Title: Improving the effectiveness of biogas purification process by control system on the low-cost design of middle-capacity biogas plant

By: Rayendra Anandika, S.T.

1. Introduction Biogas is the result of the anaerobic process of organic waste material containing methane gas as much as 40-70%. Therefore it can be utilized for biogas renewable energy sources; even it is also capable of reducing the occurrence of methane as a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. Mostly, biogas is mixed with methane (CH 4) and carbon dioxide (CO 2). It is the renewal energy that is used to replace firewood, charcoal, oil, liquid petroleum gas, etc. It is also able to apply to cooking gas directly as same as liquid petroleum gas. This is more convenience for usability than using firewood or charcoal without smoke and ash. The biogas can be applied to use in lamps or electric generators for light generation. It is also used to generate heat and applied to use with all kind of engine instead of oil. The biogas that is used for fuel energy must contain more than 50% of methane. Purification is one step of the biogas treatment to clean biogas from undesired substances, like: CO2, H2O, H2S, etc. Purification of biogas is needed to answer the question how to explore the usage of biogas so it can be used for cooking, for electricity, or for vehicle engine. Biogas cleaning is important for two reasons, (1) to increase the heating value of biogas, and (2) to meet requirements for some gas appliances (engines, boilers, fuel cells, vehicles, etc) [1]. There are some methods which are frequently used for biogas purification, there are: chemical absorption, high pressure water scrubbing, pressure swing adsorption, cryogenic separation, and membrane separation. In some method, the compressing and thermal managing is important to reach the most effective process of purification. It is aimed to get the methaneenriched gas in the outlet. Unfortunately, investment to explore this biogas for use to the community is still very expensive. Here, each technique is compared on nancial feasibility, impact on the environment and ease of operating the process. Furthermore, each technique has its own unique advantages and disadvantages. Table 1 gives an overview of the costs, yield and purity of each technique [2]:

Table 1 shows that high pressure water scrubbing seems to be the cheapest technique to upgrade biogas. Also this technique gives quite high yield and purity. Cryogenics is the most expensive way of upgrading biogas but it gives the highest possible yield. Then, based on Hullu [2] the detail investment spend of high pressure water scrubbing need total investment for the whole process of biogas plant using regenerative circulation about 110,000, this work applied in Netherland. While Boateng [3] confirm on his paper that the investment for biogas purification using water scrubbing method are cost 28.050 U$ Dollar, this work applied in Ghana. The background of this research is the high price that is needed in making the biogas plant as a whole. This became a new problem for the world community, especially for the people of developing countries where economic conditions do not allow for them to provide high investment to build a biogas plant as a whole. In simple terms, the nominal value of this investment, it will be difficult owned or constructed by the society, especially from developing countries. So therefore, this innovation is still only just become mere ideals, because they could not properly applied because the value of investment is expensive. Because of this, it requires innovation which is cheaper, but still has the quality of results that are not much different from the kinds of methods mentioned above. This idea will be achieved by performing engineering and planning on variable kinds of materials, part design, and optimization functions of this treatment process control system. The design of the biogas plant which is much simpler, engineering materials, but still use the controls that streamline the process is really needed. With this research, intended to gain control model in the process of biogas treatment system, especially on biogas purification phase. Thus the results of this study, the design of biogas purification process while maintaining

the performance of purification process that remains effective, by using adequate control systems. Indonesia is a country with huge potency of biogas. Indonesia has 50 GW of biogas potency, but unfortunately there are still 445 MW explored until now [4]. Then, the research can be so useful for Indonesian people because the potency of biogas in here is very high. It can be applied for the optimizing of the biogass potency, so it makes this research is so essential. Particular study of low-cost biogas which was applied to the rural citizen in Indonesia also has been conducted by Anandika [5].

