Optimization of Thermodynamic Parameters of the Biological Hydrogen Methanation in a Trickle-Bed Reactor for the Conditioning of Biogas to Biomethane

Elena Holl (), Anastasia Oskina, Urs Baier and Andreas Lemmer ()
Additional contact information
Elena Holl: State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Anastasia Oskina: State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Urs Baier: Specialist Department for Biocatalysis and Process Technology, School of Life Sciences and Facility Management, ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8400 Winterthur, Switzerland
Andreas Lemmer: State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: The increased demand for resources and energy that is developing with rising global consumption represents a key challenge for our generation. Biogas production can contribute to sustainable energy production and closing nutrient cycles using organic residues or as part of a utilization cascade in the case of energy crops. Compared to hydrogen (H 2 ), biogas with a high methane (CH 4 ) content can be fed into the gas grid without restrictions. For this purpose, the CH 4 content of the biogas must be increased from 52 to 60% after anaerobic digestion to more than 96%. In this study, biological hydrogen methanation (BHM) in trickling-bed reactors (TBR) is used to upgrade biogas. Design of experiments (DoE) is used to determine the optimal process parameters. The performance of the reactors is stable under all given conditions, reaching a “low” gas grid quality of over 90%. The highest CH 4 content of 95.626 ± 0.563% is achieved at 55 °C and 4 bar, with a methane formation rate (MFR) of 5.111 ± 0.167 m 3 /(m 3 ·d). The process performance is highly dependent on the H 2 :CO 2 ratio in the educts, which should be as close as possible to the stochiometric ratio of 4. In conclusion, BHM is a viable approach to upgrade biogas to biomethane quality and can contribute to a sustainable energy grid.

Keywords: biological methanation; trickle-bed reactor; biogas upgrading; biomethane; optimization of operating parameters (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/12/4720/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/12/4720/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:12:p:4720-:d:1171425

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().