ConversionofLFGtoaHighBtuFuel:AnotherOption

forUtilization
Thepurposeofthisdocumentistodiscussconsiderationsassociatedwiththeimplementationand
operationofhighBtugasprojectsandwhatlandfillownersshouldunderstandifsuchaprojectis
beingconsidered.HighBtugasreferstolandfillgas(LFG)thathasbeentreatedtoincreaseits
energydensity(typicallyinunitsofBtuspercubicfoot)toalevelequivalenttothatofnaturalgas.
Typically,LFGrecoveredfromlandfillsusinganactivecollectionandcontrolsystemcontains
approximately50percentmethanebyvolume.Likenaturalgas,theheatingvalueofLFGisderived
largelyfrommethane.However,withamethanecontentofonly50percent,theenergydensityof
LFGisapproximatelyonehalfofnatural
gasandistypicallyregardedasamedium
Btufuel.
TheproductiveuseofLFGtypicallytakes
theformofelectricalgenerationinan
engineorturbine,orindirectuse
applicationssuchasanindustrialboiler.
LFGalsocanbeprocessedtoincreaseits
energydensity(theamountofenergyper
unitvolume)byremovinginertgases.This
increaseinenergydensityallowsforthe
useofLFGasadirectsupplementor
substitutefornaturalgasinavarietyof
UniversityofNewHampshireEcoLineTM HighBtu
applicationssuchas:directinjectionintoa
LandfillGasProject
naturalgaspipeline;conversionto
compressednaturalgas(CNG)orliquefiednaturalgas(LNG)forpoweringvehiclefleets;or
utilizationofthegreengasinanindustrialapplicationorelectricitygenerationasasubstitutefor
naturalgas,propaneorotherfossilfuel.

HowIsHighBtuLFGUtilized?
HighBtugasisvirtuallyinterchangeablewithnaturalgasand,asaresult,itsapplicationsarejustas
widespreadandsimilar.ThemostcommonapplicationofhighBtugasinvolvesthedirectinjection
intoanaturalgasdistributionortransmissionsystem.Whilenotascommon,somehighBtugas
projectsconvertthegastoCNGorLNGforuseasafuelinmobilesourcessuchastrucks,cars,or
earthmovingequipment.Inaddition,someprojectstakethehighBtugasandpipeitthrougha
dedicatedpipelinetoanearbyenduserforuseinanindustrialprocessorforelectricgeneration,as
adirectsubstitutefornaturalgas.ThegrowthofhighBtugasprojectsalsoisnotable.Sincethe
firstprojectbeganoperationintheearly1980s,thenumberofprojectsgrewtoeightby1997and
hasexpandedto32projectsasofDecember2011.

HighBtuGasProduction
Ingeneral,theconversionofLFGtohighBtugasinvolvestheremovalofcarbondioxide(CO2),
nitrogen,oxygen,andwater.Elementssuchasoxygenandnitrogenaretypicallykepttoaminimum
bymanagingtheLFGwellfieldasthesecompoundscanbedifficultandexpensivetoremovefrom
ConversionofLFGtoaHighBtuFuel:AnotherOptionforUtilization

LFG.ByremovingCO2andminimizingnitrogenandoxygencontent,themethaneconcentration(and
energydensity)oftheLFGisincreasedtothelevelneededbytheenduseapplicationortomeet
naturalgaspipelinestandards.
IncaseswherethehighBtugasmustmeetstrictnaturalgaspipelinestandards,themethane
contentistypicallyincreasedtoover95percent.However,incaseswherethegoalistofacilitate
utilizationinacombustiondevicewhileavoidingcombustionsystemmodifications,atarget
methanecontentofover75percentmaybeadequate.ManyhighBtugasprojectsrequirethe
removalofhydrogensulfideand/orsiloxanesiftheconcentrationofthesecompoundsintheLFG
exceedscertainlevels.Inthesecases,
additionaltreatmentsystemsmaybe
neededtoremovethesecontaminantsin
ordertomeetfuelspecifications.
Severaltechnologieshavebeen
successfullyemployedforproducinghigh
Btugas.Currently,LMOPisawareoffive
technologiesthatareutilizedtoproduce
highBtugas:PressureSwingAdsorption
(PSA);TemperatureSwingAdsorption
(TSA);MembraneSeparation;Cryogenic
Separation;andSolventAbsorption.
OakGroveLandfillGasPowerPlant,GA
Althougheachofthesetechnologiesare
different,theyallareusedtoremoveCO2fromLFG.TheearliesthighBtugasprojectswerebased
onsolventabsorptiontechnology,includingtheFreshKillsprojectinNewYorkCitywhichbegan
operationin1982.Thisprocessisstillinusetodayandisbeingconsideredoremployedoncurrent
projectsaswell.MostoftherecentlydevelopedhighBtugasprojectshavebeendevelopedusing
membraneseparationand/orPSA.

