Following the recent establishment of Bright Biomethane North America, the first biogas upgrading projects will soon be realized in the north west of the State of New York. These will be the first RNG projects of the East Coast of the United States with high efficient 3-stage membrane separation technology, and one of the first in the US using this technology.

Delivery of the RNG systems is part of a big revamp project from partner Martin Energy Group, which includes an overhaul on five existing digesters and replacing the CHP’s with Bright’s RNG technology. The projects are in the range of 150 – 250 cfm and will refine biogas produced from manure to renewable natural gas as natural gas substitute. Direct grid injection is not possible at all sites. Therefore, Bright’s virtual pipeline solutions are used. At a virtual pipeline, the gas is compressed to a high pressure so it can be economically and safely transported to the grid entry point where the gas is injected into the pipeline.

“We are responsible from engineering up to commissioning and all that surrounds the biogas upgrading and virtual pipeline solution. We will combine our vast experience from Europe with manufacturing in the US to get the best solution for each project”, says CTO Marcel te Braak.

3-STAGE MEMBRANE SEPARATION TECHNOLOGY

For the separation of carbon dioxide (CO₂), membranes with the highest selectivity available in the market are used. The 3-step membrane arrangement assures high biomethane quality (according to specifications) with maximum CH4 recovery of 99.5% and higher. In this patented design the permeate gas from the different stages is recirculated to obtain not only the highest efficiency (>99.5%), but also the lowest methane loss (<0.5%). This is a significantly higher recovery rate than many other technologies.