2. Literature Study In the scrubbing method of biogas purification, the high pressure increases the dissolubility of gases in water. Then, water is sprayed from the top of the column so that it ows down counter-current to the gas. To ensure a high transfer surface for gas liquid contact, the column is usually lled with a packing material [2]. In the scrubber vessel, when working at high pressure, there are two advantages compared to working at atmospheric pressure. The main advantage is that the dissolubility increases when the pressure is higher. This results in a lower required amount of water per amount of biogas. The total amount of water required will thus be a lot lower [2]. The developed scrubbing system is able to remove CO2 from raw biogas when pressurized raw biogas was fed into the packed bed scrubbing column and pressurized water is sprayed from top in counter-current action. The technology ensures sustainable development and energy security with employment generation in rural areas using cattle dung and biomass. The design of water scrubbing system depends on the solubility of carbon dioxide in water as solubility is governed by pressure and temperature as given in Table 2. It is clear from table that as the pressure increases solubility of CO2 in water increases but decreases as temperature increases.

Table 2. Approximate Solubility of CO2 in water

It has also been found that, the percentage absorption of carbon dioxide is increased with increase in gas pressure for all gas flow rates. The highest absorption (99 %) was observed at 1.0 MPa gas pressure. This is in agreement with Wellinger & Lindberg [6], who reported that 1.0 MPa pressure for inlet gas can give more than 90 % CH4 enrichment in biogas [7]. In an experiment conducted by Vijay, they use the monitoring of CO2 levels in the stream water, but monitoring the condition of the gas produced using chromatograph, while the price of the tool is quite expensive. Therefore, the difference of this research is to use a method of monitoring pH so that the budget expenditures can be saved by a lot. However, when higher pressures are reached, the dissolubility of the components will no longer linearly increase with the pressure. At higher pressures the increase of dissolubility becomes lower. Up to a pressure of 20 bars the dissolubility can be described according to Henrys law. These calculations are based on the ideal situation so non idealities should be taken into account in the design of a scrubber. Another important factor for the dissolubility of the components in water is the pH. Furthermore, the pH depends on the amount of H2S and CO2 that has been dissolved into water. Water becomes more acid when more H2S and CO2 are absorbed. When the pH is decreased, CO2 will dissolve less and the H2S will dissolve less. At a pH of 1, the dissolubility of H2S is only half of the dissolubility at a pH of 7. Therefore, a low pH is not feasible because the H2S removal is important; the stripping process (in regenerative process) becomes more dicult and acid water damages equipment. Working at a high pH is unfeasible as well because sulphur and carbonate ions will precipitate. It is best to work at a pH of 7 [2]. According to Kelly and Wood [8], the optimum pH for growth of Thiobacillus denitrificans is 6.8-7.4. Immediately after start-up, an auto-buffering effect was itself achieved and no further pH adjustment was necessary over long term operation (i.e. months) using the same solution. At this pH value, it can be concluded that the removal of H2S from biogas was

mainly due to biological processes and not as a result of other physical/chemical processes (e.g. absorption of H2S from gas in solution at higher pH). The composition of the nutrient solution was checked daily [9]. The method of system identification and applies an artificial intelligence to estimate the mathematical model of anaerobic digestion with shrimp pond sediments in the biogas process which is a batch reaction was conducted by Srisertpol [10]. The equations is one stage nonlinear caused by the reaction of organic substances that are decomposed into biogas. This mathematical model was compared to the experimental data, including temperature, pH, biogass flow rate and biochemical properties of shrimp culture sediment [10]. Actually, the control of bioreactors is a delicate problem since most of the time the available biological models are only rough approximations. Indeed, biological systems are known to be highly variable and dicult to measure so that no reliable biological law is available. A way to circumvent this diculty is the mass-balance based modeling. The biological lacks of knowledge are located in dedicated terms, namely the bioreactions kinetics [11]. Parameters identification is a very important step in building a dynamical model which fairly represents the biological reactions in an anaerobic fermentor and designing the control system [12]. Overall, the study revealed that biogas enrichment and compression system is a profitable venture for rural areas due to availability of large quantity of cattle dung. The system is recommended to establish rural entrepreneurship for the effective utilization of local biomass resources for production of biogas energy in decentralized manner and sustainable rural development [7].

3. Objectives of Collaboration The proposed research has some objectives mentioned below: a. To search design of biogas purification using scrubbing method but in a low budget and less feature. b. To build control system in the biogas purification which yield good quality of richmethane biogas although with low budget. c. To provide a new alternative design of biogas plant especially for rural society with low investing capability.

d. To analyze to effectiveness of the designs performance, the design is applied for the middle scale of biogas plant.

