Final Report driving innovation in AD small scale Small ... biogas upgrade for... · Small-scale...

Final Report – driving innovation in AD – small scale

Small-scale biogas upgrade for

vehicle fuel

Evergreen Gas has investigated the feasibility and methodology of producing a methane-rich vehicle fuel from biogas on a small scale at a cost proportionate to the scale of production.

Project code: OIN001-000 Research date: 2012 Date: April 2012

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Written by: Evergreen Gas

Front cover photography: The Evergreen Gas Caddy Ecofuel getting a fill of CNG at CNG Services’ filling station, Crewe

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Small-scale biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel 1

Executive summary

Evergreen Gas has assessed three different upgrade technologies to produce a fuel derived from biogas with a methane concentration of 85% by volume that is suitable for use in vehicles. The technologies assessed originate from Finland, India and the UK. The Finnish technology supplied by Metener Oy was selected and a detailed appraisal of the technology presented. The report set out to evaluate upgrade at two scales: 5m3/h and 25 m3/h. The lower flow rate is for a pilot plant that would be installed at the Evergreen Gas digester in Shropshire, and the larger flow rate to represent the commercialised product once proof of concept had been demonstrated. 25m3/h of biogas can be produced from about 500 dairy cows or equivalent feedstock and represents a typical output from a small-scale farm AD plant. The capital cost for the design, build, installation, commissioning, monitoring and reporting of the pilot scale plant is £135,000 and this unit will produce approximately 50kg per day of vehicle fuel. The commercial scale plant has an output of approximately 250 kg of vehicle fuel per day. The report compared the value per cubic metre of biogas when used for heat, CHP or vehicle fuel, and the results indicate that at the 5m3/h scale, vehicle fuel is the most attractive use of biogas when there is either below 30% utilisation of surplus heat, or when the AD installation is unable to qualify for the renewable heat incentive. Economic analysis of a like for like substitution of CHP for vehicle fuel production requiring all biogas to be routed to the upgrade unit requires process energy for digester heating and maintenance to be bought in. Taking a “typical” farm AD plant as an example, at today’s fuel prices, the payback period for the vehicle fuel only option is more than double the CHP output due to the high cost energy cost of digester operation. A scenario was developed where the 5m3/h upgrade facility was installed in parallel with a CHP and the two are operated at the same time. The findings are interesting, because the CHP provides digester heat and the electricity to run the upgrade plant is also generated by the CHP. Although there is additional capital cost for installing the upgrade unit, the advantage of this configuration is that it allows a farmer to become more energy self-sufficient as vehicle technology has been developed (thanks to the “bridge” provided by CNG) to utilise this fuel. Evergreen Gas proposes to purchase a complete upgrade unit from Metener in Finland as the demonstrator which will then be commercialised. Manufacture will be by Metener, and marketing, operation and commercialisation by Evergreen Gas.. Evergreen Gas anticipates that if WRAP gives the go-ahead for Phase II of the project, the time from receipt of the funding offer until delivery of the pilot prototype is in the order of 230 days. The potential market for biogas-derived vehicle fuel is huge, and small-scale AD is on the increase thanks to favourable FIT’s and the emergence of technology providers to bring AD to the smaller operator. Production of vehicle fuel on-farm would be a leap towards reducing the carbon footprint of agriculture, reducing costs and getting closer to energy self-sufficiency.


Contents

1.0 Abstract ........................................................................................................ 4 2.0 Introduction and Background ....................................................................... 4

2.1 Evergreen Gas ........................................................................................... 4 2.2 Biogas ....................................................................................................... 5 2.3 The Technology ......................................................................................... 6

2.3.1 Metener Oy ..................................................................................... 6 2.3.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions / IIT New Delhi .......................................... 7 2.3.3 Chesterfield Biogas ........................................................................... 8 2.3.4 Summary ........................................................................................ 9

2.4 Application of the Technology ..................................................................... 9 3.0 Project Objectives ...................................................................................... 11

