Desulphurisation of Biogas: A Systematic Qualitative and Economic-Based Quantitative Review of Alternative Strategies

Abstract

The desulphurisation of biogas for hydrogen sulphide (H2S) removal constitutes a significant challenge in the area of biogas research. This is because the retention of H2S in biogas presents negative consequences on human health and equipment durability. The negative impacts are reflective of the potentially fatal and corrosive consequences reported when biogas containing H2S is inhaled and employed as a boiler biofuel, respectively. Recognising the importance of producing H2S-free biogas, this paper explores the current state of research in the area of desulphurisation of biogas. In the present paper, physical–chemical, biological, in-situ, and post-biogas desulphurisation strategies were extensively reviewed as the basis for providing a qualitative comparison of the strategies. Additionally, a review of the costing data combined with an analysis of the inherent data uncertainties due underlying estimation assumptions have also been undertaken to provide a basis for quantitative comparison of the desulphurisation strategies. It is anticipated that the combination of the qualitative and quantitative comparison approaches employed in assessing the desulphurisation strategies reviewed in the present paper will aid in future decisions involving the selection of the preferred biogas desulphurisation strategy to satisfy specific economic and performance-related targets.

Special Issue “Advances in Biogas Desulfurization”

“…Okoro and Sun [4] submitted an interesting review about the current state of biogas desulfurization technologies: physicochemical, biological, in situ, and post-biogas desulfurization strategies. Moreover, a review of the annual operation and annualized capital cost per unit volume was carried out.…”

“…This Special Issue contains the invited submissions to a Special Issue of ChemEngineering on the topic "Advanced Biogas Desulfurization" [1][2][3][4][5]. Three research articles [1][2][3] and two reviews [4,5] have been published. Biogas is a renewable energy source produced by the biodegradation of organic matter under anaerobic conditions.…”

Circumventing Unintended Impacts of Waste N95 Facemask Generated during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Conceptual Design Approach

“…Similarly, inflationary effects on money value were also considered and incorporated in the economic calculations more so as the purchase cost of the equipment was obtained from different sources with different reference years. The chemical engineering plant cost index (CEPCI) was employed in this regard using Equation 5 [45,46];…”

Performance of a Full-Scale Biogas Plant Operation in Greece and Its Impact on the Circular Economy

“…H2S is a highly toxic, odorous and corrosive gas that inhibits the biogas formation process [26]. Furthermore, during biogas combustion, H2S is mainly converted to SO2 and further to H2SO4 [31], which is responsible for the acidification of the engine's oil, deposits and harmful gas emissions during combustion [32], and shortens the operating life of the CHP- The NH 3 -N concentration remained below 2 g/L throughout the whole monitoring period and the concentrations of VFAs (acetic-acid, propionic-acid, isobutyric-acid, butyric-acid) were far below the limiting values (e.g., <0.05 g/L for acetic acid), demonstrating the high stability of the process. The stable performance of the biogas plant was also reflected through the FOS/TAC index (0.18 ± 0.03, 95% CI 0.17-0.19), which was below the limiting value range of 0.2-0.3 [9,29].…”

“…H 2 S is a highly toxic, odorous and corrosive gas that inhibits the biogas formation process [26]. Furthermore, during biogas combustion, H 2 S is mainly converted to SO 2 and further to H 2 SO 4 [31], which is responsible for the acidification of the engine's oil, deposits and harmful gas emissions during combustion [32], and shortens the operating life of the CHP-engine. As a result, desulfurization of biogas for concentrations of H 2 S higher than 1000 ppm is recommended.…”