The EnviTec Biogas team is now ready to start placing the plant into operation.
"Now that the last component, the 300,000-litre LCO2 tank made of pressure vessel steel, has been integrated, we can start the test phase with the newly installed plant components," says Frank Hinken, Managing Director of EnviTec Bioenergie Güstrow GmbH.
The raw biogas produced at BioEnergie Park Güstrow is upgraded to natural gas quality with the help of the innovative EnviThan gas upgrading process. The CO2-enriched permeate (exhaust air) from the gas treatment process contains an extremely small amount of methane and is transferred to the CO2 liquefaction plant (LCO2 plant) for further treatment.
It is used for the production of liquid carbon dioxide.
"The bio-CO2 produced can be used in food and beverage production sectors, for example, or, in greenhouses," explains Hinken.
The off-gas created during the liquefaction of CO2, which contains other non-condensable gases such as nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen as well as methane, is fed to the combined heat and power plants at the site, where it is used to generate energy for self-supply.
"Through this active circular economy, we are making an important contribution to a greener transport sector,'"stresses Jürgen Tenbrink, Chief Technology Officer of EnviTec Biogas AG, which is based in Lohne and Saerbeck.
Once in operation, due late summer this year, the plant will produce 25,000 kg of bio-LNG daily for heavy-duty transport vehicles.
At the same time, the liquefaction of biomethane is accompanied with the liquefaction of carbon dioxide via the gas treatment process. The liquid carbon dioxide, 15,000 metric tons per year generated at food quality, substitutes fossil-based carbon dioxide, significantly improving the CO2 footprint of the plant.
