Study of On-Site Upgraded Livestock Biogas Production and Carbon Emission Reduction By Substituting Coals For Thermal Power Generation

Wei-Chen Chen and Jung-Jeng Su

Dept. of Animal Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10673, Taiwan, R.O.C. Bioenergy Research Centre, College of Bio-resources and Agriculture, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan, R.O.C.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7822874

Abstract

The objective of this project is to integrate a farm-scale bio-desulfurization facility with a novel biogas hollow fibre adsorption module for biogas desulfurization and bio-natural gas production. In this study, the desulfurization experimental results showed that the bio-desulfurization system can remove 96.7 ± 6% of H2S from the biogas after an approximately two-month enrichment period. The average CH4, N2, and CO2 concentrations in raw biogas were 63.4, 15.2, and 21.1%, respectively. As for biogas upgrading experiments, the inlet biogas flow rates were applied from 5 to 20 L/min. The removal efficiency of CO2 under all biogas flow rates was 100%. Meanwhile, methane was promoted from 60% to nearly 94% (i.e. 57% increase in methane concentration). The replacement of anthracite and coking coal by upgraded biogas might reduce 44.4% and 42.5% of CO2 equivalent, respectively. The achievement of this project pursues the mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions by using upgraded pig biogas which can be enlarged and extended to all decentralized pig farms worldwide.

Keywords

Livestock biogas, Bio-desulfurization, Biogas upgrading, Bio-natural gas.

Acknowledgements

We thank Fang-Ching Chang and Phil Pan (staff of Aura Material Inc., Hsinchu, Taiwan) for their practical technical assistance on-site during the hollow fibre adsorption experiments. Special thanks to Wen-Teng Hsu (the owner of the I-Yang Pig Farm) and Le-Ting Huang for providing the demonstration site and sample analysis, respectively.