TechnologiesforProducingHighBtuGas:

PSAUsesamediabedtoselectivelycollectCO2(ornitrogen)onthesurfaceofthemedia,
whichisregeneratedperiodicallytoremovethecollectedCO2(ornitrogen)byreducingpressure
onthebedandallowingtheadsorbedCO2toreleasefromthebedduringapurgeprocess.

TSASimilarprocesstoPSA.ThemediaisregeneratedperiodicallytoremovethecollectedCO2
fromthemediabyincreasingthetemperatureonthebedandallowingtheadsorbedCO2to
releasefromthebedduringapurgeprocess.

MembraneSeparationThesemembranesaredesignedtoselectivelyallowcarbondioxideto
passthroughthemembranewhileminimizingmethanetransport.

CryogenicSeparationThistechnologyusesrefrigerationtocooltheLFGtominus70OF,which
allowsthecarbondioxidecontainedintheLFGtoberemovedasaliquid..

SolventAbsorptionCO2isabsorbedfromtheLFGbyasolvent(e.g.,Selexol,Krysol).Thespent
solventisregeneratedtoremovethecarbondioxideandthenreused.

ConversionofLFGtoaHighBtuFuel:AnotherOptionforUtilization

RevenueSourcesandConsiderationsforHighBtuGasProjects
ThetwomainsourcesofrevenueforhighBtugasprojectsarefromthesaleoftheenergycontained
inhighBtugasanditscorrespondinggreenattributes.MosthighBtugasprojectsarestructured
sothattherevenuefromthesaleofthehighBtugasinjectedintoapipelineistiedtolocalnatural
gaspricing.
InadditiontothesaleoftheenergycontainedinhighBtugas,animportantandgrowingsourceof
revenuefortheseprojectsisthesaleofassociatedgreenattributes.Greenattributes
essentiallyquantifytheenvironmentalbenefitsassociatedwithaparticularproject.Forexample,if
LFGisprocessedtoahighBtugasandusedfortheproductionofelectricity,theuseofhighBtugas
intheelectricalgeneratingprojectmaycreateRenewableEnergyCredits(RECs).Thebasic
contractingconceptisthathighBtuorgreengasisinjectedintoaninterstatetransmissionline
whereitcanbewheeledtoastatewithattractiveelectricitypricingandarenewableportfolio
standard(RPS).Atthatpoint,thehighBtugascanbesoldtoaspecificnaturalgasfiredelectric
powergenerationfacilitywheretheburningofthegreengasallowsittocreateRECs.Thisgasis
thensoldatapremiumtothenaturalgaspricebeingpaidbythegenerationfacility(intheformof
additionaldollarsperMMBtuoraportionoftheRECvalue).RECvaluesvaryandaremore
attractiveinstatesthathaveimplementedsometypeofRPSthatrequireselectricutilitiestosource
asetamountorpercentageoftheirelectricityfromrenewableenergyresources.Whilethe
wheelingofgreengascanincreaseitsvalue,additionalmarketing,wheeling,anddistribution
costscanapplyandmustbeconsidered.
Significantuncertaintyexistsinregardtodetermininglongtermrevenueprojectionsasthefuture
valueofthehighBtugasislinkedtonaturalgasmarketprices.Pricescandependonmacro
economicconditions,weather,thediscoveryofnewresources,andotherfactorsoutsideofthe
controloftheprojectdeveloper.Inaddition,thepriceforgreengasdependsonwhatmarkets
thehighBtuprojectcanaccesstosellitsgreengas.

