Technical and economic analysis of the reconversion of an existing biogas plant to biomethane production: a case study.

The paper deals with the technical and economic analysis of a project aimed at transforming an existing plant, used for the anaerobic digestion of zoo-technical and agroforest biomass and including a CHP system of about 1 MW of electric capacity, into a facility producing bio-methane for automotive and/or stationary power applications. A comparison of different biogas upgrading technologies is performed, aimed at selecting the technology most appropriate to the size and typology of application under evaluation. Similarly, an analysis is performed to evaluate the opportunity of installing a bio-methane liquefaction facility, to simplify the management and transportation of the fuel, to be used in vehicles. The economic analysis is performed by considering the incentives presently available in Italy for bio-methane producers. Different scenarios are analyzed and discussed, and it was concluded that the conversion of the existing plant into a facility to produce bio-methane to be liquified and sold as fuel for vehicles represents at this moment a very attractive and profitable option

Technical and ecnomic analysis of a cogeneration plant fuelled by biogas produced from livestock biomass

AbstractThis technical report illustrates an anaerobic digestion plant for the production of biogas designed to be powered by livestock biomass, combined with a 330 kWe CHP unit co-generator, installed in a cattle farm located in the province of Reggio Emilia. The plant consists essentially of a pre-treatment system of the effluents to the load, two anaerobic continuously stirred tank reactors and heated under mesophilic regime sheltered with gasometric coverings with double membrane; at the end of the process of fermentation, the digestate converges in a solid-liquid separation system with helical compression and a storage tank of the clarified fraction, sheltered with a covering for the containment of residual gaseous emissions into the atmosphere. The produced biogas is collected in gasometers placed above the tanks and, after desulfurization, dehumidification and cooling, it fuels the co-generator. The report is determined to illustrate the experimental results for the first 12 months of operation of the plant that confirmed, both in terms of energy and from a financial perspective, the efficiency of biogas plants fueled only by livestock effluents