Benefits of Biomethane

This section outlines the benefits of bio-methane and their sources as follows;

• Unlike wind and solar energy sources, energy generation from bio-methane is not intermittent and can be dispatched to fill-in the gaps and promote system reliability.
• Bio-methane reduces GHG emissions by displacing natural gas and reducing release of methane to the atmosphere.
• Bio-methane from renewable sources like dairy digesters and landfills can be a reliable source of renewable fuel that can be used to power the cleanest and most efficient electricity generation facilities in the Nigeria.
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• Bio-methane has high flexibility of use because in transportation sector and storage capabilities.
• Bio-methane offers an opportunity to use a low cost renewable fuel when firing combined cycle generators thus producing renewable electrons at highest efficiencies.
• Bio-methane has very low carbon footprint, rated as the lowest carbon producing fuel through the CEC's proceedings for the low carbon fuel standard.
• Bio-methane can create local jobs by keeping local power plants in operation and keeping electricity costs low, which helps local businesses to prosper and add jobs.
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• Bio-methane production requires no special/expensive transmission facilities or other grid infrastructure.
• Bio-methane can utilize existing natural gas pipelines and the most efficient generation resources, thus saving transmission cost.

Statement of the problem

The statement of problem is considered under the following headings; Economic, Technical and Environmental problems.

Economic Challenges of Biogas/Bio-methane

This sub-section looks at economic challenges of bio-methane production as follows;

The Costs of biogas/bio-methane generation systems (including cleaning and pipeline interconnection using biomass sources such as dairy wastes, food wastes, and other organic wastes) are high in comparison with traditional forms of electricity generation.

• The Cost of biomass wastes (and other feedstock for co-digestion) including transportation cost of these feed stocks are high
• Sustainable supply of feedstock; securing and reliability of long term supply is not guaranteed.
• The recent economic downturn made financing of bio-methane projects more difficult.
•  For dairies, the price of milk is low that makes farmers not to invest and install digesters for production of bio-methane.
• Competition with vested utility, biomass fuels or sources, bio-methane as transportation fuels, and waste management infrastructures. Hence; the need to perform trade off-study for electricity and transportation fuels applications using landfill gas.
• Cost to interconnect small biogas projects to natural gas pipeline is high

Technical Challenges of Biogas/Bio-methane

This sub-section looks at technical challenges of bio-methane production as follows;

Anaerobic Digestion technologies and bio-methane clean-up technologies is yet to be fully demonstrated and commercialized.

• Lack of performance data for bio-methane technologies such as co-digestion of other feed stocks for digesters (including dairy waste and food wastes which improve the cost-effectiveness of digesters and co-digestion at wastewater treatment plants) and need for sustainable feedstock sourcing
• Investment in research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) is insufficient to help resolve the challenges related to next generation biogas conversion technologies (e.g., biomass-to-bio-methane or renewable NG conversion technologies).
•  Lack of data for co-digestion
• Sustainable feedstock sourcing and transportation issues
• Lack of performance data for new technologies (biomass gasification and producer gas cleaning for pipeline quality gas) and costs.

Environmental Challenges of Biogas/Bio-methane

• Environmental benefits of Biogas/Bio-methane are not internalized
• Remaining issues with air quality (NOX) and water quality still pose some environmental challenges.
• Lack of environmental data limits further development and commercialization of bio-methane
• Biogas/Bio-methane production may constitute public health hazards if not properly managed (odor, flies.

Objectives

The main objective of this research is to design a Low cost, energy efficient bio-methane production and upgrading system from landfill gas. The specific objectives are;

• To design the process conditions to give optimal conversion to the required quality of bio-methane depending on the application (vehicle use, CHP, grid injection)
• To fabricate, test and evaluate equipment designed in (i) above in accordance with relevant technical codes and stsndards.
• To determine Levelized cost per unit energy (LCOE) generated over the life of the project.
• To investigate possibility of Interchangeability and substitution of Bio-methane for other gaseous fuel without materially changing safety, efficiency, performance or air pollutant emissions.
•  To investigate optimal operation conditions of Bio-methane on large scale biogas plants.
• To undertake gas quality test of bio-methane produced in (v) above, in order to establish its following composition; heating value, specific gravity, temperature and hydrocarbon dew point. hydrocarbons, water vapor, hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans (organic sulfides), total sulfur, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, total inerts, oxygen, other trace constituents, pharmaceuticals and microbes.