Case study no. 12:
Exhaust air purification: Biogas drying for large brewery
Initial situation
Biogas is a by-product of organic waste processing in animal husbandry, breweries and in the production of foodstuffs, palm oil, starch, ethanol, paper, etc. Biogas is a renewable energy source and contains 50-70% methane (CH4), 30-50% carbon dioxide (CO2) and 0.1-3% (1,000 – 30,000 ppm) hydrogen sulphide (H2S).
Biogas can be used as a fuel for combustion engines, but the hydrogen sulphide is converted into sulphuric acid (H2SO4) during combustion, which leads to corrosion damage in the combustion engine and premature failure of the engine. The hydrogen sulphide must therefore be removed from the gas before combustion by means of condensation in a heat exchanger.
Exhaust air purification task
Our customer Global Water Engineering supplies biogas plants to international customers, here for a European brewery at its site in Thailand. This industrial biogas plant is large, with a capacity of 1750 m3/h of biogas, and a particularly durable plastic heat exchanger is to be used for biogas drying rather than a metal heat exchanger.
Solution
The Calorplast biogas cooler made of polyethylene (PE ) has been tried and tested for many years in demanding biogas applications. The completely corrosion-resistant all-plastic design is durable and the smooth tubes with small wall thickness guarantee a high cooling capacity. The extendable tube bundle allows quick cleaning of the tube bundle and thus creates a particularly high system availability. The housing was designed in a specially reinforced version for the required pressure conditions.
Result
The system was put into operation in 2015 and expanded by two further units two years later due to the positive experience gained. ventilation systems
