German firm ETW Energietechnik GmbH has developed technology that can blend two gas streams of different qualities to fuel CHPs. ETW said the equipment ’precisely blends the two gases to a homogeneous fuel mixture’. This makes the technology ideally suited for landfills that struggle with shrinking heating values and volumes of biogas along their lifetime the firm said..
This shrinking heating value can be compensated by gradually enriching biogas with natural gas (NG). The blending is completely automated and designed to consume the lowest possible amounts of natural gas. Almost any CHP can easily be upgraded, ETW said.
There are several advantages for the operator, ETW adds. At startups the CHP receives a perfectly balanced fuel mixture, preventing startup problems often caused by low CH4 concentration. “This enables the operation of CHPs even with CH4 concentration lower than 30%,increasing its lifetime and availability, and thus its economic feasibility. The CHP can be operated independently from the land-fill gas supply.”
