it will boost economy and nurture farmers to be self-supportive and lead better life quality.

Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 38

Dr. Bhawna Kulshreshtha

Advisor AstronSol Power Private Limited

www.biogas-india.com

Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 39

www.biogas-india.com

Biogas Magazine | Edition 09 | 40