3.1 Feasibility study ....................................................................................... 11 3.2 Outcomes ................................................................................................ 11

4.0 State of Technology .................................................................................... 12 4.1 Metener .................................................................................................. 12 4.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions ......................................................................... 14

5.0 Legislation .................................................................................................. 14 5.1 Relevant legislation .................................................................................. 14 5.2 Road fuel duty ......................................................................................... 15

6.0 Detailed Technical Appraisal of the technology .......................................... 15 6.1 Metener simple upgrade system ................................................................ 15

6.1.1 Process description ........................................................................ 16 6.1.2 Engineering scope .......................................................................... 17 6.1.3 Energy balance .............................................................................. 17 6.1.4 Mass balance ................................................................................. 18 6.1.5 Economics ..................................................................................... 19 6.1.6 Operational parameters .................................................................. 19

6.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions ......................................................................... 20 6.2.1 Process description ........................................................................ 20 6.2.2 Engineering scope .......................................................................... 21 6.2.3 Mass and energy balance................................................................ 22 6.2.4 Economics ..................................................................................... 22 6.2.5 Operational parameters .................................................................. 23

6.3 Chesterfield Biogas ................................................................................... 23 6.3.1 Process description ........................................................................ 23 6.3.2 Economics ..................................................................................... 24

6.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 24 7.0 Detailed Economic Analysis ........................................................................ 24

7.1 The economics of different biogas utilisation at 5m3/h and 25m3/h ............... 24 8.0 Overall Environmental Impacts .................................................................. 29

8.1 The macro-economic picture ..................................................................... 29 8.2 The carbon footprint of agriculture ............................................................ 29

9.0 Phase 2 Demonstration .............................................................................. 30 9.1 Methodology for the demonstration ........................................................... 30 9.2 Project Timescale ..................................................................................... 30

9.2.1 Project development ...................................................................... 30 9.2.2 Permiting and approvals ................................................................. 31 9.2.3 Project financing ............................................................................ 31 9.2.4 Construction, operation and maintenance ........................................ 31 9.2.5 Monitoring and evaluation............................................................... 32 9.2.6 Decommissioning ........................................................................... 32


9.3 Cost breakdown and milestones ................................................................ 32 9.3.1 Project milestones .......................................................................... 32 9.3.2 Cost estimate ................................................................................ 32

10.0 Commercialisation of technology post demonstration ............................... 33 10.1 Intellectual property ................................................................................. 33

10.1.1 Commercialisation plans going forward ............................................ 34 10.1.2 Key personnel ................................................................................ 36

10.2 Evaluation and monitoring ........................................................................ 37 10.2.1 Pilot: ............................................................................................. 37 10.2.2 Commercial plant ........................................................................... 37

10.3 Health and safety ..................................................................................... 37 10.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 38

