Evaluation of Hydrogen Sulfide Scrubbing Systems for Anaerobic Digesters on Two U.S. Dairy Farms

Abhinav Choudhury, Timothy Shelford, Gary Felton, Curt Gooch and Stephanie Lansing
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Abhinav Choudhury: Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Timothy Shelford: Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Gary Felton: Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Curt Gooch: Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Stephanie Lansing: Department of Environmental Science and Technology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-13

Abstract: Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) is a corrosive trace gas present in biogas produced from anaerobic digestion systems that should be removed to reduce engine-generator set maintenance costs. This study was conducted to provide a more complete understanding of two H 2 S scrubbers in terms of efficiency, operational and maintenance parameters, capital and operational costs, and the effect of scrubber management on sustained H 2 S reduction potential. For this work, biogas H 2 S, CO 2 , O 2 , and CH 4 concentrations were quantified for two existing H 2 S scrubbing systems (iron-oxide scrubber, and biological oxidation using air injection) located on two rural dairy farms. In the micro-aerated digester, the variability in biogas H 2 S concentration (average: 1938 ± 65 ppm) correlated with the O 2 concentration (average: 0.030 ± 0.004%). For the iron-oxide scrubber, there was no significant difference in the H 2 S concentrations in the pre-scrubbed (450 ± 42 ppm) and post-scrubbed (430 ± 41 ppm) biogas due to the use of scrap iron and steel wool instead of proprietary iron oxide-based adsorbents often used for biogas desulfurization. Even though the capital and operating costs for the two scrubbing systems were low (<$1500/year), the lack of dedicated operators led to inefficient performance for the two scrubbing systems.

Keywords: micro-aeration; biogas; iron; bioenergy; H 2 S scrubber (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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