Muhaimin Iqbal
Author

Regenerative Biomethane Revolution

Advanced Renewable

Mon , 20 May 2024 15:54 WIB

These days we are invited to join the International Conference on Renewable Energy Gas Technology (REGATEC 2024), in Lund, Sweden. There is one message that we got from the conference to overcome this energy crisis, namely how to free ourselves from dependence on natural gas, which for some, has to be imported from other countries.

It seems that the experts here agree that the great hope as a substitute for natural gas lies in biomethane - so all the papers presented at this conference are related to biomethane. There are three ways to produce biomethane.

The first is electrochemical (EC), namely electrolysis of water to produce H2 then using H2 for methane synthesis via Sabatier (CO2+4H2==>CH4+2H2O) or Methanation (CO+3H2==>CH4+H2O). Second, through the biochemical (BC) route, namely using an anaerobic digester. And thirdly, using thermochemical (TC), similar to the first method, only the H2 source is from gasification and the water gas shift (WGS) reaction.

EC is clearly expensive so it is not attractive, BC requires a large space and takes a long time, the yield are also not optimal because of the large CO2 content. So the best hope is with TC, the process is instant and doesn't require a lot of space.

It's just that the TC used here, whether using Sabatier or Methanation reaction, wastes a lot of expensive energy (H2) to produce relatively cheap energy (CH4), because the competitor is natural gas. In Sabatier, 1/2 of the H2 is wasted into water, while in Methanation 1/3 wasted to water. So method 3 actually also doesn't make sense, except in energy emergency situations.

So what solutions can we offer? It is hoped that our solution can be a solution for all people in the world who need affordable biomethane energy, so that they do not depend on natural gas - which, apart from being a fossil which pollutes the earth's atmosphere with its emissions, also makes one country dependent on other countries.

The method we offer is to produce biomehane without H2 feedstocks! The hydrogen needed for the Methanation reaction is produced in this process itself and used directly, so it is very effective and also cheap. The three reactions we use in the processes are Boudouard (1), WGS (2) and Methanation (3). When these three are added together it becomes what we introduce as Water Gas Methanation (WGM, reaction 4).

Note now that with this WGM (4), you will be able to produce biomethane directly from carbon (charcoal/biomass/garbage/waste) and water. The result, apart from biomethane, is also CO2, but the CO2 can be recaptured again and become a reactant in the next biomethane regenerative process (1). This is where we introduce new energy, namely Regenerative Biomethane (RB).

All that is needed for this is a reactor that we actually sketched during this conference. This WGM reactor can even be ordered for those who need it now!