ETW Energietechnik commissions its first Italian LFG-to-RNG plant
Germany-headed Combined heat and power (CHP) and biogas upgrading technology specialists ETW Energietechnik GmbH has announced that it has commissioned its first Italian landfill gas (LFG) to biomethane plant.
In collaboration with its long-standing Italian partner Ranieri Tonissi from Genoa, ETW Energietechnik has delivered a package comprising its proven, user-friendly “ETW SmartCycle” pressure swing adsorption (PSA) biogas upgrading system and a downstream nitrogen reduction unit (NRU) to a landfill in Taranto, Apulia region in southern Italy.
The plant can process up to 4,400 Nm3 of landfill gas (LFG) per hour upgrading it into biomethane aka renewable natural gas (RNG) and injecting it into the gas grid.
Special treatment process for landfill gas
ETW Energietechnik‘s general contractor scope of supply also includes raw gas conditioning, lean gas after-treatment with regenerative thermal oxidation (RTO), gas flaring, and biomethane feed-in (gatekeeper) with post-compression to 25 bar.
With the ETW treatment process with NRU, which was specially developed for landfill gas, landfill gas with nitrogen contents of over 20 percent can be treated to produce biomethane that can be fed into the grid, explained Alexander Szabo, Sales Manager at ETW Energietechnik.
High demands on gas treatment
Landfill gas is a special gas for treatment. On the one hand, there is a very high concentration of harmful trace substances such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and siloxanes.
On the other hand, the gas quality is not constant and there are fluctuations in the gas composition and quantity. The longer a landfill is in operation, the more methane is replaced by oxygen and nitrogen.
In addition, the quantity of gas decreases. This places very high demands on a gas treatment plant.
The methane concentration is between 40 and 60 percent, the nitrogen and oxygen concentration between 2 and 25 percent, and the operating range – i.e. the partial load capacity of the plant – is between 30 and 100 percent capacity.
Rapid construction time
None of these points pose any problems for the ETW SmartCycle PSA with NRU, and the plant in Taranto has been reliably producing biomethane since its commissioning in August 2024.
The methane recovery from the landfill gas is a very good value of over 95 percent, added Alexander Szabo.
The facility consists of six standardized containers, set up in a U-shape with a large covered interior for the PPE technology and NRU.
The entire facility was erected in a construction period of only around four months.
What's Your Reaction?
