Gas pretreatment for

Upgrading biogas by
Pressure Swing Adsorption
 The motivation

 Biogas (from organic waste) can be used as energy sources

 Biogas upgrading technology outline

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 The principle of pressure swing
adsorption

 Adsorption equilibrium
how much of a given species can
be adsorbed
HIGH LOW
PRESSURE PRESSURE
 Adsorption kinetics
how fast a species is being
adsorbed
 Overview on upgrading technologies

hppt://www.greengasgrid.eu

Page 2/7
 Main advantages PSA process

 Simple and robust

 Moderate operation conditions

 Low utilities requirements

 Flexible and adjustable

 Dry process without effluents

 No degradation in performance

 Process design difficult to copy

Carbotech PSA Gas Upgrading System
 Biogas Upgrading PSA Supplier

 ETW Biomethane plants  A broad purification capacity

range that goes from 200 to
10.000 Nm³/h
 CH4 concentration in the
product gas can be set from
95 - 99%
 Lowest energy consumption
of < 0.14 kWh/Nm³
including pre-conditioning
 Plant availability of > 99%
 Suitable for upgrading gas
from waste, land-fills and
WWT plants.
 Biogas Upgrading PSA Supplier

 Xebec
 Biogas Upgrading PSA Supplier

 Xebec

PSA System Process Flow Diagram

 Biogas Upgrading PSA Supplier

 Xebec

PSA Hybrid System Process Flow Diagram

 Biogas Upgrading PSA Supplier

 Mahler AGS

 Feedstock: Biogas / landfill gas

 Upgrading capacity: 500 to

5.000 Nm³/h

 CH4 recovery rate: up to 98 %

 Product purity: > 96% CH4

 Pressure: 4 – 7 bar(abs)
 Biogas Upgrading PSA Supplier

 NeoZeo

 Affordable investment cost

 Short payback period

 Low operation costs

 No heat required

 Water-free operations

 Energy requirements (0.23-

0.26 kWh/Nm3 at 6 bar )
 Importance of Diversity in Technology

 The best technology to handle biogas does not exit.

 The best technology to choose is based on specific
parameters at the plant:
 Is heating price/electric price cheap ?

 Is the requirement of purify/recovery high ?

 Is the capital cost low ?

 Is the plant space compact ?

PSA is the flexible technology  Can trace off between

high recovery and low operating cost
In Present Study

Achievement
 Feed Gas: 20% CO2 / 80% N2

 Upgrading capacity: 5 Nm3/h

 N2 recovery rate: up to 87 %

 Product purity: > 97% N2

 But energy consumption is only 0.1

kWh/Nm3

 Can using more energy to increase

recovery
 In Present Study
Increasing Recovery

Using Vacuum Pump

Heating Purge Gas It’s All Require

Energy

Using Another Purge

Gas
 Framwork of Study

Validate
Building Isotherm &
Fitting Isotherm
Experiment Set Fitting Kinetic

Scale up Validate Kinetic

Potential of PSA Technology

Hydrogen production plants from Mahler AGS

 Potential of PSA Technology

Helium extraction unit in Skikda, Algeria from Linde Technology

 Potential of PSA Technology

PSA nitrogen generator plants from HANGYANG