11.0 Appendices ................................................................................................. 38

Glossary

AD Anaerobic Digestion

PSA Pressure Swing Adsorption

PRV Pressure Relief Valve

ATEX Official standard for applications in explosive atmospheres

CHP Combined Heat and Power

CO2 Carbon Dioxide

H2S Hydrogen Sulphide

GBES Green Brick Eco Solutions

CNG Compressed Natural Gas

OSR Oil Seed Rape

NFU National Farmers Union

ICL Indian Compressor Ltd

GRP Glass Reinforced Polyester

BMAD Barrett’s Mill Anaerobic Digester

IGE Institute of Gas Engineers

RHI Renewable Heat Incentive

FIT Feed In Tariff


1.0 Abstract Biogas, which is generated from the anaerobic digestion of organic material, is rich in methane, typically 55% by volume, the balance volume being carbon dioxide with traces of other gases. Biogas can either be burned in its “raw” state in a boiler for the generation of heat, or in an engine coupled to a generator equipped with heat recovery equipment to produce heat and power. Biogas can also be scrubbed of carbon dioxide and impurities. It can then either be injected into the gas grid, or stored in bottles at pressure and used as a fuel for vehicles. This report evaluates the economic and operational feasibility of upgrading biogas for vehicle fuel at a small-scale. The driver is to improve the economics of on-farm AD and to broaden the options for energy utilisation increasing the potential for farms to become energy self-sufficient. Two scales are considered: 5m3/h and 25m3/h raw biogas input. A pilot plant will be constructed at the 5m3/h scale to prove the concept, and a commercialised model operating at 25m3/hour will be assessed. We have chosen 25m3/hour as this flow rate is achievable from a “typical” farm scale AD plant that would have an equivalent electrical output of 50kW. This report assesses three different upgrading technologies that are currently available. Two of the processes employ water scrubbing and the third uses a variant of pressure swing adsorption. While upgrading biogas to biomethane for grid injection can benefit from an economy of scale in regard to energy and capital cost, a purpose-built unit for production of vehicle fuel can be an attractive option to a farm-scale AD installation. Economic analysis of the different scales of biogas upgrade has shown that a combination of CHP and biogas upgrade at 5m3/h flow rate is more economically attractive than upgrade at 25m3/h requiring all of the biogas production from the AD plant for upgrade. The reason being that the process energy requirements of the AD plant are met by the CHP, alleviating the need to import energy. The capacity to generate heat, electricity and a significant quantity of vehicle fuel should be attractive to farmers looking to achieve a greater degree of energy self-sufficiency and to diversify their income. The potential market for a small-scale biogas to vehicle fuel upgrade facility is enormous, and once the concept has been demonstrated at the farm-scale, the flexibility of biogas upgrade in conjunction with CHP will become commonplace. 2.0 Introduction and Background

2.1 Evergreen Gas Evergreen Gas was founded in October 2011 by Michael Chesshire and Will Llewellyn to develop a range of value engineered, modular AD plants suitable for farms and rural communities. Evergreen Gas benefits from over 30 years’ experience in the design, construction, commissioning and operation of AD plants. Evergreen Gas is a British company, and the range of digesters covers electrical outputs from 20kW to 250kW, are designed to accommodate a range of feedstocks. For a small-scale AD project to be economically viable, the capital cost of installation must be proportionate to the plant’s income. The Evergreen Gas design has enabled the Company to bring capital cost into line with income. The Evergreen Gas range of AD plants is based on a digester design that is partially buried and made of pre-fabricated concrete panels. Material is fed into the digester either by pump (if the feedstock is pumpable), or using an auger. The digester is built with a removable GRP roof. Gas is piped from the digester headspace into an above-ground dual membrane gasholder from where it is piped to the gas consumers, typically a CHP unit and a biogas boiler. The contents of the digester are mixed by recirculating biogas from nozzles set into


the digester floor. Digestate is discharged from the digester via a macerator, and the client can choose what method of digestate separation and storage they wish to employ. The background to our proposal is the perceived market demand for a means of making vehicle fuel from biogas at a small scale. Evergreen Gas currently owns a VW Caddy Ecofuel CNG-fuelled van. The closest CNG station is 60 miles from the office, so in the first instance, we would be able to avoid making unnecessary detours for refuelling.