4. Explanation of Experimental Apparatus and Procedure To accomplish the research objectives, so we will try to create a simpler biogas purification system using scrubbing method. Here is the scheme / flow diagram of the whole biogas plant using scrubbing method for the purification.

Figure 1. Process flow diagram for high pressure water scrubbing

Water scrubbing is a technique based on the physical eect of gases dissolving in liquids. Water scrubbing can be used to remove CO2 and H2S from biogas since these components are more soluble in water than in CH4. This absorption process is a fully physical process. The main parts of the process are shown in Figure 1. In high pressure water scrubbing, gas enters the scrubber at high pressure. This high pressure increases the dissolubility of gases in water. Then, water is sprayed from the top of the column so that it ows down counter-current to the gas. To ensure a high transfer surface for gas liquid contact, the column is usually lled with a packing material. In the ash vessel the pressure is decreased and some traces of CH 4 will be regenerated. In the stripper the washing water is regenerated. CO 2 and H 2 S are stripped by air in this vessel.

After a drying step, the obtained CH 4 purity can reach 98% using this process and yields can achieved up to 94%. When working at high pressure, there are two advantages compared to working at atmospheric pressure. The main advantage is that the dissolubility increases when the pressure is higher. This results in a lower required amount of water per amount of biogas. The total amount of water required will thus be a lot lower. Also, the washing water is oversaturated at atmospheric pressure so regenerating will be a lot faster. The driving force behind the regenerating process is the concentration dierence between the oversaturated concentration and the equilibrium concentration. With this being as high as possible, the speed of the process will be highest. Experimental apparatus and procedure: It will concern more in the part of detail purification and control of the process by the control system using lower cost device, but still can yield a good accuracy in monitoring and controlling. To locate the sensor for process monitoring, it is common to detect the composition of yield gas and the raw biogas. Then the monitoring used to adjust the flow rate and pressure of the process. But, this is hard to provide the device for detecting the composition of biogas (Chromatograph). The scheme of low-cost biogas purification using water scrubbing method depict in Figure 2. There will be two kinds of sensor for monitoring pressure and pH value. The dimension and material of the vessel will be conduct later based on the initial setup of the experiment. There also will be packed material in the scrubber. It will be done to ensure a high transfer surface for gas liquid contacts. Hence it can improve the solubility of the gas, CO2 and H2S. Another important factor for the dissolubility of the components in water is the pH. Furthermore, the pH depends on the amount of H2S and CO2 that has been dissolved into water. Water becomes more acid when more H2S and CO2 are absorbed. When the pH is decreased, CO2 will dissolve less and the H2S will dissolve less. At a pH of 1, the dissolubility of H2S is only half of the dissolubility at a pH of 7. Therefore, a low pH is not feasible because the H2S removal is important; the stripping process becomes more dicult and acid water damages equipment. Working at a high pH is unfeasible as well because sulphur and carbonate ions will

precipitate. It is best to work at a pH of 7. In this research it will be proposed to using Ph monitoring to adjust the control for the process. Ph meter is much cheaper then chromatograph.
Pure biogas (result)
Pressure sensor

Ph meter

Water Scrubber

Packed material

Raw biogas
Compressor

Ph meter

Stream water

Figure 2. Diagrammatic illustration of the experiment apparatus to conduct the effectiveness of the control system working.

So, the sensor will be located to monitoring Ph value and also pressure value. Then the actuator will control the compressor for both on the input of raw biogas and the solvent, and also for the pressure valve on the both outlet of the scrubber column. When Ph of the output of the scrubber is less than 6 or in acid condition, it can be happened because of the amount of CO2 and H2S is over in the vessel, hence the flow rate of raw biogas will be decreased. And for the opponent, when the output of the scrubber has higher pH, more than 8 or balsa situation, hence the flow rate of the water scrubber also will be decreased. The ideal pH value of the scrubbing process is around 6,3-7,8 [12]. Pressure sensor also is used to monitoring the pressure in the vessel. It will be done to control the pressure valve release the biogas from the vessel. The optimum pressure value for the

scrubbing process also will be investigated. Then, mathematical modeling of this process will be conducted to predict the experimental result and to confirm the precision of the control system working. To reach the lower-cost design of biogas purification, material selection also will be done. Parts of the biogas purifier which can be replaced with other cheaper material such as vessel and its dimension of diameter ad height which influences the scrubbing effectiveness.

