About the Bio-UP

About the Bio-UP

The Bio-UP is an innovative technology developed by CCS Energie-advies in partnership with Greenmac.

Bio-UPIt’s a small-scale gas upgrading installation that makes it possible to upgrade biogas to biomethane/green gas (biogas with natural gas quality) on a farm scale.

The installation removes CO₂, water and sulfur compounds from the biogas without pressure. This is done by means of the amine washing principle. Since the system works without pressure, the biomethane can be fed directly into the low-pressure gas network.

There are two versions of the Bio-UP available:

Versions of Bio-UP and their production of green gas per year (in Nm3)
20 m3 160,000
40 m3 320,000

 

In 2020, the Bio-UP won the INEL d’Or innovation prize in the ‘Social innovation’ category. The Bio-UP won this prize for its innovative way of upgrading biogas to natural gas quality. The INEL d’Or is a national prize in France that is awarded annually to innovations in livestock farming.

For who could the Bio-UP be an interesting option?

The Bio-UP is designed for a production of 40 m3 biomethane per hour. If we assume mono-manure fermentation, this means that between 14,000 and 20,000 m3 of manure must be fermented. This depends on the composition of the manure and whether solid manure is also available. For a company that works alone, this means that the installation is only suitable for the largest dairy farms. For the simple reason that there is not enough manure to ferment otherwise. Another option is the supply of external manure or the creation of a bio-HUB. In the latter case, several farm digesters are connected to each other by means of a biogas pipeline. The biogas is then centrally upgraded to natural gas quality in a Bio-UP.

Costs of the Bio-UP

The Bio-UP with fermenter costs €700,000. With all connections, storage and adjustments, the total costs, depending on the location, are approximately 1 million euros. The income from biomethane is €300,000 per year. About €50,000 in maintenance and €50,000 in other costs, including labour, have to be deducted from this. This gives the Bio-UP a return on investment in approximately 5 years.

Benefits of the Bio-UP

There are several advantages. Some of these are about the installation itself, while others are related to the impact on the environment and the people who operate the machine. We list them for you.

Energy-efficient, low-noise and maintenance-friendly

The Bio-UP operates at low pressure. This makes the installation very energy-efficient and low-noise. In addition, the installation requires little maintenance and the emission of methane is many times smaller than with a membrane installation.

Since there is virtually no methane slip (methane that escapes during the process), the conversion of biogas to biomethane is almost 100%. With other techniques, such as membrane separation, this percentage is a few percent lower. Another advantage over membranes is that no wear occurs in the separation technique. With membranes, the efficiency of the membranes decreases over the years. This is not the case with the Bio-UP technology. In addition to the normal maintenance of the pumps and other moving parts, the installation is virtually maintenance-free.

Less methane emissions and natural gas consumption

During the process, the manure does not ferment slowly in the manure cellar, but goes directly into the digester. This avoids methane emissions on the farm. The Bio-UP also contributes to this by realizing 1,100 tons of CO₂ savings per year. Since methane is a 25 times stronger greenhouse gas than CO₂, the installation ultimately yields a double benefit. On the one hand methane emissions are avoided and on the other hand fossil natural gas consumption is avoided through the production of biomethane. As a result, the Bio-UP directly contributes to making your company more sustainable and future-proof.

High financial return

The Bio-Up has an interesting financial return, with a payback period of around 5 years. Thanks to a production efficiency of 100%, all biogas is converted into biomethane.

CO₂ from the Bio-UP can also be used in greenhouse horticulture and industry

In addition to biomethane, the installation also produces pure CO2. This gas is so pure that it is suitable for use in greenhouse horticulture and industry. In most cases, this gas will be stored in gas cylinders under high pressure.

biomethane fuelRefueling with eco-friendly fuel at the farm with the Bio-UP

The standard solution is to feed biomethane from the Bio-UP into the natural gas network. But there are more possibilities! The gas can also be used as a transport fuel: Bio-CNG. A CNG filling station is in that case connected to the Bio-UP. It guarantees you of the greenest form of transport. After all, making agriculture more sustainable and greening agricultural vehicles go hand in hand! Transport companies and regional transport can also use this to cover their kilometers in a climate-positive way. If you’d like to read more about this, check out our project Refuelling at the farmer’s.

Field tested

The first Bio-UP installation is located at the dairy farm KTC De Marke. Previously, this company was part of Wageningen UR Livestock Research. De Marke, which operates as much as possible as an ordinary agricultural company, now supplies 20 Nm³ of biogas per hour to the gas network via a Bio-UP. This gas is produced with manure that comes from the company’s own company. The installation has been extensively tested in practice here, with positive results. Three Bio-UP installations have now been put into production.

Interested?

Are you interested in the possibilities of the Bio-UP for your company? Please contact us for more information.