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Compressors and Systems
Compressors and Systems Biomethane as a fuel Using biomethane as a fuel – making climate protection economical! Helai Haniss Since 01.01.2021, new rules apply in the area of renewable energy subsidies, which force operators of biogas production plants to rethink: The subsidy entitlement from the “Renewable Energy Sources Act” (EEG) for the first generation of so-called “renewable energy (RE) plants”, which were subsidized for the last 20 years, has expired. This circumstance will affect an increasing number of sites in the future. However, for environmental and energy reasons, it would make absolutely no sense to discontinue operations. The good news is that despite the discontinuation of subsidies, operators have an economically interesting solution if they switch to an intelligent self-consumption concept. In this case, the fuel produced is not fully fed into the grid, as was previously the case, but is used – in a particularly attractive financial way – for tax-free refueling of the operator's own fleet. In recent years, the processing of biogas produced in the plant into biomethane has become increasingly established. As a CO 2 -neutral alternative to fossil natural gas, it has great climate protection potential. The political and economic conditions are currently more favourable than ever: with around 10,000 biogas plants, Germany is the frontrunner in terms of production [as of 2021]. The market is currently developing rapidly: biomethane had already been subsidized by means of feed-in tariffs for the last 20 years since the EEG 2000 decision came into force. The new resolution of 2021 stipulates that by 2050, electricity generated in Germany should be 100 % greenhouse-neutral. Furthermore, the EU's RED II27 (Renewable Energy Directive) sets a greenhouse gas reduction quota that requires companies to increase the share of renewable energy in fuels to 14 % by 2030. Refuelling solutions – climate protection with a system tegration into existing infrastructures. complicated installation as well as in- Tailored to the respective requirements, plant variants with low, me- As a premium manufacturer and pioneer in the field of natural gas compression with more than 40 years of available, as the following examples dium and high daily outputs are global experience, BAUER KOMPRES- illustrate: SOREN offers the necessary state-ofthe-art technology in the form of customized turnkey refuelling systems tion – A compact and particularly Waldkraiburg depot filling sta- from a single source. As a sustainability-oriented company certified in ac- economical solution cordance with ISO 14001, the highest The energy provider ESB Südbayern value is placed on actively promoting had a filling station designed here for the achievement of climate protection its Waldkraiburg depot to refuel its and energy transition goals. It therefore strongly supports the continued ing of natural gas-powered minivans. own customer service fleet, consist- operation of expiring RE plants in the Public refuelling was not planned. In biomethane sector. In general, the accordance with the customer's requirements, the supplier focused in supplier’s refuelling systems are designed for operation with biomethane as well as with classic natural gas. economic efficiency when designing particular on a compact design and They usually consist of a high- or medium-pressure compressor unit tai- The small and compact module the system. lored to the refuelling requirements, consists of a compressor with volume a gas drying and filter system, the appropriate storage solution and the 36.7 kg/h, intake pressures between flows between 11–51 Nm 3 /h, or 7.9– dispenser. The sophisticated modular 0.05–4 barg and an output pressure system design enables fast and un- of 300 bar. In continuous operation, Fig. 1: Waldkraiburg Mini Fill ECO 120 (B800, Fast fill post) 92 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2022
Compressors and Systems Biomethane as a fuel the daily delivery rate of the compressor unit is between 190–880 kg in 24 h. The unit has integrated filter and post-drying cartridges installed on the high-pressure side, which clean the compressed gas and remove the residual moisture from it. The high-pressure gas storage system is made up of individual highpressure cylinders mounted together on a frame. The standard capacity is up to 42 high-pressure storage cylinders, each with a filling volume of 80 litres per storage module. Thus, capacities of 265 m 3 up to 1105 m 3 natu ral gas geometric filling volume at 300 bar can be realized. Since no public refuelling is planned here, a “Fill post” is used as a dispenser. This model was specially developed for simple, temperaturecompensated and cost-saving refuelling. The dispenser series is very often used in natural gas fueling stations at depots, especially when they are not staffed. Depending on the fill size of the refuelling volume and the compressor model, refuelling times of about 5 minutes are achieved when using the “Fast fill post” version used here. For applications where the refuelling time is not of primary importance, the Munich-based manufacturer offers as a variant the “Slow fill post” without integrated storage module. Here, the vehicles are refuelled directly from the compressor. For technical reasons, the refuelling times vary greatly. An ideal application scenario is the refuelling of vehicles during the night hours. duced biomethane. As there were no suitable refuelling facilities in the immediate vicinity, the company decided to build its own station near the factory premises and commissioned the Bavarian supplier to carry out the project planning and turnkey installation. The significantly higher refuelling volume required resulted in a completely different requirement profile: With a delivery volume of almost 500 m 3 /h, the station is designed to safely supply the company's current 20 semi-trailer trucks during ongoing operation and also offers generous reserves to easily cover the planned expansion of the fleet to 30 trucks. Thanks to its modular design, the refuelling capacity can be further expanded at a later date by installing additional storage banks. Biomethane/natural gas complete refuelling systems, which are installed stand-alone, are built in container solutions. Fig. 2: B800 Storage module Fig. 4: Coesfeld CS 26.12 (B3360, Gilbarco dispenser) Fig. 3: Fast fill/slow fill post dispensing station Biogas filling station Coesfeld – Powerful stand-alone solution in container design The organic wholesaler Weiling GmbH from Coesfeld, west of Münster, is also consistently focusing on sustainability. In the future, the vehicle fleet for transporting products to customers throughout Germany will be powered by regeneratively pro- Compared to the installation in Waldkraiburg, the much larger and more powerful module consists of a compressor with a volume flow of 500 Nm 3 /h, or 360 kg/h, an intake pressure of 3.9 barg and an output pressure of 300 bar. In continuous operation, the compressor module delivers 8640 kg of biomethane in a 24-hour period. Integrated filter and post-drying cartridges installed on the high- PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2022 93