References

Abatzoglou, N. and Boivin, S. (2009) A review of biogas purification processes. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Vol. 3, pp. 42-71.
Adnan, A. I., Ong, M. Y., Nomanbhay, S., Chew, K. W. and Show, P. L. (2019). Technologies for biogas upgrading to biomethane: A review. Bioengineering, Vol. 6, 92.
Afrox (2022) Product reference manual (10th ed.). South Africa, Afrox A Linde Company, p.117.
Chen, X. Y., Vinh-Thang, H., Ramirez, A. A., Rodrigue, D. and Kaliaguine, S. (2015) Membrane gas separation technologies for biogas upgrading. RSC Advances, pp. 24399-24448.
Cozma, P., Ghinea, C., Mamaliga, I., Wukovits, W., Friedl, A. and Gavrilescu, M. (2013) Environmental impact assessment of high-pressure water scrubbing biogas upgrading technology. Clean – Soil, Air, Water, Vol. 41, pp. 917-927.
COA (2021) Quantity and value of farm products, ASY, COA, Taiwan, ROC (https://agrstat.coa.gov.tw/sdweb/public/book/Book.aspx). (in Chinese)
COA (2022) Pig Production Report (May 2022), COA, Taiwan, ROC (https://agrstat.coa.gov.tw/sdweb/public/book/Book.aspx). (in Chinese)
Elgas Limited (2021) LPG properties & LPG composition –What are the properties of LPG? (https://www.elgas.com.au/blog/453-the-science-a-properties-of-lpg/).
Falbo, F., Tasselli, F., Brunetti, A., Drioli, E. and Barbieri, G. (2014) Polyimide hollow fibre membranes for CO2 separation from wet gas mixtures. Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol. 31, pp. 1023-1034.
FAO (2022) Production of livestock and livestock commodities, Chapter 2, Statistical Yearbook 2022. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (https://www.fao.org/3/cc2211en/online/cc2211en.html#chapter-2_2).
Ibrahim, M. H., El-Naas, M. H., Zhang, Z. and Van der Bruggen, B. (2018) CO2 capture using hollow fibre membranes: a review of membrane wetting. Energy & Fuels, Vol. 32, pp. 963-978.
IPCC (2006a) Chapter 2. Stationary Combustion, Vol. 2: Energy, 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
IPCC (2006b) Chapter 1. Introduction, Vol. 2: Energy, 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
IPCC (2007). Chapter 2. Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing, Climate change 2007: The physical science basis.
McCarthy, T. M. (1998) Use of biogas: problems and solutions concerning trace components; Nutzung von Biogas: Probleme und Loesungen fuer Spurenbestandteile. Germany.
Pugesgaard, S., Olesen, J. E., Jørgensen, U. and Dalgaard, T. (2013) Biogas in organic agriculture—effects on productivity, energy self-sufficiency and greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, Vol. 29, pp. 28-41.
Rövekamp, P., Schöpf, M., Wagon, F., Weibelzahl, M. and Gilbert Fridgen, G. (2021) Renewable electricity business models in a post feed-in tariff era. Energy, Vol. 213, 119228.
Su, J. J., Liu, B. Y. and Chang, Y. C. (2003) Emission of greenhouse gas from livestock waste and wastewater treatment in Taiwan. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 95, pp. 253-263.
Su, J. J., Chen, Y. J., Chang, Y. C. and Tang, S. C. (2008) Isolation of sulfur oxidizers for desulfurizing biogas produced from anaerobic piggery wastewater treatment in Taiwan. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, Vol. 48, pp. 193-197.
Su, J. J., Chang, Y. C., Chen, Y. J., Chang, K. C. and Lee, S. Y. (2013) Hydrogen sulfide removal from livestock biogas by a farm-scale bio-filter desulfurization system. Water Science and Technology, Vol. 67, pp. 1288-1293.
Su, J. J., Chen, Y. J. and Chang, Y. C. (2014) A study of a pilot-scale biogas bio-filter system for utilization on pig farms. Journal of Agricultural Science, Vol. 152, pp. 217-224.
Su, J. J. and Chen, Y.J. (2015) Monitoring of sulfur dioxide emission resulting from biogas utilization on commercial pig farms in Taiwan. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Vol. 187, pp. 1-8.
Su, J. J. and Chen, Y. J. (2018) Monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions from farm-scale anaerobic piggery waste-water digesters. Journal of Agricultural Science, Vol. 156, pp. 739-747.
Su, J. J. (2020) Mitigation of greenhouse gas emission through anaerobic digestion of livestock waste. In L. Pawloski, Z. Litwinczuk, and G. Zhou (eds.). The Role of Agriculture in Climate Change Mitigation (ISBN: 978-1-003-00273-4, eBook). Leiden, The Netherland: CRC Press/Balkema. pp.45-56.
Su, J. J. and Hong, Y. Y. (2020) Removal of hydrogen sulfide using a photocatalytic livestock biogas desulfurizer. Renewable Energy, Vol. 149, pp. 181-188.
Su, J. J. and Chung, H. C. (2021) Study of livestock biogas upgrading using a pilot-scale photocatalytic desulphurizer followed by a hollow fibre carbon dioxide adsorption module. Journal of Agricultural Science, Vol. 159, pp. 3-10.
TMOE (2023) Official notice of 2023 Feed-in tariff by renewable energy, Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan (TMOE). (in Traditional Chinses) (https://www.moeaboe.gov.tw/ECW/populace/news/News.aspx?kind=1&menu_id=41&news_id=29288)
Tantikhajorngosol, P., Laosiripojana, N., Jiraratananon, R. and Assabumrungrat, S. (2019) Physical absorption of CO2 and H2S from synthetic biogas at elevated pressures using hollow fibre membrane contactors: the effects of Henry’s constants and gas diffusivities. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 128, pp. 1136-1148.
Vogler, S., Braasch, A., Buse, G., Hempel, S., Schneider, J. and Ulbricht, M. (2013) Biogas conditioning using hollow fibre membrane contactors. Chemie Ingenieur Technik, Vol. 85, pp. 1254-1258.
Žák, M., Bendová, H., Friess, K., Bara, J. E. and Izák, P. (2018) Single-step purification of raw biogas to biomethane quality by hollow fibre membranes without any pretreatment – an innovation in biogas upgrading. Separation and Purification Technology, Vol. 203, pp. 36-40.

Copyright: © 2022. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

PDF Download

Share this article