Ohra Energie GmbH has placed a new order for which Lower Saxony-based biogas all-rounder EnviTec Biogas AG will implement its innovative gas upgrading technology as a single-stage process for the first time. “We developed this innovative approach together with our customer,” said Jürgen Tenbrink, CTO at EnviTec Biogas and responsible for project research.
The initiative encompasses a single-stage gas upgrading plant that is operated with only five SEPURAN® Green Membranes. The purified methane is then fed directly to the CNG filling station. The raw gas is sourced from an existing 400 kW biogas plant run by Agra GmbH Frohndorf/Orlishausen in Sömmerda, State of Thuringia.
The remaining residual gas stream, consisting of methane and CO2, known as the ‘permeate’, is used thermally. This additional heat can be deployed for heating the digester or used in dairy cattle operations. “Since all of the gas is used as clean energy, no methane slip is discharged into the atmosphere,” commented Volkmar Braune, CTO at Ohra Energie GmbH.
The second step in this joint project plan is an integrated CNG compressor and storage unit, including a dual fuel pump, for a filling station located in the Frohndorf district of Sömmerda. Apart from cooler, fuel pump and card payment point, all of the components are housed in a single container.
“Thanks to this CNG filling station, we will soon have filled yet another gap on the map of CNG stations in Germany,” stated Stefan Laumann, Head of the Gas Upgrading Department at EnviTec Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG.
The shared project was initiated following the completion of a feasibility study on the regional generation and use of biogas as a fuel.
“We completed the groundwork back in September 2021 in Fröttstädt, and the project will now be completed with the implementation of a small-scale biogas upgrading plant featuring direct integration with a CNG/biogas station,” explained Braune. “We received funding from Thüringer Aufbaubank for both the feasibility study and the demonstration project. Without this support, a pilot project of this kind would simply have been economically impractical.”
Currently, more than 760 CNG stations are usable across Germany, of which roughly 80% (660) offer bio-CNG. In Thuringia, about 25 facilities have been completed to date.
Source: EnviTec Biogas