Figure 1:- Refuelling the Evergreen Gas Caddy Ecofuel at CNG Services, Crewe

2.2 Biogas Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide with traces of hydrogen sulphide and other impurities. Hydrogen sulphide is a result of sulphur-containing organic material being digested and its sulphur being reduced by anaerobic sulphur-reducing bacteria. These bacteria are found in most anaerobic environments ranging from deep ocean vents to on-farm biogas plants. The amino acid Cysteine contains sulphur and is a component of many different proteins. Carbon dioxide is not damaging to an internal combustion engine but it does not contain any energy, so the purpose of removing it is to reduce the amount of energy compressing a gas with no energy value. Methane cannot be liquefied at temperatures above minus 160oC, so must be compressed to enable the vehicle to have a useful range. Storage is optimised by ensuring that the gas contained is usable by the engine. Hydrogen sulphide must be removed from biogas before it is used as vehicle fuel. H2S reacts with oxygen during combustion and is converted to sulphur dioxide which in turn reacts with water to give sulphuric acid which is damaging to components in an engine. In the presence of oxidising agents and extremes of temperature (for example in the combustion chamber of an engine), solid sulphur can be generated. Sulphur build-up in the exhaust system and turbo chargers shortens the lifespan of these components. Once upgraded to above 95% methane, the gas is known as “Biomethane” and can either be stored at 250bar, or compressed directly into the fuel tanks attached to the vehicle. Evergreen Gas has investigated the potential for upgrading gas both to >95% and to 85% methane. The fuel specification for the VW Caddy is listed as “H and L Grade CNG”. Appendix 1 details the fuel specification of H and L grade CNG. Vijay et. al. successfully


demonstrated a Maruti 800 exhibiting a performance on biogas-derived fuel at 85% methane by volume that was comparable to commercially available CNG.1 Evergreen Gas contacted VW UK in regard to this topic and was advised as follows by Volkswagen’s technical department in Germany: “In Sweden, for example, they are driving 100% bio-methan. However, for our vehicle use we stick to DIN51624. Non conditioned gas in general do not correspond to this norm. Conditioned gas in general correspond to H-gas quality. If the Caddy Eco-Fuel work with 75% methan and 25% CO2 R&D do not know as not tested.” We are excited by the opportunities the technology covered in the report may present to us. 2.3 The Technology Three different upgrading technologies have been assessed in this report. They originate from Finland, India and the UK. The companies are Metener Oy, Green Brick Eco Solutions (GBES) and Chesterfield Biogas Ltd. Metener and GBES have already developed a commercialised biogas to vehicle fuel system which they are actively marketing. Chesterfield Biogas has developed a prototype small-scale upgrade process that they are currently testing ahead of release onto the market. 2.3.1 Metener Oy Metener Oy, a Finnish company has developed a patented high-pressure water scrubbing process for converting biogas to vehicle fuel. Metener has containerised this process and is marketing the technology worldwide. There is an example of this technology at the Kalmari Farm in Luakaa, Finland where it is coupled to a dispenser to enable them to sell biomethane to the public. Figure 2 shows the filling station. Compressed biomethane is stored in bottles in the building behind the filling station. At present, there are over 30 cars regularly refuelling from Kalmari Farm filling station. Metener has also sold a containerised upgrading facility to China where it is installed on a pig farm. The standard Metener product is designed to process raw biogas with an inlet flow rate of between 30 and 100m3/h.

1 Biogas Purification and bottling into CNG cylinders: Producing Bio-CNG from biomass for rural automotive applications. The 2nd joint international conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok Thailand


Figure 2:- Metener biomethane filling station, Finland.

2.3.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions / IIT New Delhi The Indian process uses high pressure water scrubbing and is similar to the “simple” Metener process, although the resulting biomethane requires further compressing before it can be stored and it is less automated. The process was developed by Professor VK Vijay in association with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi which owns the patent. The technology has been commercialised by Green Brick Eco Solutions (GBES) for implementation throughout India. Prior to GBES, the IIT technology was marketed by Indian Compressors Ltd. The technology is producing vehicle fuel for auto rickshaws and cars across some cities in India. There is already a developed market for CNG vehicles in India, and recent changes to air pollution legislation have led to two-stroke petrol and some diesel engines being replaced by CNG / Biomethane powered units.


Figure 3:- IIT scrubbing column

Figure 4:- ICL upgrade facility

Figure 5:- Demonstration biomethane van

Figure 6:- CNG-fuelled auto-rickshaw

2.3.3 Chesterfield Biogas The British technology assessed is developed by Chesterfield Biogas. Chesterfield Biogas’ core market is the installation of biogas to grid upgrade facilities, and they are the license holder for “Greenlane” biogas upgrade units. Chesterfield Biogas has installed over 60 biogas to grid upgrade units in Europe including a unit for Thames Water in the UK at the Didcot Waste water treatment works. In addition to biogas upgrade facilities, Chesterfield Biogas manufacture CNG filling stations, some of which are sited at haulage depots in the UK. The newest offering from Chesterfield Biogas is a small-scale biogas to vehicle fuel scrubber that employs a version of pressure swing adsorption technology. The unit is aimed at the agricultural sector and food processor biogas plant installers. Chesterfield started development on this unit in 2011 and the prototype is currently undergoing testing.


