Unlocking the potential of cryogenic biogas upgrading technologies integrated with bio-LNG production: A comparative assessment

Ahmad Naquash, Neha Agarwal, Muhammad Nizami, Nguyen Nhu Nga, Muhammad Aziz and Moonyong Lee

Applied Energy, 2024, vol. 371, issue C, No S0306261924011036

Abstract: Biogas has gained increasing consideration as a competitive, environmentally benign, and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. These benefits of biogas necessitate the need for intercontinental transportation, which is challenging because of its low energy density. Liquefaction is a viable approach to increase energy density, but this approach is energy and cost-intensive and requires high purity of biomethane. Cryogenic biogas upgrading integrated with the biomethane liquefaction (or bio-LNG) process is an efficient technique to meet these challenges due to its dual benefits: separation with high purity/recovery and precooling of biomethane. This study evaluates different cryogenic technologies (distillation, controlled freeze zone (CFZ), and anti-sublimation) and their integration potential with the bio-LNG production process from a technical and economic perspective. This type of comparative assessment is not found in the open literature. In addition, the CFZ process has not been investigated previously for biogas upgrading. The processes are designed and simulated in Aspen Hysys v14. Among all these processes, the CFZ performs better due to its single-column operation, which reduces cost and energy requirements. The results reveal that the CFZ process is an efficient and economical integrated process, boasting high exergy efficiency (40%), competitive energy consumption (0.30 kWh/kg), and a low production cost (6.3 $/MMBtu). This study can help process engineers design an improved biogas supply chain in terms of cost and energy.

Keywords: Biogas; Cryogenic separation; Anti-sublimation process; Controlled freeze zone process; Liquid biomethane (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.123720

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