Small-Scale Biogas Upgrade For Vehicle Fuel PDF

Final Report – driving innovation in AD – small scale
Small-scale biogas upgrade for

vehicle fuel
Evergreen Gas has investigated the feasibility and methodology of

producing a methane-rich vehicle fuel from biogas on a small scale at a
cost proportionate to the scale of production.
Project code: OIN001-000

Research date: 2012 Date: April 2012
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Written by: Evergreen Gas
Front cover photography: The Evergreen Gas Caddy Ecofuel getting a fill of CNG at CNG Services’ filling station, Crewe
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Executive summary
Evergreen Gas has assessed three different upgrade technologies to produce a fuel derived
from biogas with a methane concentration of 85% by volume that is suitable for use in
vehicles. The technologies assessed originate from Finland, India and the UK. The Finnish
technology supplied by Metener Oy was selected and a detailed appraisal of the technology
presented.
The report set out to evaluate upgrade at two scales: 5m3/h and 25 m3/h. The lower flow
rate is for a pilot plant that would be installed at the Evergreen Gas digester in Shropshire,
and the larger flow rate to represent the commercialised product once proof of concept had
been demonstrated. 25m3/h of biogas can be produced from about 500 dairy cows or
equivalent feedstock and represents a typical output from a small-scale farm AD plant. The
capital cost for the design, build, installation, commissioning, monitoring and reporting of the
pilot scale plant is £135,000 and this unit will produce approximately 50kg per day of vehicle
fuel. The commercial scale plant has an output of approximately 250 kg of vehicle fuel per
day.
The report compared the value per cubic metre of biogas when used for heat, CHP or vehicle
fuel, and the results indicate that at the 5m3/h scale, vehicle fuel is the most attractive use
of biogas when there is either below 30% utilisation of surplus heat, or when the AD
installation is unable to qualify for the renewable heat incentive.
Economic analysis of a like for like substitution of CHP for vehicle fuel production requiring all
biogas to be routed to the upgrade unit requires process energy for digester heating and
maintenance to be bought in. Taking a “typical” farm AD plant as an example, at today’s fuel
prices, the payback period for the vehicle fuel only option is more than double the CHP
output due to the high cost energy cost of digester operation.
A scenario was developed where the 5m3/h upgrade facility was installed in parallel with a
CHP and the two are operated at the same time. The findings are interesting, because the
CHP provides digester heat and the electricity to run the upgrade plant is also generated by
the CHP. Although there is additional capital cost for installing the upgrade unit, the
advantage of this configuration is that it allows a farmer to become more energy self-
sufficient as vehicle technology has been developed (thanks to the “bridge” provided by
CNG) to utilise this fuel.
Evergreen Gas proposes to purchase a complete upgrade unit from Metener in Finland as the
demonstrator which will then be commercialised. Manufacture will be by Metener, and
marketing, operation and commercialisation by Evergreen Gas.. Evergreen Gas anticipates
that if WRAP gives the go-ahead for Phase II of the project, the time from receipt of the
funding offer until delivery of the pilot prototype is in the order of 230 days.
The potential market for biogas-derived vehicle fuel is huge, and small-scale AD is on the
increase thanks to favourable FIT’s and the emergence of technology providers to bring AD
to the smaller operator. Production of vehicle fuel on-farm would be a leap towards reducing
the carbon footprint of agriculture, reducing costs and getting closer to energy self-
sufficiency.
Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 1

Contents
1.0 Abstract ........................................................................................................ 4
2.0 Introduction and Background....................................................................... 4
2.1 Evergreen Gas ........................................................................................... 4
2.2 Biogas ....................................................................................................... 5
2.3 The Technology ......................................................................................... 6
2.3.1 Metener Oy ..................................................................................... 6
2.3.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions / IIT New Delhi .......................................... 7
2.3.3 Chesterfield Biogas........................................................................... 8
2.3.4 Summary ........................................................................................ 9
2.4 Application of the Technology ..................................................................... 9
3.0 Project Objectives ...................................................................................... 11
3.1 Feasibility study ....................................................................................... 11
3.2 Outcomes ................................................................................................ 11
4.0 State of Technology .................................................................................... 12
4.1 Metener .................................................................................................. 12
4.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions ......................................................................... 14
5.0 Legislation .................................................................................................. 14
5.1 Relevant legislation .................................................................................. 14
5.2 Road fuel duty ......................................................................................... 15
6.0 Detailed Technical Appraisal of the technology .......................................... 15
6.1 Metener simple upgrade system ................................................................ 15
6.1.1 Process description ........................................................................ 16
6.1.2 Engineering scope .......................................................................... 17
6.1.3 Energy balance .............................................................................. 17
6.1.4 Mass balance ................................................................................. 18
6.1.5 Economics ..................................................................................... 19
6.1.6 Operational parameters .................................................................. 19
6.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions ......................................................................... 20
6.2.2 Engineering scope .......................................................................... 21
6.2.3 Mass and energy balance................................................................ 22
6.2.4 Economics ..................................................................................... 22
6.2.5 Operational parameters .................................................................. 23
6.3 Chesterfield Biogas ................................................................................... 23
6.3.2 Economics ..................................................................................... 24
6.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 24
7.0 Detailed Economic Analysis ........................................................................ 24
7.1 The economics of different biogas utilisation at 5m3/h and 25m3/h ............... 24
8.0 Overall Environmental Impacts .................................................................. 29
8.1 The macro-economic picture ..................................................................... 29
8.2 The carbon footprint of agriculture ............................................................ 29
9.0 Phase 2 Demonstration .............................................................................. 30
9.1 Methodology for the demonstration ........................................................... 30
9.2 Project Timescale ..................................................................................... 30
9.2.1 Project development ...................................................................... 30
9.2.2 Permiting and approvals ................................................................. 31
9.2.3 Project financing ............................................................................ 31
9.2.4 Construction, operation and maintenance ........................................ 31
9.2.5 Monitoring and evaluation............................................................... 32
9.2.6 Decommissioning ........................................................................... 32

9.3
Cost breakdown and milestones ................................................................ 32
9.3.1 Project milestones .......................................................................... 32
9.3.2 Cost estimate ................................................................................ 32
10.0 Commercialisation of technology post demonstration ............................... 33
10.1 Intellectual property ................................................................................. 33
10.1.1 Commercialisation plans going forward ............................................ 34
10.1.2 Key personnel ................................................................................ 36
10.2 Evaluation and monitoring ........................................................................ 37
10.2.1 Pilot: ............................................................................................. 37
10.2.2 Commercial plant ........................................................................... 37
10.3 Health and safety ..................................................................................... 37
10.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 38
11.0 Appendices ................................................................................................. 38
Glossary
 AD Anaerobic Digestion
 PSA Pressure Swing Adsorption
 PRV Pressure Relief Valve
 ATEX Official standard for applications in explosive atmospheres
 CHP Combined Heat and Power
 CO2 Carbon Dioxide
 H2S Hydrogen Sulphide
 GBES Green Brick Eco Solutions
 CNG Compressed Natural Gas
 OSR Oil Seed Rape
 NFU National Farmers Union
 ICL Indian Compressor Ltd
 GRP Glass Reinforced Polyester
 BMAD Barrett’s Mill Anaerobic Digester
 IGE Institute of Gas Engineers
 RHI Renewable Heat Incentive
 FIT Feed In Tariff

1.0 Abstract
Biogas, which is generated from the anaerobic digestion of organic material, is rich in
methane, typically 55% by volume, the balance volume being carbon dioxide with traces of
other gases. Biogas can either be burned in its “raw” state in a boiler for the generation of
heat, or in an engine coupled to a generator equipped with heat recovery equipment to
produce heat and power. Biogas can also be scrubbed of carbon dioxide and impurities. It
can then either be injected into the gas grid, or stored in bottles at pressure and used as a
fuel for vehicles. This report evaluates the economic and operational feasibility of upgrading
biogas for vehicle fuel at a small-scale. The driver is to improve the economics of on-farm AD
and to broaden the options for energy utilisation increasing the potential for farms to
become energy self-sufficient. Two scales are considered: 5m3/h and 25m3/h raw biogas
input. A pilot plant will be constructed at the 5m3/h scale to prove the concept, and a
commercialised model operating at 25m3/hour will be assessed. We have chosen 25m3/hour
as this flow rate is achievable from a “typical” farm scale AD plant that would have an
equivalent electrical output of 50kW.
This report assesses three different upgrading technologies that are currently available. Two
of the processes employ water scrubbing and the third uses a variant of pressure swing
adsorption. While upgrading biogas to biomethane for grid injection can benefit from an
economy of scale in regard to energy and capital cost, a purpose-built unit for production of
vehicle fuel can be an attractive option to a farm-scale AD installation.
Economic analysis of the different scales of biogas upgrade has shown that a combination of
CHP and biogas upgrade at 5m3/h flow rate is more economically attractive than upgrade at
25m3/h requiring all of the biogas production from the AD plant for upgrade. The reason
being that the process energy requirements of the AD plant are met by the CHP, alleviating
the need to import energy. The capacity to generate heat, electricity and a significant
quantity of vehicle fuel should be attractive to farmers looking to achieve a greater degree of
energy self-sufficiency and to diversify their income. The potential market for a small-scale
biogas to vehicle fuel upgrade facility is enormous, and once the concept has been
demonstrated at the farm-scale, the flexibility of biogas upgrade in conjunction with CHP will
become commonplace.
2.0 Introduction and Background
2.1 Evergreen Gas
Evergreen Gas was founded in October 2011 by Michael Chesshire and Will Llewellyn to
develop a range of value engineered, modular AD plants suitable for farms and rural
communities. Evergreen Gas benefits from over 30 years’ experience in the design,
construction, commissioning and operation of AD plants. Evergreen Gas is a British company,
and the range of digesters covers electrical outputs from 20kW to 250kW, are designed to
accommodate a range of feedstocks. For a small-scale AD project to be economically viable,
the capital cost of installation must be proportionate to the plant’s income. The Evergreen
Gas design has enabled the Company to bring capital cost into line with income.
The Evergreen Gas range of AD plants is based on a digester design that is partially buried
and made of pre-fabricated concrete panels. Material is fed into the digester either by pump
(if the feedstock is pumpable), or using an auger. The digester is built with a removable GRP
roof. Gas is piped from the digester headspace into an above-ground dual membrane
gasholder from where it is piped to the gas consumers, typically a CHP unit and a biogas
boiler. The contents of the digester are mixed by recirculating biogas from nozzles set into

