As an experienced plant manufacturer and operator, EnviTec Biogas AG has been commissioned to construct a gas upgrading plant at each of the company’s existing biogas plants in Hennstedt, Schleswig-Holstein, and Heiligengrabe, Brandenburg.
“In Heiligengrabe, we have already successfully commissioned the biomethane plant with a capacity of 360 Nm³/h,” says Stefan Laumann, Head of Gas Upgrading at EnviTec Anlagenbau GmbH. The main challenge during planning and construction was the relatively limited space available on site. “This required precise fine-tuning of all components and a highly compact design,” Laumann explains.
The upstream biogas plant, originally built in 2009, was modernised by the customer and now runs on cattle slurry, chicken manure, separated cattle slurry, and a significantly reduced proportion of maize. The biogas produced is treated to grid quality via the EnviThan plant, which includes a raw gas pre-treatment system. Using regenerative thermal oxidation (RTO), the residual methane in the exhaust gas is combusted. The resulting renewable natural gas is then injected into the existing gas grid.
Expertise and precision required
The 397 Nm³/h EnviThan plant for Hennstedt is also ready for operation.
“However, it is currently in storage at our Saerbeck production facility, awaiting completion of the on-site modernization work at the biogas plant,” Laumann adds. The biomethane, expected to be fed into the grid from autumn onwards, will be used in an on-site combined heat and power (CHP) unit, while the separated CO₂ will be put to use in a nearby greenhouse.
“We are already looking forward to the final commissioning and to expanding our plant network with two state-of-the-art gas upgrading facilities,” says Hubert Loick, Managing Director of Dorsten-based Loick Bioenergie GmbH. EnviTec impressed particularly with its flexibility and solution-oriented approach in the planning, construction, and adaptation to the two existing plants – “this requires not only the necessary expertise, but also a great deal of sensitivity,” the customer adds.
To date, EnviTec Biogas has built more than 100 EnviThan gas upgrading plants. This innovative and environmentally friendly gas upgrading technology has been deployed in ten countries worldwide since the construction of EnviTec’s own pilot plant in Sachsendorf.
“Over the past 13 years, our pioneering process has set milestones in the international gas upgrading market – across Europe, in China, and in the USA,” Laumann continues. “At present, we have built and commissioned EnviThan gas upgrading plants with a total capacity of 41,400 Nm³/h of biomethane.”
