CASE STUDY /

Agricultural biomethane compression

Clean energy and fertility for the land

Solution

Biomethane

Country

Europe

Holland

The recovery of agricultural waste through conversion to biomethane has a double benefit: during decarbonization potential CO2 emissions (produced by fermentation of the agricultural waste) are intercepted and enhanced.

The plant that is the subject of this case treats about 200000 tons of agricultural waste (50% livestock waste and 50% green residue) each year to obtain.

18 million Nm3/year of biomethane (purified biogas) to be injected into the grid
150000 tons/year of compost for agriculture (70%) organic fertilizer (30%)
20000 tons/year of CO2 used for greenhouse crops

Biomethane is obtained from the purification of biogas from which, through a filtering system, contaminants and CO2 are removed, resulting in methane with purities greater than 99%. Subsequently, the biomethane is injected into the distribution network of two Grid Managers (local and national distributor) and enables it to supply the utilities of about 12,000 civilian homes.

SAFE technology, through a fully integrated solution, contributed to the realization of this important example of decarbonization and valorization of agricultural waste.

Compressor cutter

2300Sm3/h with large adjustment capacity according to biomethane flow rate

Redundancy

Ability to ensure continuous operation (8760 hours/year) even during maintenance phases

Integration

Fully plant-integrated solution with dedicated engine room installation

SAFE supplied 3 highly engineered skid-mounted compressor modules to be installed inside the engine room of the biomethane production plant along with the associated control panels (integrated in the plant control room) and the air-cooling systems. The number of units and type of compressor were selected to ensure the right trade-off between machine availability, operating costs, and total footprint.

The single module consists of a 110 kW ST series compressor with a maximum flow rate of 1000 Sm3/h which compresses gas (biomethane) from 8 barG to 40 barG (grid pressure). The 0%-100% regulation of the flow rate is ensured by combination of VFD and recirculation line.

Each of the compressor modules is equipped with its own auxiliary and management systems to ensure integrated and independent operation from the other units. This ensures the necessary modularity of operation and plant availability, which has currently reached more than 8000 h of continuous operation.