the digester floor. Digestate is discharged from the digester via a macerator, and the client
can choose what method of digestate separation and storage they wish to employ.
The background to our proposal is the perceived market demand for a means of making
vehicle fuel from biogas at a small scale. Evergreen Gas currently owns a VW Caddy Ecofuel
CNG-fuelled van. The closest CNG station is 60 miles from the office, so in the first instance,
we would be able to avoid making unnecessary detours for refuelling.
Figure 1:- Refuelling the Evergreen Gas Caddy Ecofuel at CNG Services, Crewe
2.2 Biogas
Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide with traces of hydrogen sulphide and
other impurities. Hydrogen sulphide is a result of sulphur-containing organic material being
digested and its sulphur being reduced by anaerobic sulphur-reducing bacteria. These
bacteria are found in most anaerobic environments ranging from deep ocean vents to on-
farm biogas plants. The amino acid Cysteine contains sulphur and is a component of many
different proteins.
Carbon dioxide is not damaging to an internal combustion engine but it does not contain any
energy, so the purpose of removing it is to reduce the amount of energy compressing a gas
with no energy value. Methane cannot be liquefied at temperatures above minus 160oC, so
must be compressed to enable the vehicle to have a useful range. Storage is optimised by
ensuring that the gas contained is usable by the engine.
Hydrogen sulphide must be removed from biogas before it is used as vehicle fuel. H2S reacts
with oxygen during combustion and is converted to sulphur dioxide which in turn reacts with
water to give sulphuric acid which is damaging to components in an engine. In the presence
of oxidising agents and extremes of temperature (for example in the combustion chamber of
an engine), solid sulphur can be generated. Sulphur build-up in the exhaust system and
turbo chargers shortens the lifespan of these components.
Once upgraded to above 95% methane, the gas is known as “Biomethane” and can either be
stored at 250bar, or compressed directly into the fuel tanks attached to the vehicle.
Evergreen Gas has investigated the potential for upgrading gas both to >95% and to 85%
methane. The fuel specification for the VW Caddy is listed as “H and L Grade CNG”.
Appendix 1 details the fuel specification of H and L grade CNG. Vijay et. al. successfully

demonstrated a Maruti 800 exhibiting a performance on biogas-derived fuel at 85%
methane by volume that was comparable to commercially available CNG.1
Evergreen Gas contacted VW UK in regard to this topic and was advised as follows by
Volkswagen’s technical department in Germany:
“In Sweden, for example, they are driving 100% bio-methan. However, for our vehicle use
we stick to DIN51624. Non conditioned gas in general do not correspond to this norm.
Conditioned gas in general correspond to H-gas quality. If the Caddy Eco-Fuel work with
75% methan and 25% CO2 R&D do not know as not tested.”
We are excited by the opportunities the technology covered in the report may present to us.
2.3 The Technology
Three different upgrading technologies have been assessed in this report. They originate
from Finland, India and the UK. The companies are Metener Oy, Green Brick Eco Solutions
(GBES) and Chesterfield Biogas Ltd.
Metener and GBES have already developed a commercialised biogas to vehicle fuel system
which they are actively marketing. Chesterfield Biogas has developed a prototype small-scale
upgrade process that they are currently testing ahead of release onto the market.
2.3.1 Metener Oy
Metener Oy, a Finnish company has developed a patented high-pressure water scrubbing
process for converting biogas to vehicle fuel.
Metener has containerised this process and is marketing the technology worldwide. There is
an example of this technology at the Kalmari Farm in Luakaa, Finland where it is coupled to
a dispenser to enable them to sell biomethane to the public. Figure 2 shows the filling
station. Compressed biomethane is stored in bottles in the building behind the filling station.
At present, there are over 30 cars regularly refuelling from Kalmari Farm filling station.
Metener has also sold a containerised upgrading facility to China where it is installed on a pig
farm. The standard Metener product is designed to process raw biogas with an inlet flow rate
of between 30 and 100m3/h.
1
Biogas Purification and bottling into CNG cylinders: Producing Bio-CNG from biomass for rural automotive applications. The 2nd
joint international conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok Thailand

Figure 2:- Metener biomethane filling station, Finland.
2.3.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions / IIT New Delhi
The Indian process uses high pressure water scrubbing and is similar to the “simple”
Metener process, although the resulting biomethane requires further compressing before it
can be stored and it is less automated. The process was developed by Professor VK Vijay in
association with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi which owns the patent.
The technology has been commercialised by Green Brick Eco Solutions (GBES) for
implementation throughout India. Prior to GBES, the IIT technology was marketed by Indian
Compressors Ltd. The technology is producing vehicle fuel for auto rickshaws and cars
across some cities in India. There is already a developed market for CNG vehicles in India,
and recent changes to air pollution legislation have led to two-stroke petrol and some diesel
engines being replaced by CNG / Biomethane powered units.

Figure 3:- IIT scrubbing column Figure 4:- ICL upgrade facility
Figure 5:- Demonstration biomethane van Figure 6:- CNG-fuelled auto-rickshaw
2.3.3 Chesterfield Biogas
The British technology assessed is developed by Chesterfield Biogas. Chesterfield Biogas’

core market is the installation of biogas to grid upgrade facilities, and they are the license
holder for “Greenlane” biogas upgrade units. Chesterfield Biogas has installed over 60 biogas
to grid upgrade units in Europe including a unit for Thames Water in the UK at the Didcot
Waste water treatment works.
In addition to biogas upgrade facilities, Chesterfield Biogas manufacture CNG filling stations,
some of which are sited at haulage depots in the UK.
The newest offering from Chesterfield Biogas is a small-scale biogas to vehicle fuel scrubber
that employs a version of pressure swing adsorption technology. The unit is aimed at the
agricultural sector and food processor biogas plant installers. Chesterfield started
development on this unit in 2011 and the prototype is currently undergoing testing.

2.3.4 Summary
These biogas upgrade technologies have been chosen because they enable organic material,
agricultural residues and wastes to be converted into vehicle fuel, and move farmers towards
energy self-sufficiency. A reduction in agriculture’s reliance on oil for transport, and crop
production and fertilizer will reduce the overall carbon footprint of agriculture.
2.4 Application of the Technology
Vehicle fuel production could be the next major gear change for the UK AD industry. AD has
so far enabled plant developers to generate renewable electricity, a market driven both by
Government-led renewable energy generation policy and a desire for energy self-sufficiency.
High global demand for crude oil driven by emerging economies such as China and India
keeps energy and fertilizer prices firm. The UK taxation policy of taxation levied on oil
products contributes to the high prices, so if a viable replacement to oil can be found for
transportation, then it will be attractive. Biogas is an attractive source of fuel as it can be
derived from waste materials, and does not always require the growing of purpose grown
crops for production.
The NFU aspires to a figure of 1000 on-farm AD plants by 2020, so a small-scale biogas
upgrade facility that is priced competitively and match the biogas output of a typical on-farm
AD should attract strong interest. It is possible that in the future farmers will be under
pressureto reduce the carbon footprint of their operations whether through restrictions on
fugitive greenhouse gas emission or by more stringent emission controls imposed on their
machinery. High high oil prices will impact on their costs of production as they are exposed
to fuel and fertiliser price fluctuation.
Both spark ignition engines and diesel engines can be modified to run on biomethane,
although the latter requires a small amount of diesel to ignite the gas, so these engines must
have dual fuel capability. The market for CNG vehicles is growing, and many manufacturers
offer CNG variants of existing models across the spectrum of the road transport and
agricultural fleet, Mercedes, Iveco, Valtra and VW to name just a few. Retrofit kits for petrol
and diesel-engined vehicles are relatively inexpensive and available from companies like
Tartarini Auto and Prins Autogas.
The advantage of a methane-rich vehicle fuel derived from biogas is that the development of
CNG infrastructure, handling and utilisation equipment has already been done and proven,
so CNG acts as a “bridge” for biomethane.
A competitively priced biogas to vehicle fuel technology increases the flexibility of AD, and
enables the AD developer to choose how to utilise the energy in the biogas to optimise the
efficiency of the biogas plant. A combination of vehicle fuel and CHP would be a very
attractive proposition to a farmer with high onsite energy use and high fuel bills.

Figure 7:- Cutaway view of VW Caddy Ecofuel showing gas storage bottles
1m3 of methane at standard temperature and pressure has the equivalent energy content of
1.35 litres of diesel or 1.4 litres of petrol2.
The following table illustrates the methane yields of various feedstocks and their equivalence
in litres of diesel or petrol. In this table, the data considers the equivalence in terms of “at
the wheels” rather than energy value. The difference seen between these numbers and the
relative calorific values stated above is related to the difference in efficiency between Otto
cycle (spark ignition) and diesel cycle (compression ignition) engines. Table 1 compares
methane yield per tonne of feedstock with litres of diesel /petrol on a like for like basis: For
example, performance of two VW Caddies of the same power, one fitted with a diesel engine
is compared to a similar VW caddy of the same age with a CNG-fuelled engine.
Table 1:- Feedstock methane yields and vehicle fuel equivalent3
Feedstock Nm3CH4/t Litres Diesel Eq. Litres petrol Eq.