5. Research Plan for Respective Year Extensive design series were conducted in Toyohashi University of Technology to explain the choosing of design, material, devices/tools, system, and flow process to get the low-cost design of biogas purification for the middle-capacity biogas plant. The planned activities for the study extensively listed below. Development, optimization of the design of biogas purifier in material selection and its dimension (diameter and height of the vessel of scrubbing) Developing of mathematical modeling and control system of the process Simulation software of the experiment in order to verify and validate the data. Next, the suitable test of closure models on them will be conducted In order to get the performance of effective design compared to the other design with higher-cost budget Scientific publications in International Conferences and Journal papers.

Concretely, the time schedule of the proposed research is shown in the Table 3. From the activities explained on the table, the expected outputs are as follows; (1) Design of the whole low cost biogas plant using its biogas purifier. (2) Optimum combination of the material selection, dimension and devices / tool which used for the biogas purification (3) Design of mathematical modeling and its control system (4) Scientific publications in International Conferences and Journal papers.

Table 3. Research Project Schedule. No Activity Define of Research Concept & Target Study of the basic of control system due to biogas application Development, optimization of material selection for the scrubbing design Development of mathematical modeling and control system Simulation software of the experiment Comparing the result and evaluation Scientific Publications Master thesis 1st Year 2nd Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

6 7 8

Reference [1] Frazier, R. S., Ndegwa, P. 2010. Biogas Utilization and Cleanup. Extention.org. Cooperative Extension System.

[2] Hullu, J. de., Maassen, J.I.W. , Meel, P.A. van., Shazad, S., Vaessen, J.M.P. 2008. Comparing dierent biogas upgrading techniques. Eindhoven University of Technology. [3] Boateng, C. O., Kwofie, E.M. 2009. Water Scrubbing: A Better Option for Biogas Purification for Effective Storage. Ghana. School of Engineering, Koforidua Polytechnic. [4] Brosur of the 5th international exhibition for all renewable energy technology. 2009. Jakarta. [5] Anandika, R., Adyutawati, S.M., Wijaya, Aditya, S., Muttaqin, A. 2010. Kampong BiogasVillage Energy Independent as a Professional Firm by Rural Citizen, Case Study in Indonesia. Tokyo, Japan. Ecobalance [6] Wellinger A. and Lindeberg A. (1999) Biogas upgrading and utilization. Available online at http://www.novaenergie.ch./iea-bioenergy-task37/documente/biogas.pdf. [7] Vijay, Virendra K., Chandra, Ram, Subbarao, P. M. V., Kapdi, S. S., 2006. Biogas Purification and Bottling into CNG Cylinders: Producing Bio-CNG from Biomass for Rural Automotive Applications. New Delhi, India. Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology. [8] Kelly P.D. and Wood P.A. (2000). Confirmation of Thiobacillus denitrificans as a species of the genus Thiobacillus, in the -subclass of the Proteobacteria, with strain NCIMB 9548 as the

type strain. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 50: 547-550. [9] Soreanu, G., Bland, M., Falletta, P., Edmonson, K., Seto, P. 2007. Laboratory pilot scale study for H2S removal from biogas in an anoxic biotrickling filter. Canada. Wastewater Technology Centre. [10] Srisertpol, J., Srinakorn, P., Kheawnak, A., Chamniprasart, K., Srikaew, A. 2010

Estimation Dynamical Model of an Anaerobic Digestion of Shrimp Culture Pond Sediment in a Biogas Process using Genetic Algorithm. Thailand. University Avenue. [11] Bastin, G., Dochain, D., On-line estimation and adaptive control of bioreactors, Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam and N. Y. 1991. [12] Simeonov, I., Stoyanov, S. 2003. Modeling and Dynamic Compensator Control of the Anaerobic Digestion of Organic Wastes. Sofia, Bulgaria. Institute of Microbiology, BAS Research group.