Gas Upgrading on Landfill and Digester Projects with PSA

Gas Upgrading on Landfill and Digester Projects with Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA)

By Alan R Johnson, P.E, Regional Sales Director, Sysadvance North America

Founded in 2002 and now celebrating 23 years in operation, Sysadvance specializes in separating gases into their constituent parts in the biogas, landfill gas, and industrial gas markets.

For digester and landfill projects, gas upgrading is essential to meet stringent pipeline injection standards. Utilizing a Sysadvance PSA for in-situ manufacturing of nitrogen or oxygen from air, as well as purifying helium from natural gas or hydrogen for fuel cells from SMR or electrolysis, offers significant cost advantages over delivered gases.

The long-term staff, many of whom have been with the company since its founding, reflect Sysadvance’s success, which is demonstrated by ongoing business with repeat customers because of the high quality and dedication of its expanding organization.

The United States is accelerating the conversion of landfill gas and digester biogas to Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), leveraging programs from the US EPA and the State of California aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions through increased use of renewable fuels in transportation.

As of 2019, 90% of biogas capture systems in the U.S. were producing power through Gen-Sets. However, since then, over 90% of the newly installed systems have been designed for RNG, with many existing electrical generation systems being converted for gas upgrading.

Currently, more than 23% of all biogas capture systems are producing RNG, and the U.S. biogas industry could potentially generate over 17,000 new projects in the future.

Sysadvance has built over 4,000 PSAs that are installed in more than fifty countries worldwide. The Energy division supports biogas projects by removing primarily carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide from biogas produced from manure digesters, wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), or food waste.

For landfill projects, the equipment eliminates contaminants such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, and siloxanes to meet stringent pipeline standards.

The Industrial division produces in-situ gases for various industries, including chemical, pharmaceutical, electronics, automotive, food, wine, aviation, and oil and gas.

Central to Sysadvance’s operations is a commitment to continuous improvement and advancement. A robust research and development program has led to ongoing enhancements in the selectivity and kinetics of gas separation processes through PSA. These improvements have simultaneously increased technology efficiency and reduced the power needed to operate the systems. As a result, Sysadvance offers the market the most cost-effective life cycle gas separation and upgrading equipment available.

Approximately three years ago, Sysadvance established a North American Division. In this short time, the company has secured eighteen unique projects across Wisconsin, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Iowa, New Jersey, and Nebraska, in addition to two existing projects in California and Oregon, which were completed before the division’s establishment.

The projects range in size from under 200 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) to over 7,200 scfm and are installed at digesters and landfills.

Overall, Sysadvance has developed a variety of models to accommodate the majority of projects in the marketplace.

All Methagen AD or Methagen LF models are modular in design and can operate at 50% of their nameplate capacity without losing electrical efficiency.

Having these models available streamlines technical discussions with developers and engineers, fostering a scalable model for industry growth.

Sysadvance is proud to provide the most reliable and cost-effective pressure swing adsorption systems on the market.

For more information, read our USA Biogas Magazine.