Cow Slurry 15 15 17
Pig Slurry 18 18 20
Sewage Sludge 20 20 22
Potato Waste 40 40 44
Horse Manure 40 40 44
Grass Silage 90 90 100
Maize Silage 125 125 139
Fish Waste 100 100 111
Household Foodwaste 120 120 133
Slaughterhouse Waste 150 150 167
Grease and Fat 600 600 667
2
John Harwood, Project Manager, CNG Services
3
Metener Oy

A vehicle that is adapted for CNG can run on biomethane, and these are available all over
Europe, India, Pakistan and the USA. CNG vehicles are available from new, but petrol and
diesel cars can also be retrofitted with the necessary equipment to use CNG. Kazakhstan is
currently investing in its domestic CNG infrastructure to take advantage of cheap natural gas.
The upshot of this is that CNG is a “bridge” to the adoption of biomethane, so that modifying
or buying a purpose built CNG vehicle is relatively inexpensive. Further development of this
market will be stimulated by making the fuel more widespread.
3.0 Project Objectives
3.1 Feasibility study
Evergreen Gas set out to evaluate the small scale biogas upgrade technologies offered by
Metener Oy and by the Indian Institute of Technology and Chesterfield Biogas at scales of
5m3/h and 25m3/h raw biogas flow rate. Our aim is to develop a fundamental understanding
of the process, engineering scope, mass balance, energy balance, capital cost, operational
cost and maintenance cost for conversion of biogas to vehicle fuel.
The feasibility study aimed to demonstrate that while biogas upgrade for grid injection is
suitable for large scale AD projects, small-scale biogas upgrade can be well suited to the
production of vehicle fuel.
The feasibility study will open up further opportunities for farms to develop new income
streams from small-scale AD plants.
Evergreen Gas has learned that there are many farmers keen to install AD on their farms,
but so far have been unable to find a technology provider that is at the right scale for their
farming operations, so have been put off by the cost and operational requirements of large
plants. Given that the NFU is hoping for 1000 on farm AD plants by 2020, there may be
farms which could provide feedstock for AD restricted by the size of the grid connection, so
cannot export power. A small CHP in conjunction with a small upgrade facility would both
enable them to become energy self-sufficient and to diversify their income from sales of
vehicle fuel.
As part of this feasibility study, Will Llewellyn travelled to Finland to meet Metener and
discuss the current state of their technology and work on a small-scale version that will be
suitable for the pilot scale and commercial scale plants.
3.2 Outcomes
The outcome of the feasibility study is to procure a pilot scale biogas upgrade plant and
bring to market a simple upgrade process that can be sold in conjunction with the Evergreen
Gas range of Small-Scale AD plants, and enable farmers and interested stakeholders to see
for themselves the added flexibility of installing an AD plant.
For the demonstration phase of the project, we will procure a 5m3/h pilot upgrade facility
and incorporate it into BMAD, the 40m3 digester we are building at our site in Shropshire.
This AD plant is already designed to include a 7.5kW CHP, so we will use the pilot upgrade
plant to provide fuel for our works van, a VW Caddy Ecofuel.
The inclusion of biogas upgrade at a small-scale will prove that vehicle fuel is an example of
the flexibility of AD and will open up the market for small-scale vehicle fuel production. Proof
of concept will be demonstrated with the 5m3/h plant, and the work that we have
undertaken at the 25m3/h scale will enable us to offer a larger vehicle fuel production facility
should there be market demand.

The proposed pilot scale upgrade plant will produce approximately 50kg day of biogas-
derived vehicle fuel. A typical 2 litre-engine car (VW Caddy) can average 10 miles per kg of
CNG, so a farmer would be able to produce enough fuel to travel for 500 miles per day if he
installed one of these small plants on his AD plant. The 25 m3/h unit would produce
sufficient biogas for approximately 2500 miles per day, for example 10 vehicles each driving
250 miles per day.
Finnish tractor manufacturer Valtra has developed a 140hp (104kW) dual fuel tractor with
24.4kg biomethane storage capacity (170 litres at 200 bar), sufficient fuel for 3 to 5 hours
work depending on the activity. This tractor would use approximately 6kg of biomethane per
hour.
Figure 8:- Valtra T133 Biomethane-powered tractor Figure 9:- Valtra CNG bi-fuel schematic diagram
Even the pilot-scale upgrade facility would produce sufficient vehicle fuel in a 24 hour period
for 8 hours tractor operation.
Clearly there is potential for additional diversification, significant fuel savings and even
energy self-sufficiency on the farm.
4.0 State of Technology
4.1 Metener
Low pressure water scrubbing was used in Finland during the Second World War, so is not a
new technique.
The difference between this approach and Metener’s technology is the use of pressure to
increase the rate of gas absorption into the water. Erkki Kalmari built his first high pressure
scrubbing system in 2000 using a scrubbing column and components from a pressure
washer. A more advanced, automated plant with was built in 2002 and the Kalmari Farm
purchased their first CNG car in November of the same year.
At the time of writing this report, there are over 30 cars regularly refuelling from the
biomethane filling station on the Kalmari Farm including commuters, taxis, local delivery
vehicles and the post van. The popularity of fuel derived from biogas is increasing in Finland
because it costs approximately half of the price of petrol or diesel.
Metener’s process is centred around a pair of water scrubbing columns that alternate
between filling and discharging phases. The unique attribute of the Metener process is that

upgraded gas leaves the scrubbing columns at 210 bar, and is further pressurised to 250 bar
using a hydraulic booster before passing through a desiccating column and into storage.
Keeping the upgraded gas at high pressure throughout the upgrade process removes the
energy intensive step of re-pressurisation for storage post scrubbing. Water scrubbing also
removes hydrogen sulphide, so alleviating the need for a consumable scrubbing medium.
Metener has supplied biogas upgrade systems to customers including the University of
Jyväskylä and abroad. The former is located on a landfill site and was the subject of a PhD
thesis, and the latter has been installed on a pig farm in China where the upgraded gas is
used for fuelling vehicles and for cooking. The plant in China will provide sufficient fuel for
1100 families to switch to renewable, clean fuel.
Metener’s typical containerised batch scrubbing facility has an input flow rate of 40-50m3/h
and costs approximately €300,000.
Figure 10:- Kalmari farm first bi-fuel vehicle: Volvo V70
Having already commercialised the technology on a large scale, Metener has agreed to work
with Evergreen Gas to build an upgrade plant at a scale to match the budget and biogas
production rate of the smaller operator.
Figure 11:- Metener batch scrubbing columns and flash column (biomethane storage in background)

The cost of the small unit must be proportionate to the output so that it can earn a good
return on capital. If this is unachievable then it will not be economically viable.
4.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions
A variation of biogas scrubbing with water has been developed at the IIT by a team led by
Professor Vijay. A patent was applied for (number is 161-del-2006), and initially the
technology was designed for a raw biogas inlet of only 20m3/h.
Initially, Indian Compressor Ltd (ICL) took the technology license from IIT Delhi and installed
a small number of plants. Unfortunately these plants did not perform well. ICL is primarily a
compressor company so dropped biogas upgrade from its portfolio to concentrate on its core
compressor and CNG handling business.
The licence has been taken over by Green Brick Eco Systems, founded by a group of IIT
Delhi alumni who under the guidance of Professor Vijay have continued the R&D work on the
technology. As a result of this collaboration, GBES has successfully developed an updated
version of the technology that can handle a wider range of purification capacity. GBES are
the official partner of IIT Delhi for commercializing and implementing biogas purification
technology in India & abroad.
The IIT technology was initially developed by a team led by Professor Vijay and implemented
on a farm near Delhi. Michael Chesshire visited this farm in 2009 and saw the prototype in
operation which was used for fuelling CNG adapted auto-rickshaws and small vehicles. Since
this prototype, a larger scale application of the technology has been used to scrub, compress
and bottle biogas for use in a small car. Vijay et al. published their work in a paper titled
“Biogas Purification and Bottling into CNG Cylinders: Producing bio-CNG from biomass for
rural automotive applications.
The IIT technology is simpler than Metener’s core product and is less automated. The
upgraded gas is of a similar level of purity although a further compression step is required
before it can be used as a vehicle fuel.
5.0 Legislation
Production of biogas and upgrade of biogas to vehicle fuel is covered by various legislative
frameworks to ensure that risks are kept to a minimum. Biogas is flammable and in some
cases can be explosive. The AD facility should be designed and operated so that it poses no
risk of pollution to the surrounding environment. The upgrade unit requires gas to be stored
and handled at pressure so it must be fit for purpose both in terms of manufacture and
suitably protected in the event of any unforeseen occurrences.
5.1 Relevant legislation
The production of the biogas itself is governed by the Environment Agency permit or
exemption certificate issued on a case specific basis for the anaerobic digestion facility.
The upgrade and gas storage process itself is covered by the Pressure Systems Safety
Regulations (2000). This is in line with the European Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EC
(PED) sets out the standards for the design and fabrication of pressure equipment over one
litre in volume and having a maximum pressure more than 0.5 bar. It sets the administrative
procedures and requirements for the "conformity assessment" of pressure equipment, for

