Combined Pre-Treatment Technologies for Cleaning Biogas before Its Upgrading to Biomethane: An Italian Full-Scale Anaerobic Digester Case Study

Biogas produced by anaerobic digestion contains different types of contaminants, and it is preferable to eliminate those contaminants before biogas’ energetic valorization or upgrading to biomethane as they are harmful to human health and detrimental to combustion engines. This study presents the biogas cleanup system optimized by an Italian full-scale anaerobic digester treating food waste (FW) and represented by micro-oxygenation, chemical scrubber, cooling, and activated carbon sections. The cleaned biogas is upgraded to biomethane using a membrane-based upgrading unit and injected into the natural gas network for transport sector use. H2S and volatile organic compound (VOC) concentration in raw biogas was reduced from an annual average value of 1207 ppmv and 895 mg/Nm3, respectively, to below 0.1 mg/Nm3 in the final biomethane. In the summer, the H2S average content in raw biogas was 833 ppmv due to a greater presence of low-sulfur-containing vegetables in FW, while in the winter it was an average of 1581 ppmv due to a larger portion of protein-containing FW. On the other hand, raw biogas VOC content in the winter was an average of 1149 mg/Nm3, with respect to 661 mg/Nm3 in the summer, due to the greater consumption of citrus fruits containing high amount of terpene compounds. The concentration of other trace contaminants, such as HCl, NH3, and siloxanes, was lowered from 17, 36, and 0.6 mg/Nm3 in raw biogas, respectively, to below 0.1 mg/Nm3 in the final biomethane. All the considerations and evaluations underlying the technological and plant engineering choices together with the individuation of the best operating conditions are discussed.