Energy plant constructor ETW Energietechnik from Moers has installed its first biogas processing plant in Scherwiller, France, on a Rytec plant.
The plant has been in continuous operation since mid-April. This is a compact model of the biogas treatment system ETW SmarCycle PSA developed by ETW. With a processing capacity of 230 to 385 standard cubic metres of biogas per hour, this plant model has been specially developed for the French market. Plant manufacturer Rytec from Baden-Baden is responsible for the entire project development and the installed fermentation line.
Biomethane on the advance
“France is currently one of the most important markets for biomethane plants in Europe,” explains Marco Weiss, managing director of ETW Energietechnik GmbH. Biomethane is currently gaining ground in the neighbouring country. Energy experts assume that by 2030 France will be able to cover one-third of its gas requirements with biomethane. An essential prerequisite for the implementation, however, is the application of efficient and practice-proven processing technologies.
“In the recent past we had a strong demand for compact plants in the performance class up to about 500 standard cubic meters of biogas per hour. Together with our French partner GASEO, we have therefore decided to integrate our ETW SmartCycle technology, already proven on larger systems, into a compact, flexible and energy-efficient container concept,” explains Marco Weiss. “In addition, this technology will enable us to establish ourselves in many other markets with similar development potential.” The compact design reduces space requirements and assembly times on the construction site.
Flexible operation, self-regenerating process
Moreover, the flexible operation of the plant allows the operator to adapt directly to his biogas production without having to accept losses in biomethane quality. The smart process control reacts fully automatically even to large volume flow fluctuations and changing raw gas qualities. This means that there is no loss in yield or quality of the biomethane produced.
The self-regenerating, dry gas treatment process has been continuously established in the industrial gas sector since the 1980s due to its extremely high availability. With this property, the process is predestined for use in France. “This is where biogas quality is less predictable because large amounts of residues and waste end up in biogas plants,” explains Dr. Oliver Jende, sales manager for Biomethane Plants at ETW. “While in other systems an increased risk of efficiency losses and plant downtimes can be expected due to the presence of contaminants in the biogas, we can handle these conditions on the basis of our ETW SmarCycle PSA technology,” adds Dr. Oliver Jende.