the free placing on the European market without local legislative barriers. It has been
mandatory throughout the EU since 30 May 2002.
The Institute of Gas Engineers (IGE) SR25 document contains guidance on leakage and
dissipation data from joints. This document must be referred to during the design of the
upgrade plant.
The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (2002) govern the
inspection and auditing of pressure vessels at both the design and routine inspection level.
5.2 Road fuel duty
Duty is currently set at £0.247 per kg of CNG and will increase on 1st August 2012 to
£0.2907 per kg. This duty figure is based on CNG with an energy content of 14.26kWh/m3.
Interestingly, the calorific value of CNG is variable, but duty is not levied against calorific
value, only by mass based on a “standard” quality. At present it is unclear whether the
Government will levy duty against the energy content of the vehicle fuel, so a small-scale
upgrade plant should be equipped with a suitable flow meter to satisfy inspection.
6.0 Detailed Technical Appraisal of the technology
6.1 Metener simple upgrade system
Water scrubbing of biogas relies on the greater solubility of carbon dioxide and hydrogen
sulphide than methane in water. Both the Metener and IIT processes rely on these gasses
dissolving into water under pressure. Carbon dioxide dissolves in water to form Carbonic acid
as per the following equation:
CO2 + H2O H2CO3
Figure 12:- Adsorption and desorption of carbon dioxide in water: A reversible reaction
The amount of a gas that can be dissolved in water is described by Henry's Law. Higher gas
pressure and lower temperature enable more gas to dissolve in the liquid. When the
temperature is raised or the pressure is reduced (as happens when a container of
carbonated water is opened) the dissolved gasses come out of solution, in the form of
bubbles.
As discussed previously the core Metener upgrade plant is a containerised, batch upgrade
plant. Metener have drawn on their expertise to develop a “simple” system for Evergreen
Gas. The details of the “simple” system are considered in this appraisal, based on a flow rate
of 5m3/h of raw biogas.
Will Llewellyn visited Metener at their offices at the Kalmari Farm near Laukaa, Finland to
discuss the requirements of the DIAD feasibility study, to see first-hand how the process was
managed, and enhance Evergreen Gas’ fundamental understanding of biogas upgrade to
Vehicle Fuel.
Will spent a day in the company of Jussi Lantela, process engineer and designer of both the
commercial scale and “simple” upgrade processes, and Juha Luostarinen, process engineer
and biogas specialist. Will was delighted to meet Erkki Kalmari, inventor of the Metener High
pressure upgrade system, and while on site, vehicles came and filled up at the filling station.

6.1.1 Process description
 Raw biogas is compressed to between 4 and 10 bar and stored in a buffer tank.
 The compressed biogas flows into the scrubbing column.
 The scrubbing column maintains a continuous counter current flow of water and biogas.
Biogas enters from the bottom of the column and water is sprayed in from the top
 Purified gas flows continuously out from the top of the column..
 It is compressed to 250 bar either straight into a vehicle or into storage
 Downstream of the high pressure compressor the product gas then passes through a
desiccating column to remove any remaining traces of moisture.
 After the desiccating column, the dry gas enters an odourisation unit to add odour so that
leaks can be detected, before entering the vehicle or storage tanks.
 Used water flows to a flashcolumn to desorb any dissolved gasses. The pressure is
reduced so that the methane desorps preferentially to the carbon dioxide and hydrogen
sulphide.
 The off gas from the flash column contains between 5 and 10% methane by volumeso is
recycled to the front end of the process to optimise scrubbing efficiency
 From the flash column, water flows to the main desorption column where the bulk of the
carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide are released. To enhance gas desorption, the
column can be operated under negative pressure, or air can be passed through the
bottom of the column.
 The water is pumped by a 1.1kW pump from the desorption column to a buffer tank and
is cooled from 8 degrees to 5 degrees before returning to the scrubbing cycle.
 Before being vented to atmosphere, the off gas can be passed through a biofilter to
remove the hydrogen sulphide, but if the plant is not located near odour receptors, off-
gas is vented safely direct to atmosphere.
Figure 13:- Metener simple upgrade process flow diagram
Table 2:- Metener simple upgrade major components list
1 Inlet biogas stream 10 Product gas outlet to storage / vehicle

2 Inlet flow meter 11 Flash column
3 Primary biogas compressor 12 Desorption column
4 Pressure regulator 13 Off gas blower
5 Non-return valve 14 Off gas outlet to biofilter
6 Packed media scrubbing column 15 Water recirculation pump

7 Pressure relief valve 16 Water buffer and cooling tank
8 Product gas flow meter 17 High pressure water pump
9 High pressure compressor
6.1.2 Engineering scope
The Metener “simple” upgrading plant (capacity 5m3/h and 25m3/h) is skid-mounted and
designed for easy access to major components. It has been developed for “plug and play”
installation.
The process pipelines and columns are manufactured from Class D or E PVC pipe. The
compressor for compressing the raw biogas is a modified workshop-type compressor that is
equipped with a cast iron cylinder and stainless steel reed valves. The columns are packed
with an appropriate medium sized for the application.
Low pressure pipelines are made from 1” PVC pipe, and high pressure pipes will be 10mm
stainless steel pipe. If upgraded biogas is stored, the storage cylinders are seamless steel
and pressure rated in excess of 250 bar.
The plant is equipped with PLC control, full instrumentation to enable automatic operation
and gas monitoring instrumentation. The upgrade plant user interface is a touch-screen
scada system with data logging capacity.
The percentage of methane in the upgraded gas from the main scrubber column is
determined by the flow rate of water through the column and can be varied as required. This
can be between 85 and 97%.
The upgraded gas passes either to storage or to an additional compression phase depending
on what the final use will be.
6.1.3 Energy balance
The upgrading process requires energy input, and the amount of energy used is influenced
by the degree of purity of the upgraded gas.
Table 5 illustrates the two scenarios: They are for upgrading to 85% methane from 55%
methane with an input rate of 5m3 per hour and 25m3 per hour.

Table 3:- Energy balance for Metener simple upgrade system. All gas volumes are
normalised.
Biogas flow rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

Raw biogas CH4 concentration % 55 55
Upgraded biogas CH4 concentration % 85 85
Upgrading Pressure bar 10 10
Input biogas flow rate m3/h 5 25
Total system power kW 2.23 11.17
Product gas flow rate m3/h 3.24 16.18
Product gas flow rate kg/h 2.43 12.13
Energy consumption /unit volume of product
kWh/ m3 0.69 0.69
gas
Energy consumption /product gas kWh/kg 0.92 0.92
Energy produced /energy consumed 12.3 12.3
The bottom row refers to the ratio of energy produced in terms of kWh per kg of product
gas relative to the amount of energy consumed by the upgrade facility in kWh.
6.1.4 Mass balance
Table 4:- Mass balance for Metener simple upgrade system. All gas volumes are normalised.
Biogas flow rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

Methane content of biogas % (v/v) 55 55
CO2 content of biogas % (v/v) 44 44
Total Moisture and H2S content of biogas % (v/v) 1 1
Density of biogas kg/m3 1.23 1.23
Mass flow-rate of biogas kg/h 6.15 30.75
CH4 content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 85 85
CO2 content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 14.9 14.9
H2O content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 0.1 0.1
H2S content of upgraded gas (before dryer) ppm <10 <10
Density of upgraded gas kg/m3 0.882 0.882
CH4 input flow rate as a component of biogas m3/h 2.75 13.75
CH4 loss during upgrade process % (v/v) 1% 1%
Volume flow rate of product gas m3/h 3.203 16.01
Mass flow rate of product gas kg/h 2.86 14.12
CO2 released to the environment m3/h 1.72 8.60
CO2 released to the environment kg/h 3.30 16.52
CH4 slip (volume flow rate) m3/h 0.0275 0.137
CH4 slip (mass flow rate) kg/h 0.02 0.09
Water flow in (no recycle) m3/h 1.25 6.25
Water flow out (no recycle) m3/h 1.25 6.25
Water flow in (recycle) m3/h 0.06 0.31
Water flow out (recycle) m3/h 0.06 0.31

The mass and energy balance figures have been provided by Metener Oy. Slight differences
appear between the mass flow rate of product gas given in the energy balance and the mass
balance, but the two figures are well within range of each other so are representative of
expected values.
6.1.5 Economics
a) Cost of construction
Cost (€) Cost (€)

Item
5m3/h 25m3/h
Low pressure compressor 5,000 6,000
Scrubbing columns and packing materials 20,000 20,000
Proportional valves 5,000 5,000
Instrumentation 10,000 10,000
Main water scrubbing pump ( 4,000 6,000
Desorption column water discharge pump 500 1,000
Containerisation, insulation and installation 4,000 4,000
Compressor to 250 bar 6,500 10,000
Cost of materials 55,000 62,000
Cost of labour 10,000 10,000
Total cost 65,000 72,000
b) Operational and maintenance costs: both scales
Labour € 0.05/kg product gas

Spare Parts € 0.05/kg product gas
Desiccating Medium Dry every 3000kg product gas
The desiccating medium is dried by placing on a tray in an oven for 1hour at 250 degrees C
so the cost is negligible. Hydrogen sulphide is generally vented to atmosphere, although
where necessary a simple filter or activated carbon scrubber could be fitted. The cost of this
item was not investigated as the quantity of hydrogen sulphide released is negligible. Plant
water consumption is also minimal as the water can be re-used through the process several
times.
6.1.6 Operational parameters
The raw biogas flow must be maintained at constant rate as the upgrade process is
continuous. The gas composition must not vary and a supply of replacement water should be
available to the plant. The upgrade unit is equipped with gas monitoring equipment to
enable the product gas quality to be kept constant, as it is water throughput that governs
the purity of the product gas.
The upgrade facility has an automatic shutdown facility in the event that the storage
capacity is reached or a problem is detected. In the event of shutdown, the upgrade unit
sends a fail signal to the AD plant control system to allow biogas to be diverted elsewhere on

the biogas plant, either in a CHP unit or burned safely to prevent fugitive methane emissions
to atmosphere.
6.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions
Water scrubbing technology as patented by IIT Delhi is one of the cheapest and most viable
solutions for biogas purification, and multiple purification plants are in operation throughout
India.
GBES did not provide the degree of process detail by comparison to the other technologies
assessed, but we are able to give a thorough overview of the core process and engineering
scope.
The IIT Delhi upgrade unit’s core components are a scrubbing column, a water supply
system, a low pressure compressor, a buffer storage vessel, and a high pressure compressor
for bottling the product gas.
Raw biogas is pressurised and stored in a buffer tank before entering the scrubbing column
from the base. Water is pumped into the scrubbing column from the top and carbon dioxide
and other impurities dissolve into the water. The water is removed from the base of the
scrubbing column to prevent flooding of the packed media.
The water is channelled to a desorption tank for the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide
to diffuse out of solution before being returned to the scrubbing column. The process is
considered to be a closed loop, and GBES did not specify the degree of water loss /
replenishment required during the scrubbing operation.
GBES describe the product gas as having a methane content >95%.
Figure 14:- IIT / GBES schematic diagram

