Activated Porous Carbon Fiber: New Adsorbent for Sampling and Analysis by Thermal Desorption of Siloxanes in Biogas and Biomethane

Abstract

The growing global energy demand requires the continuous development and optimization of the production of alternative energy sources. According to the circular economy approach, waste conversion into biogas and biomethane represent an interesting energy source. The input into the distribution network and energy conversion systems of biomethane requires quality monitoring and the use of cleaning up systems. Therefore, there is a need to constantly invest in the development of sampling and analysis systems that save time, costs, and materials. The purpose of this study was to use activated porous carbon fiber (APCF), an extremely versatile material for sampling and analysis by thermal desorption, to show the advantages it has over the adsorbents traditionally used for siloxane monitoring. Siloxanes are among the contaminating compounds that are mainly present in biogas and biomethane, and if not removed sufficiently, they endanger the quality and use of the gas. These are highly harmful compounds since during combustion, they produce quartz particles that are abrasive to the surfaces of the materials involved in the energy production process. In addition, siloxanes directly hinder the energy properties of biomethane during combustion, due to their radical scavenger properties. In this work, the efficiency of APCF tube was evaluated by comparing it with common multilayer tube thought sampling and analyzing siloxanes in lab scale and in real scale (biogas plant). Thermal desorption analysis coupled with GC-MS for the determination of siloxanes showed that the use of APCF allows to obtain better performance. This allows to deduce that APCF is an innovative material for the establishment of a better sampling and analysis method than the current ones, enabling better results to be achieved in the process of monitoring fuel quality in biomethane production and storage facilities.

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“…Volatile organic compounds were sampled according to the CEN/TS 13649:2014 standard, applying a dilution with zero air equal to 1/10 thanks to the use of the Dynamic Dilution Sampler for VOC Emission Sampling (DDS TCR Tecora, Cogliate, Italy). The samplings were performed using a heated probe and a self-made adsorbent tube in Activated Porous Carbon Fiber (APCF Labtech SRL, Rome, Italy) [41,42] placed downstream and followed in series by a backup tube. VOC sampling was performed simultaneously with the measurement of the Total Organic Carbon (TOC).…”