OperationalConsiderationsforHighBtuGasProjectSuccess
Outsideofthenormaloperationand
maintenanceofthehighBtugas
processingsystem,anotheroperational
considerationforhighBtugasprojectsis
themanagementofthegascollection
system,specificallythewellfield
operations.ForpipelinequalityhighBtu
gas,oxygencontentmustbekeptbelow
approximately0.4percentbyvolume,and
nitrogenandCO2lessthanapproximately
fourtofivepercentbyvolume.Theability
toremoveoxygenandnitrogenfromthe
IrisGlenHighBtuProject,TN
LFGcanrequireadditionalprocessing
equipmentandincreaseoverallprojectcosts.Therefore,theprimarymethodforminimizingoxygen
andnitrogenlevelsinLFGisthroughadeliberatewellfieldmanagementplan.Thiswellfield
managementplanwillrelyheavilyonperiodicwellfieldtestingandadjustment,butmoreextensive
considerationsinclude:additionalmodificationstothewellfielddesigntominimizeoxygen

ConversionofLFGtoaHighBtuFuel:AnotherOptionforUtilization

infiltration(e.g.,extendedmembranebootsonwells);andaseparatecollectionsystemforshallow
andperimeterwells.
Closecoordinationwiththeenduserofthegasisrequiredtoensurethatthecharacteristicsofthe
collectedLFGmeettherequirementsoftheproject.Theoperationofthegascollectionandcontrol
systemmustmeettheregulatoryrequirementsforthelandfilliftheNewSourcePerformance
Standards(NSPS)forlandfillsapply.

IsMyLandfillaCandidateforaHighBtuGasProject?
AlthoughanylandfillthatcollectsLFGisapotentialcandidateforahighBtugasproject;historically,
largerlandfillsthatproduceahighvolumeofLFGarethemostattractiveduetotheconsiderable
capitalandoperatingcostsfortheproductiontechnologies.Revenuegeneratedfromthesaleof
highBtugasmustoffsetthecapitalandoperatingcostsassociatedwiththeproject.Advancements
inthetechnologiesforprocessingLFGtohighBtugashaveresultedinincreasedfinancialviabilityof
theseprojectsatsomewhatsmallerlandfills.

CharacteristicsofLandfillsBestSuitedforaHighBtuProject

Theabilitytocollectatleast1,000scfmofLFGat50percentmethane

Landfillwillbeacceptingwasteforatleastthenextfiveyears

LandfillwithanLFGcollectionsystemandnosignificantmigrationorsurfaceemissionissues
(allowingforlowervacuumsonthegascontrolandcollectionsystemtominimizeoxygenand
nitrogeninthecollectedLFG)

Closetoanaturalgastransmissionordistributionpipelinewithacceptableinterconnection
requirements

ForCNGprojects,alandfillshouldhaveareadilyassessablevehiclefleet(wastecollectionor
compactortrucks)touseCNGasthefuelsource

WhereCanIObtainFurtherInformation?
LMOPisavoluntaryprogramthathelpslandfill
owners,projectdevelopers,andcommunities
developLFGenergyprojects.LMOPoffers
technicalsupportthatincludesestimatinggas
generation,analyzingprojecteconomics,and
identifyingpotentialprojectpartnersincluding
landfillsandendusers.Inaddition,available
LMOPresourcesincludeprofilesofhighBtugas
projects,adatabaseofoperationalLFGenergy
projectsandlandfillsthatmayhavethecapacity
tosupportaproject,andanextensivenetworkof VeoliaGreenTreeLFHighBtuPipeInstallation, PA
industryprofessionalsaspartoftheLMOP
PartnershipProgram.Formoreinformation,visittheLMOPWebsiteatwww.epa.gov/lmop.

ConversionofLFGtoaHighBtuFuel:AnotherOptionforUtilization