6.2.2 Engineering scope
In addition to the above core of the upgrade unit, the GBES purification system contains the
following equipment4:-
 Knock-out drum on incoming biogas line

 Biogas compressor
 Biogas receiver-1
 Scrubbing tower
 Knock-out drum-2
 Purified gas receiver-2
 High pressure compressor
 Heat exchanger
 Water pump
 Dryer (dehumidifier)
 Two-cylinder set for purified biogas filling/storage
 Dispensing unit for vehicle filling
 Instruments: flow-meters/pressure gauges etc.
 Ball-valves/safety valves/check-valves etc.
 Piping/fittings/strainers etc.
 Electrical fittings/Panel etc.
 Gas analysers for: CH4, CO2, H2S, moisture content
Table 5:- GBES/IIT drive specifications
Biogas Flow Rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

Biogas Compressor Specification
Flow rate 6m3/h 25m3/h
Medium Biogas Biogas
Input pressure Atmospheric Atmospheric
Output pressure 10 bar 12 bar
Water Pump Specification

Flow rate 1.2 m3/h 4 m3/h
Delivery pressure 10 bar 10 bar
Medium Water Water
High Pressure Compressor

Specification
Flow rate 3.5 m3/h 16 m3/h
Medium Product gas Product gas
Input pressure 8 bar 8 bar
Output pressure 200 bar 200 bar
4
Vijay et al. The 2nd Joint International Conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006) 21-23 November
2006, Bangkok, Thailand

6.2.3 Mass and energy balance
GBES provided Evergreen Gas with details of both the 5m3/h and 25m3/h upgrade plants
upgrading to a product gas purity of >95% CH4. The mass balance is as follows, although it
does not take into account water losses from the closed loop system which requires topping
up at a rate of 0.0075 litres per cubic metre of raw biogas upgraded.
Water flow rate is in the range of 0.7m3 to 1m3 per hour for 5m3/h biogas inlet rate, but
GBES did not advise what this figure would be for the 25m3/h variant, although given that
the water circuit is a closed loop and we know what the water losses to evaporation are per
cubic metre of raw biogas, this will not overly affect the mass balance. We would expect the
flow rate for the scrubbing water to be five times faster for the 25m3/h variant.
Table 6:- IIT / GBES mass balance at 5m3/h and 25m3/h biogas input. All gas volumes are
normalised.
Biogas flow-rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

CH4 content of biogas % (v/v) 60 60
CO2 content of biogas % (v/v) 39 39
Total H2O and H2S content of biogas % (v/v) 1 1
Density of biogas kg/m3 1.2 1.2
Mass flow rate of biogas kg/h 6 30
CH4 content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 95 95
CO2 content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 4 4
H2O content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 1 1
H2S content of upgraded gas (before dryer) ppm <20 <20
Density of upgraded gas kg/m3 0.7658 0.7658
CH4 input flow rate m3/h 3 15
CH4 loss during the upgraded process % (v/v) ~0 ~0
Volume flow-rate of upgraded gas m3/h 3.15 15.79
Mass flow rate of upgraded gas kg/h ~2.41 ~12.1
CO2 released to the environment m3/h 1.85 1.85
CO2 released to the environment kg/h 3.58 17.87
The above figures make the assertion that there is no methane slip through the upgrade
process. Methane slip is the expression to describe methane that is lost from the product gas
and is released to atmosphere with the carbon dioxide and other impurutues that are
removed through the scrubbing process.
6.2.4 Economics
a. Capital Cost
5m3/h inlet gas flow rate: INR 4,000,000 EXW (£50,000)

25 m3/h inlet gas flow rate: INR 6,500,000 EXW (£81,250)
b. Operational and maintenance costs

GBES recommend that a single semi-skilled operative can operate both sizes of plants. The
only details of consumables given are water which must be topped up at a rate of 0.0075m3
per m3 of raw gas. Minimal maintenance is required for this type of plant, and a budget has
been given (basis India) as INR 150 (£1.60) per day for the smaller plant and INR 200
(£2.50) per day for the larger plant.
Electricity consumption given by GBES for upgraded product gas compressed to 250bar for
the 5m3/h plant is 1.86kWh/kg and 0.80kWh/kg for the 25m3/h raw biogas plant.
The difference is due to the fact that equipment for such low capacity (i.e. 5n.m3/hour) is
not readily available in India. The exact figures for above values are subject to availability of
equipment for particular flow-rate/capacity.
6.2.5 Operational parameters
We do not know a great deal about the operational parameters of the IIT plant, as there are
no examples of this type of plant that we are aware of in Europe, so operational data is
drawn from numerous scientific papers authored by Professor Vijay that document the
performance and development of the process.
Please see Appendix 2 for further details.
A spokesman from GBES has told us that GBES has co-developed an improved version of the
upgrade process in collaboration with IIT.
6.3 Chesterfield Biogas
Initially, Evergreen Gas set out to assess the feasibility of small-scale biogas upgrade to
vehicle fuel using Metener and IIT/GBES technology at 5m3/h and 25m3/h raw biogas flow
rate. During the research, we became aware that Chesterfield Biogas is developing a small
scale biogas to vehicle fuel upgrade unit that fitted our requirements.
While the unit is currently at the prototype testing stage, it deserves a mention as
Chesterfield Biogas is a well-established company with extensive experience of biogas
upgrade.
Rather than using water scrubbing, the Chesterfield Biogas technology employs a variant of
Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) to scrub the gas.

3 3
 Raw biogas at a flow rate of between 5m /h and 40m /h enters the upgrade unit from the
AD plant at low pressure (20-50mbar).
 The incoming gas is compressed to a working pressure of 1 bar. The system is a 5 vessel
system comprising buffer storage, gas processing and stripping, recirculation and
outgoing buffer storage vessels.
 Hydrogen sulphide is removed from the incoming biogas stream in a scrubbing vessel
using a replaceable scrubbing medium. This medium must be replaced every six months.
 A vacuum pump is used to strip the carbon dioxide from the scrubbing medium, and
hydrogen sulphide is removed by adsorption into a scrubbing medium.
 Outgoing upgraded gas is piped to a refuelling compressor for direct vehicle refuelling, or
alternatively compressed into bulk cylinder storage for future dispensing requirements.
 Process pipework is 10 bar-rated PVC and gas routes are controlled with solenoid valves.
 The plant is equipped with a remote panel that consists of a gas analysis panel, main
control panel and variable speed drive control panel. The pressure vessels are

continuously monitored with pressure / temperature instrumentation and are fitted with
relief valves in the event of an overpressure situation.
 Flow meter monitoring is fitted throughout and a gas monitoring system is fitted to
maintain gas specification.
 Methane slip is approximately 1-2%.
6.3.2 Economics
a. Capital cost
£150,000 Installed and commissioned.
b. Operations and maintenance
We have basic details of the requirements of this plant, although as it is at the prototype
stage of development, the figures that we have are empirical.
6.4 Conclusion
Having investigated three biogas upgrade technologies, Evergreen Gas has chosen to work
with Metener. This decision was not taken lightly, but is as a result of a number of factors.
First, Metener and Evergreen Gas have a working relationship extending over more than five
years, and we are on very good terms with key personnel there. Second, Metener are
relatively close to hand which will be advantageous as we get through the detailed design
and manufacture of the upgrade unit. Thirdly, we have seen first-hand the high standard of
workmanship, materials and instrumentation employed on the Metener product. Finally,
Metener have been very forthcoming with the quality of information and data that they have
provided for the development of the “simple” upgrade unit.
7.0 Detailed Economic Analysis
7.1 The economics of different biogas utilisation at 5m3/h and 25m3/h
Evergreen Gas has identified that for the case of a 5m3/h upgrade plant, a side stream of
biogas may be routed into the unit while the bulk of the AD plant biogas production
continues to flow to a CHP unit. The CHP would provide process heat and electricity to run
the AD plant and upgrade unit with the surplus electricity available for on-site use and export
as normal.
This configuration would permit farmers to maintain self-sufficiency of electricity and heat,
and enable them to generate a substantial side stream of vehicle fuel production.
For the case of a 25m3/h upgrade plant, consideration needs to be given to the provision of
heat for the AD plant and the cost of the electricity for running the upgrade unit. Running
the upgrade unit as a side stream to main CHP generation would be feasible for small AD
plants.
The following calculations compare the value per cubic metre of biogas when it is used for
the following processes:
 Heat only
 CHP
 Upgrade to vehicle fuel.
No consideration is made for the cost of energy to maintain the digester.

The calculation sheet below illustrates the relative values, and how they change depending
on the degree of heat utilisation.

