Following the process of the anaerobic digestion from waste, and that the biogas has been captured and further filtered/treated, the methane content within the biogas is sufficient enough to be use as a direct source of fuel to generate heat for cooking applications, boiler and dryer applications, or to produce electricity.
The caloric value produced from biogas can range from 4.000 – 6.000 kilo calorie per cubic meter (Kcal/m³) or on average can produce around 6 kWh/m³, which corresponds to about half a liter of diesel oil.
Nowadays, there are many various technologies to generate electricity from biogas on a household and industrial level. Simply, the chemical energy of the combustible gases is converted to mechanical energy in a controlled combustion system by a heat engine. This mechanical energy then activates a generator to produce electrical power.
The most common heat engines used in for biogas energy conversion are gas turbines and combustion engines. Combustion engines can be either internal combustion engine (e.g. reciprocating engine) or external combustion engine. In all cases, the biogas must be dehumidified and purified (treated) before combustion; otherwise it can damage the gas engine.
Generally, all gas engine manufacturer will have its minimum gas content parameter requirements, which some are already design for biogas application, and some are design for natural gas application, with a higher caloric value and cleaner condition than that of a biogas.
RRS Group, through our sister company PT. Raja Gas Kharisma, can provide the development of not only the biogas treatment and capturing facilities, but also different power and electric generation output application from the produced biogas.