It will handle up to 1,500 Sm3/h of biogas produced by anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of sorted waste. The biomethane will be injected into the natural gas distribution network with intended use in transportation.
The plant, which will be installed at the Polo Ecologico of Acea Pinerolese Industriale, sited in Pinerolo (Italy), will start service by March 2020 and is the natural evolution of the partnership between HYSYTECH and Acea Pinerolese Industriale. This partnership started in 2014 with the first biomethane plant in Italy using biogas from the treatment of the organic fraction of sorted waste and confirmed by results and performances obtained in the field.
The HYSYTECH hybrid process
The HYSYT
ECH hybrid process for the production of biomethane combines the robustness of water scrubbing with the simplicity and compactness of the membranes and is able to minimize the economic impact of pre-treatments, reducing up to 90% the consumption of activated carbon. Notonly for the removal of H2S, but also for the reduction of VOCs and the abatement of ammonia, without the use of additional equipment. This particular performance is extremely important in plants where biogas is characterized by high contents of these types of impurities, as in the case of the treatment of the organic fraction of waste.
A sustainable solution
The new plant will intercept a greater quantity of biogas, allowing to riallocate the part that today is used for cogeneration. The switching from cogeneration into biomethane will enhance the overall cycle performance, since biomethane is a more efficient and sustainable energy carrier.
This project represents an important step forward in the virtuous cycle of the conversion of waste into resources and stands at the forefront in a concrete way: the electrical load necessary for the entire waste treatment and management cycle is supported by cogeneration.
A plant innovation
Of considerable interest is the important plant innovation, born from the collaboration between Acea Pinerolese Industriale and HYSYTECH, which allows to properly and accurately mix the biomethane exhaust gases with other energy flows of the Polo (waste water treament, landfill, etc.), in order to be able to feed the biogas cogeneration groups originally present in the Polo.
This innovation makes it possible to combine a methane recovery of over 99% in the production of biomethane while maximizing the benefits of the facility existing assets.
For HYSYTECH, this is a further step forward in the wake of the green economy, particularly in the development of technological solutions that are leaders in sustainability for biomethane production -say Massimiliano Antonini, Managing Director of HYSYTECH Srl-. Since 2013, we have been among the pioneers in defining the quality of biomethane, today we are focused on offering a technology capable of producing the same quality at the must sustainable cost possible.
Text by Enrico Di Nola, HYSYTECH Srl