Table 7:- Calorific value calculations. (biogas flow rate: 5m3/h)
Biogas Calculations
LCV of methane kWh/m3 9.9
Methane content of biogas % 55
LCV of biogas kWh/m3 5.45
Flow rate of biogas to upgrade m3/h 5.0
Flow rate of methane to upgrade m3/h 2.8
Total biogas flow to upgrade m3/day 120
Energy of biogas kWh/day 655
Energy of biogas MJ/day 2,356
Table 8:- Value of biogas for production of heat only
Heat generation
Boiler efficiency % 85.0
Boiler heat output kWh/day 556
Boiler heat output kW 23.2
RHI value p/kWh 6.8
RHI income £/day 37.83
LCV of kerosene MJ/kg 46.6
Density of kerosene kg/litre 0.80
LCV of kerosene MJ/litre 37.3
Oil boiler efficiency % 85.0
Heat output from kerosene MJ/litre 31.7
Heat output from kerosene kWh/litre 8.8
Kerosene equivalent of boiler output litres/day 63.2
Price of kerosene (ex VAT) p/litre 62.0
Value of heat (c.f. kerosene) £/day 39.19
Value of heat from biogas £/day 77.02
Value of biogas £/m3 0.64

Table 9:- Value of biogas when used for CHP
Electrical
% 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0
Efficiency
Thermal Efficiency % 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0
Electricity Output kWh/day 209 209 209 209 209 209 209 209 209 209 209
Electricity Output kW 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7
Heat Output kWh/day 347 347 347 347 347 347 347 347 347 347 347
Heat Output kW 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5
Heat Utilisation % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0
Heat Utilisation kWh/day 347 312 278 243 208 173 139 104 69 35 0
FIT value p/kWh 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7
RHI value p/kWh 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8
FIT income £ 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79
RHI Income £ 23.59 21.23 18.87 16.51 14.15 11.79 9.44 7.08 4.72 2.36 0.00
Displaced
p/kWh 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5
electricity value
Displaced
£/day 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71
electricity value
Heat output from
kWh/litre 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8
kerosene
Kerosene
equivalent of CHP litres/day 39.4 35.5 31.5 27.6 23.6 19.7 15.8 11.8 7.9 3.9 0.0
heat output
Price of kerosene
p/litre 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0
(ex VAT)
Value of CHP heat
£/day 24.43 21.99 19.55 17.10 14.66 12.22 9.77 7.33 4.89 2.44 0.00
(c.f. kerosene)
Value of electricity
£/day 70.93 68.49 66.04 63.60 61.16 58.71 56.27 53.83 51.38 48.94 46.50
+ heat from CHP
Value per m3
£ 0.79 0.75 0.71 0.67 0.63 0.59 0.55 0.51 0.47 0.43 0.39
biogas
The value of biogas changes as the level of heat utilisation increases / decreases. The
greater the heat utilisation, the higher the value of biogas.

Table 10:- Value of biogas when upgrading to vehicle fuel
Biogas flow to upgrade m3/h 5.0

Methane content of biogas % 55
Methane flow rate in biogas m3/h 2.75
Methane slip % 1.0
Methane slip flow rate m3/h 0.03
Methane flow rate in upgraded biogas m3/h 2.72
Methane flow rate in upgraded biogas m3/d 65.3
Methane content of upgraded biogas % 85.0
Upgraded biogas flow rate m3/h 3.20
Upgraded biogas flow rate m3/d 76.9
Methane content of upgraded biogas % 85.0
Methane flow rate in upgraded biogas m3/d 65.3
Density of methane kg/m3 0.71
Total methane production per day kg/day 46.7
Energy flow rate of upgraded biogas kWh/day 648
Energy density of diesel MJ/kg 45.0
Density of diesel kg/litre 0.823
Energy density of diesel MJ/litre 37.0
Energy density of diesel kWh/litre 10.3
Diesel equivalence (in terms of energy)
litre/day 63.0
of upgraded biogas
Pump price of diesel (ex VAT) £/litre 1.25
Pump price of diesel (ex VAT) £/kWh 0.12
Diesel equivalence (in terms of energy)
£/day 78.73
of upgraded biogas
Fuel duty for biogas p/kg CH4 26.3
Total methane production per day kg/day 46.7
Fuel duty £/day 12.30
Electricity consumption of upgrade plant kWh/m3 0.81
Cost of electricity per kWh p/kWh 4.50
Electricity used kWh/day 62.47
Cost of electricity used £/day 2.81
Net value of vehicle fuel £/day 63.64
Value of biogas £/m3 0.53
Taking above calculations in isolation for the 5m3/h scale operating on a side stream of
biogas, it is clear that the value of biogas is affected by the percentage utilisation of the
available heat from the CHP. Unless at least 33% of the available heat can be reliable used
beneficially, it is more economic to upgrade biogas to a vehicle fuel than to use it to fuel a
CHP unit if a side-stream upgrade facility is fitted.
If the RHI support was not available, or the project was unable to take advantage of the
RHI, then biogas for upgrade to vehicle fuel is an economically-attractive option.
At the larger scale of upgrade facility, all of the biogas from the small AD plant considered so
far would be consumed bringing into question where the heat and parasitic electrical
requirement would come from. The alternative scenario would be for the 25m3/h scale to be
installed on a larger biogas plant, for example where there is more than enough gas to fuel a

500kW CHP and the plant operator is unable to increase engine output or is constrained by
the FiT restrictions on output.
8.0 Overall Environmental Impacts
8.1 The macro-economic picture
Agriculture is an excellent means of converting oil to crops thanks to agriculture’s reliance on

oil to provide energy and fertiliser. Energy is required for mechanical equipment and for
heat. Energy is also required for fertiliser production, a stage of which is the manufacture of
ammonia. Ammonia production is highly energy intensive firstly as the triple covalent bond
between the two atoms of a nitrogen molecule must be broken, and secondly because
ammonia gas is often shipped long distances under refrigerated conditions in specialist gas
carriers to the plants which turn it into fertiliser.
Oil is a scarce resource and the cost continues to rise putting farmers under pressure from
increasing overheads.
Anaerobic digestion is a unique renewable energy generation process thanks to its outputs of
methane and digestate. Methane is a portable, versatile energy source, for reasons already
outlined in this appraisal.
Digestate is a valuable biofertiliser, and has an enhanced level of available nitrogen thanks to
the digestion of atomic nitrogen out of proteins and conversion to ammonia. Digestate
contains P and K thereby reducing the requirement to buy in additional material.
8.2 The carbon footprint of agriculture
For the above reasons, the core and peripheral carbon footprints of agriculture can be
reduced by the implementation of an AD plant on a farm. The environmental impact of
upgrading biogas to vehicle fuel is negligible in its own right providing the digester has been
fed on a sustainable or waste feedstock.
A calculation detailing the relative carbon dioxide emissions from using CNG in the place of
petrol/diesel shows that net GHG emission reductions can be achieved by using biogas-
derived vehicle fuel.
Table 11:- Carbon dioxide production from CNG, petrol and diesel
Methane CH4 + 2O2 CO2 + 2H2O

Molar mass 16 32 44 18
Molar ratio 1 2 1 2
Mass kg 16 64 44 36
Mass kg 80 80
CO2 / kg CH4 kg 2.8
Petrol /
C8H18 + 12.5O2 8CO2 + 9H2O
Diesel
Molar mass 114 32 44 18
Molar ratio 1 12.5 8 9
Mass kg 114 400 352 162
Mass kg 514 514

CO2 / kg C8H18 kg 3.1
The environmental impact of the upgrade plant is negligible when compared to other biogas
utilisation technologies. A biofilter is fitted so that odour issues are mitigated, and the unit is
a self-contained unit to minimise visible impact.
Increased vehicle traffic to the upgrade unit may be a problem, so the unit will need to be
sited with due consideration made for access.
9.0 Phase 2 Demonstration
9.1 Methodology for the demonstration
If Evergreen Gas is successful and the project continues to the demonstration stage, we will
procure a 5m3/h upgrade facility from Metener Oy, and install it on BMAD, the AD plant that
we are building at our site in Shropshire.
Shropshire Council has granted planning consent for BMAD, and construction will take place
over the summer, with commissioning complete by the beginning of October 2012. Orders
for long lead items such as the feed system, CHP unit and grid connection have already been
placed, and Evergreen Gas already owns a CNG vehicle which will be fuelled and trialled on
the vehicle fuel produced by the upgrade unit. .
We have chosen to site the trial upgrade unit at our site for the following reasons:
1 We have a source of biogas that is consistent and of the correct quality.

2 The gas production rate of BMAD is the design feed rate of the upgrade unit.
3 We will have full flexibility of operation as we operate the AD plant and the upgrade unit.
4 The AD plant control system and the upgrade unit will be connected to allow for
automatic operation and control.
5 The addition of upgrade to vehicle fuel will demonstrate the flexibility of the Evergreen
Gas approach to small-scale AD.
6 We will be able to carry out in-depth monitoring of key processes including mass /
energy balance and scrutinise the operational performance of the upgrade unit.
9.2 Project Timescale
9.2.1 Project development
When Evergreen Gas has been informed that its bid for phase 2 has been successful, we will
meet Metener to finalise details of the design and obtain the programme for manufacture of
the trial unit. We anticipate that the lead time for manufacture may be as much as nine
months.
Metener will manufacture the unit at their site in Finland, assemble it, test it and dismantle it
for transportation to Shropshire.
Before placing the order with Metener, Evergreen Gas will visit Finland to confirm the
requirements of the pilot upgrade unit and discuss the detailed design. This meeting will
enable all interfaces between BMAD and the upgrade unit to be covered and ensures that
the pilot will be as required. Evergreen Gas will also obtain enough information to plan the
exact location of the upgrade plant at their site.

On completion of detailed design, Evergreen Gas will place the order with Metener for the
pilot plant. The lead time for delivery is long due to Metener’s commitments, although there
will be regular project review meetings and updates.
Once the unit is complete it will be rigorously tested to ensure everything is working
correctly, including operation at design rate on biogas from Metener’s AD plant and fuelling
vehicles. Evergreen Gas will visit the unit at this point.
After testing, the unit will be made ready for dismantling and disassembled for transport to
the UK. The unit will go by sea and road between Finland and Shropshire.
On arrival at the Evergreen Gas site, the unit will be reassembled by Metener personnel, and
connected to the BMAD control system to enable automatic operation. During the
reassembly and commissioning process, Evergreen Gas staff will be trained on the operations
and maintenance of the upgrade unit.
When assembled, the plant will be re-commissioned and a vehicle fill will be carried out.
After this point, the unit will be monitored and operated at design throughput.
When fully operational, Evergreen Gas will embark on a series of vehicle trials to ascertain
the lowest quality upgraded fuel that can be run in a road vehicle and driven normally.
The performance of the upgrade plant will be monitored for a period of 3 months and a
report written covering energy consumption, plant availability, maintenance requirements,
operational requirements and performance of the vehicle running on the product gas. This
report will be submitted to WRAP as part of the demonstration project.
9.2.2 Permiting and approvals
No additional permits will be required for the operation of the pilot upgrade facility, although
it will be registered with HM Customs and Excise as road fuel duty must be applied to the
upgraded fuel.
The advantage of using Metener as the technology provider is that the upgrade unit will be
constructed and certified in accordance with the relevant rules covering pressure vessels and
the columns will be CE marked.
Evergreen Gas has been granted approval by the Environment Agency to operate BMAD
under a T25 Exemption owing to the small size of the digester and storage.
9.2.3 Project financing
The project will be financed in part from Evergreen Gas reserves and in part by WRAP.
9.2.4 Construction, operation and maintenance
As detailed in section 9.2.1 the pilot upgrade unit will be manufactured by Metener personnel
or their subcontractors at their workshops in Laukaa, Finland. The purpose of this is to
capitalise on Metener’s expertise in the construction of such plants and to ensure that costs
are kept to a minimum without compromising the safety of the unit or its operational
capacity.
Operation and routine maintenance will be performed by trained Evergreen Gas personnel.
We anticipate that the person running BMAD will also look after the upgrade unit, as the two

will be closely linked and the performance of one will affect the other. Metener will provide a
maintenance schedule including component lifespan information and will make half-yearly
inspections of the unit for its first 18 months of operation.
9.2.5 Monitoring and evaluation
Evergreen Gas understands that close process monitoring is essential to get the best from
any complex system. Both BMAD and the pilot upgrade unit will be fitted with
instrumentation to enable the inputs and outputs to each unit to be accounted for. These
mass and energy balances are essential to the fundamental understanding of the process,
and will form a component of the marketing literature associated with Evergreen Gas’ biogas
to vehicle fuel facilities. Readings from the plant’s instrumentation will be recorded in
spreadsheets for analysis, periodically reviewed and stored.
Maintenance costs and operating costs will be monitored as part of the trial stage, including
a detailed evaluation of electricity and process water consumption.
9.2.6 Decommissioning
The upgrade unit will be decommissioned at the end of its operational lifespan which will be
approximately 10 years. There will not be any toxic or hazardous elements to dispose of and
the majority of the plant is recyclable.
9.3 Cost breakdown and milestones
9.3.1 Project milestones
The demonstration phase of the project has been broken down into five distinct phases
which are treated as work packages for the purpose of analysing breakdown of costs.
Staff input varies depending on the nature of the work package, so cost varies between each
of the packages. The work packages are summarised in table 15 and correspond to
milestones on the demonstration phase project programme.
Table 12:- Work Packages for delivery of demonstration phase
Estimated completion
Description
date
WP1 Design of upgrade plant 01-10-12
WP2 Manufacture and delivery 18-02-13
WP3 Installation 25-02-13
WP4 Commissioning 04-03-13
WP5 Monitoring & reporting 10-06-13
9.3.2 Cost estimate
Evergreen Gas has prepared a cost estimate based on the work packages and requirements
of the demonstration phase of the project. The total project cost for phase 2 of the project is
134,160 and is broken down as follows:
Table 13:- Phase 2 Cost estimate
WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 Total

Staff Costs
MJC days 2.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 3.0 8.0
WDL days 8.0 8.0 4.0 2.0 9.0 31.0
SCW days 10.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 14.0
Operator days 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 55.0 58.0
Scientist days 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 5.0
Total days
Staff Costs
MJC £ 1,280 640 640 640 1,920 5,120
WDL £ 3,840 3,840 1,920 960 4,320 14,880
SCW £ 2,400 0 480 0 480 3,360
Operator £ 0 0 0 600 11,000 11,600
Scientist £ 0 0 0 0 1,800 1,800
Total £ 7,520 4,480 3,040 2,200 19,520 36,760
Metener £ 0 55,000 5,000 5,000 2,000 67,000
Instrumentation £ 0 0 0 10,000 0 10,000
Delivery £ 0 3,000 0 0 0 3,000
Consumables £ 0 0 0 0 2,000 2,000
Electricity £ 0 0 0 100 300 400
Travel £ 2,000 2,000 0 0 1,000 5,000

Contingency £ 1,000 5,000 1,000 1,000 2,000 10,000
Total Cost £ 10,520 69,480 9,040 18,300 26,820 134,160
Table 14:- Evergreen Gas staff rates
MJC £/day 640

WDL £/day 480
SCW £/day 240
Operator £/day 200
Scientist £/day 360
10.0 Commercialisation of technology post demonstration
10.1 Intellectual property
We do not believe that there are any specific intellectual property issues at stake in regard to
the Metener “Simple” upgrade process. Metener holds a patent for their high pressure
system, although this technology will not be applied in this instance.
What intellectual property is generated from the development and commercialisation of the
simple upgrade process will reside with Metener. Design responsibility for the unit rests with
Metener as Evergreen Gas is procuring the unit from them and they will manufacture and
install it.
Evergreen Gas will hold the license to distribute the technology in the UK.

10.1.1 Commercialisation plans going forward
Evergreen Gas will market the upgrade system as an addition to their core business of
designing, installing commissioning and supporting small-scale AD plants.
The company is well known in the AD marketplace, so will offer biogas upgrade to vehicle
fuel either on a like for like CHP / vehicle fuel upgrade substitution basis, or as an addition to
a biogas plant which will be equipped with CHP and biogas upgrade.
Evergreen Gas’ approach to any new project requires involvement of the key stakeholders
from the outset, and each plant is developed to suit their particular scenario, so in the
course of our normal marketing activities, we will disseminate and advertise our expansion
into the vehicle fuel market.
Evergreen Gas has an active programme of advertising, attendance at trade exhibitions,

circulation of press releases, delivery of lectures and media engagement which will include
the biogas to vehicle fuel upgrade addition to the product range.
Biogas-derived vehicle fuel for resale needs to conform to a specification approved by vehicle
manufacturers. In Europe where the CNG market is mature, H and L grade CNG is available.
H grade has a higher calorific value than L grade so is more expensive, but ultimately a
quality standard is set to protect the fuel buyer from damaging his vehicle or suffering
substandard performance. The quality standard states maximum concentrations of impurities
and other compounds secondary to the primary energy carrier, methane. See Appendix 1 for
H&L Grade CNG specifications.
On the other hand, if the vehicle fuel is going to be used for “personal” consumption rather
than resale, risk lies with the fuel user. It may be the case that satisfactory performance can
be achieved from an engine using a fuel below the lower standard for L-Grade (or
equivalent) CNG, but as this has been upgraded more crudely, it may have cost less so be
worth the risk.
Road Fuel Excise duty will be levied on vehicle fuel derived from biogas used on public roads,
but there are no formal guidelines on how this will be implemented at present. A prudent
operator would record the quantity of vehicle fuel produced in the event of an inspection. At
present, CNG is taxed at 0.247p per kg at approximately 95% methane by volume. We
anticipate that as the market for biogas-derived vehicle fuel takes off, road fuel duty will be
levied against the energy content of the fuel rather than on a mass basis.
The market for small scale biogas upgrade to vehicle fuel is enormous and it is a question of
“when”, not “if” it takes off. Oil is expensive and the price is unlikely to soften to sub $100 a
barrel, and CNG has built a “bridge” for the arrival of biogas-derived vehicle fuels in terms of
vehicle technology, infrastructure and public perception of methane-based vehicle fuel. Major
manufacturers are already offering CNG vehicles ranging from family cars to dual fuel HGV’s
and the European market for retro-fit CNG conversions is well developed.
The NFU aspires to a figure of 1000 farm-scale AD plants by 2020 so producing vehicle fuel
from agricultural residues and crops opens a diversification and cost reduction opportunity
for farmers without having to put land into crops for biofuels, thus side-stepping the food or
fuel debate. Recent developments from the agri-machinery sector are introducing biogas /
dual fuel tractors into the market helping farmers to achieve a greater degree of self-
sufficiency.

Our projection for the roll out of small scale upgrade units is that the market will grow
rapidly as AD plant developers appreciate the added flexibility they can bring. Once the
concept has been proven, demonstrated and marketed, farms and communities will queue
up to install a unit onto a new plant or retro fit onto existing plant. At this point it is hard to
say how long this will take, but it will be driven in part by the price of energy from
conventional sources.
Evergreen Gas will deliver Metener technology to the marketplace under an exclusivity
arrangement. The arrangement will be mutually beneficial as Evergreen Gas is a core AD
technology specialist so can focus on delivering the AD component, and Metener will be able
to control manufacture and product development as they are specialists in the field of biogas
upgrade.

10.1.2 Key personnel
Metener and Evergreen personnel are key to the successful implementation of the
demonstration and commercialisation phases of the project. There is a degree of crossover
between the two companies, although biogas upgrade is highly specialised and Metener
personnel will assume full responsibility for this side of the process.
Evergreen Gas
Michael Chesshire, Managing Director
Graduating from the University of Cambridge with a first-class degree in thermodynamics

and having had a brief spell in the nuclear industry, Michael has been involved with the
design, construction, commissioning and process optimisation of AD plants since 1976.
Michael’s track record of delivering successful projects and understanding of AD enables
Evergreen Gas to maintain a critical focus on plant design, delivery and operation. In
addition to hands-on engineering, Michael is a director of the Renewable Energy Association
so is very active in lobbying for better support for anaerobic digestion at all scales.
Will Llewellyn, Commercial Director
Will comes to Evergreen Gas after two and a half years working for BiogenGreenfinch, 7
years’ experience working in international shipping and a biology and French degree from
the University of Manchester. Having delivered a number of projects on time and to budget,
Will leads Evergreen Gas’ marketing campaign, innovation and engineering development.
Stuart Winkless, CAD Engineer
Stuart is responsible for all aspects of detailed design using Solidworks CAD software.
Covering all aspects of plant design from subassemblies to full plant layout, Stuart will design
the interfaces and installations between the core AD process and the biogas upgrade units.
Phil Greenaway, Sales Manager
Having run his own business, Michael and Will met Phil while they were all working for
BiogenGreenfinch. Phil brings 35 years’ sales experience to the Company. Phil’s in-depth
understanding of AD and sales track record will play a key role in the commercialisation of
small-scale upgrade systems.
Metener Oy
Erkki Kalmari, Managing Director
Erkki is the inventor and patent holder of the Metener high pressure upgrade process and
founded the Company. He is a skilled engineer whose expertise will ensure a high quality
product.
Jussi Lantela, Process Engineer, Upgrade

Jussi specialises in the application and design of biogas upgrade systems using both high
and low pressure water. Jussi’s process engineering background and CAD skills enables him
to develop designs to an advanced stage before being passed for manufacture.
Juha Luostarinen, Process Engineer and Sales engineer

First coming into contact with biogas while a student at the University of Jyväskylä, Juha
worked for Michael Chesshire at Greenfinch Ltd between 2003 and 2004 before returning to
Finland to work alongside Erkki Kalmari at Metener. Juha divides his time between work on
process optimisation, turnkey biogas plant design and commissioning both upgrade units and
whole biogas plants. Juha was instrumental in the successful delivery of the Metener high
pressure upgrade facility that was exported to China.
10.2 Evaluation and monitoring
The principal methods of evaluation and monitoring the pilot project and later
commercialised plant will be as follows:
10.2.1 Pilot:
Data will be recorded from instrumentation to enable mass balance and energy balance to
be calculated.
The following will be metered:
1 Biogas inlet flow rate and composition

2 Water circulation rate
3 Water replacement rate
4 Product gas flow rate and composition
5 Off-gas flow rate and composition
6 Plant electrical consumption
The time taken for operations and maintenance will be recorded, as will the cost and
frequency of spares and consumables that require replacement to build up a clear picture of
the efficiency of the plant.
The data and experience gained from operating the upgrade plant for the first 3 months will
be included into a report that will be submitted to WRAP.
10.2.2 Commercial plant
The development of the commercial-scale will depend on the experience and market
sentiment experienced in regard to the trial unit. It may be the case that demand is strong
for a commercialised version of the 5m3/h upgrade unit.
Evergreen Gas will report on the uptake of the commercialised plants and offer on-going
after sales support to ensure that they are operated to the best of their capacity. This
information will be periodically reviewed and disseminated as a component of the Evergreen
Gas marketing strategy to encourage others to invest in biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel.
10.3 Health and safety

Health and safety is of paramount importance to Evergreen Gas. Appendix 3 details the
company health and safety policy, and the installation and operation of the pilot plant will
not be an exception to this policy.
The upgrade unit will be operated and maintained only by personnel who have received
training from Metener, and it will not be operated outside its set design limits. The plant is
designed in accordance with relevant UK legislation so must be operated by a competent
person.

10.4 Conclusion
It is clear that there is potential for massive growth in small-scale biogas upgrade to vehicle
fuel. The high cost of energy and an increasing number of small-scale AD technology
providers has contributed to the acceptance of AD as a valuable source of renewable energy
generation at all scales. Thanks to the energy carrier being methane, which can be used in a
variety of ways, biogas upgrade is an example of the flexibility of AD.
Initially this report set out to evaluate two scales of biogas upgrade: 5m3/h and 25m3/h raw
biogas flow rate. What we have come to understand is that for a farm-scale AD plant
producing a biogas flow rate of 25m3/h, it may be most economic to install the 5m3/h
upgrade plant alongside the CHP and run the two in parallel. As shown in the detailed
economic assessment, biogas as a vehicle fuel can be the most economic use of biogas,
particularly when the heat load on an AD plant is less than 30% of available heat, or when
RHI support is not obtainable.
24 hours biogas at 5m3/h flow rate equates to approximately 50kg of vehicle fuel which in
turn equals about 500 miles in a small van or 8 hours work in a dual fuel tractor. The
subtlety of “side chain” upgrade (parallel operation of CHP and vehicle fuel production) is
that the process heat and power for the digester are produced by the CHP so digester
heating is not impacted by loss of gas, and does not require bought-in fuels, and the
upgrade process power costs less than the imported electricity price as is taken from
electricity generated on-site otherwise destined for export to grid.
The economics of the 25m3/h upgrade facility using all of the biogas from a farm-scale plant
are less attractive than parallel operation of upgrade and CHP as process heat and power for
the digester must be bought in.
On the basis of the above, a simple upgrade facility offers the AD developer more flexibility
of output and presents an additional channel for diversification of income. CNG technology
has paved the way for biogas-derived vehicle fuel, and examination of commercially available
CNG quality standards shows that a fuel as low as 75% methane by volume may be viable
for use in vehicles.
Farmers are increasingly motivated by the desire to be energy self-sufficient rather than
pursuit of further diversification of income, so home production of vehicle fuel must appeal.
11.0 Appendices
1 CNG Specification: H&L grades

2 Biogas Purification and Bottling into CNG cylinders: Producing Bio-CNG from Biomass for
rural Automotive Applications. Vijay et al. 2006
3 Evergreen Gas Company Health and Safety Policy

Appendix 1 - CNG Specification: H&L grades

Appendix 2
Biogas Purification and Bottling into CNG Cylinders: Producing Bio-CNG from
Biomass for Rural Automotive Applications
Virendra K. Vijay1,*, Ram Chandra1, Parchuri M. V. Subbarao2 and Shyam S. Kapdi3#
Available from: www.jgsee.kmutt.ac.th/see1/cd/file/C-003.pdf

Appendix 3 - Evergreen Gas Company Health and Safety Policy
EVERGREEN GAS LTD

HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY
Evergreen Gas Ltd acknowledges the paramount importance of Health & Safety at work
and accepts its responsibilities, both to its employees and to the general public.
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 imposes statutory duties on employers and
employees and to enable these statutory duties and general duties to be carried out it
is the policy of Evergreen Gas Ltd to ensure that the responsibilities of health & safety
are properly assigned, accepted and fulfilled at all levels of our company and that all
practical steps are taken to safeguard the safety of all operations under our control
and to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of all employees.
It is the intention of our company to ensure that:-
1. The provision and maintenance of places and systems of work, plant and machinery
are safe and without risks to health, not only to employees and sub-contractors but
also to any person who may be affected with regard to any premises or operations
under our control.
2. Arrangements for use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances for
use at work are safe and without risk to health and that adequate information is
available in this respect.
3. Employees are provided with such information, instruction, training and supervision
as is necessary to ensure their health & safety.
4. The working environment of all employees is safe and without risks to health and
that adequate provisions are made with regard to the facilities and arrangements for
their welfare at work. Suitable protective clothing and safety equipment will be made
available where appropriate.
5. All employees and sub-contractors are familiar with the company’s Health & Safety
Policy
It shall be the duty of all employees at work:

1. To take reasonable steps for the health and safety of themselves and of other
persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work.
2. To co-operate with the company in the implementation of the Health & Safety
Policy.
Michael Chesshire
Managing Director
22nd December 2011

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Final Report – driving innovation in AD – small scale

Small-scale biogas upgrade for

Evergreen Gas has investigated the feasibility and methodology of

Project code: OIN001-000

We work with businesses, individuals and

Find out more at www.wrap.org.uk

This report was commissioned and financed as part of WRAP’s

Written by: Evergreen Gas

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 1

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 2

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 3

2.0 Introduction and Background

2.1 Evergreen Gas

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 4

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 5

2.3 The Technology

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 6

2.3.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions / IIT New Delhi

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 7

Figure 5:- Demonstration biomethane van Figure 6:- CNG-fuelled auto-rickshaw

2.3.3 Chesterfield Biogas

The British technology assessed is developed by Chesterfield Biogas. Chesterfield Biogas’

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 8

2.4 Application of the Technology

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 9

Table 1:- Feedstock methane yields and vehicle fuel equivalent3

Feedstock Nm3CH4/t Litres Diesel Eq. Litres petrol Eq.

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 10

3.0 Project Objectives

3.1 Feasibility study

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 11

4.0 State of Technology

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 12

Figure 10:- Kalmari farm first bi-fuel vehicle: Volvo V70

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 13

4.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions

5.1 Relevant legislation

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 14

5.2 Road fuel duty

6.0 Detailed Technical Appraisal of the technology

6.1 Metener simple upgrade system

CO2 + H2O H2CO3

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 15

Figure 13:- Metener simple upgrade process flow diagram

Table 2:- Metener simple upgrade major components list

1 Inlet biogas stream 10 Product gas outlet to storage / vehicle

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 16

6.1.2 Engineering scope

6.1.3 Energy balance

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 17

Biogas flow rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

6.1.4 Mass balance

Biogas flow rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 18

Cost (€) Cost (€)

b) Operational and maintenance costs: both scales

Labour € 0.05/kg product gas

6.1.6 Operational parameters

Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 19

6.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions

6.2.1 Process description

GBES describe the product gas as having a methane content >95%.

Figure 14:- IIT / GBES schematic diagram