2.3.4 Summary These biogas upgrade technologies have been chosen because they enable organic material, agricultural residues and wastes to be converted into vehicle fuel, and move farmers towards energy self-sufficiency. A reduction in agriculture’s reliance on oil for transport, and crop production and fertilizer will reduce the overall carbon footprint of agriculture. 2.4 Application of the Technology Vehicle fuel production could be the next major gear change for the UK AD industry. AD has so far enabled plant developers to generate renewable electricity, a market driven both by Government-led renewable energy generation policy and a desire for energy self-sufficiency. High global demand for crude oil driven by emerging economies such as China and India keeps energy and fertilizer prices firm. The UK taxation policy of taxation levied on oil products contributes to the high prices, so if a viable replacement to oil can be found for transportation, then it will be attractive. Biogas is an attractive source of fuel as it can be derived from waste materials, and does not always require the growing of purpose grown crops for production. The NFU aspires to a figure of 1000 on-farm AD plants by 2020, so a small-scale biogas upgrade facility that is priced competitively and match the biogas output of a typical on-farm AD should attract strong interest. It is possible that in the future farmers will be under pressureto reduce the carbon footprint of their operations whether through restrictions on fugitive greenhouse gas emission or by more stringent emission controls imposed on their machinery. High high oil prices will impact on their costs of production as they are exposed to fuel and fertiliser price fluctuation. Both spark ignition engines and diesel engines can be modified to run on biomethane, although the latter requires a small amount of diesel to ignite the gas, so these engines must have dual fuel capability. The market for CNG vehicles is growing, and many manufacturers offer CNG variants of existing models across the spectrum of the road transport and agricultural fleet, Mercedes, Iveco, Valtra and VW to name just a few. Retrofit kits for petrol and diesel-engined vehicles are relatively inexpensive and available from companies like Tartarini Auto and Prins Autogas. The advantage of a methane-rich vehicle fuel derived from biogas is that the development of CNG infrastructure, handling and utilisation equipment has already been done and proven, so CNG acts as a “bridge” for biomethane. A competitively priced biogas to vehicle fuel technology increases the flexibility of AD, and enables the AD developer to choose how to utilise the energy in the biogas to optimise the efficiency of the biogas plant. A combination of vehicle fuel and CHP would be a very attractive proposition to a farmer with high onsite energy use and high fuel bills.


Figure 7:- Cutaway view of VW Caddy Ecofuel showing gas storage bottles

1m3 of methane at standard temperature and pressure has the equivalent energy content of 1.35 litres of diesel or 1.4 litres of petrol2. The following table illustrates the methane yields of various feedstocks and their equivalence in litres of diesel or petrol. In this table, the data considers the equivalence in terms of “at the wheels” rather than energy value. The difference seen between these numbers and the relative calorific values stated above is related to the difference in efficiency between Otto cycle (spark ignition) and diesel cycle (compression ignition) engines. Table 1 compares methane yield per tonne of feedstock with litres of diesel /petrol on a like for like basis: For example, performance of two VW Caddies of the same power, one fitted with a diesel engine is compared to a similar VW caddy of the same age with a CNG-fuelled engine.

Table 1:- Feedstock methane yields and vehicle fuel equivalent3

Feedstock Nm3CH4/t Litres Diesel Eq. Litres petrol Eq.

Cow Slurry 15 15 17

Pig Slurry 18 18 20

Sewage Sludge 20 20 22

Potato Waste 40 40 44

Horse Manure 40 40 44

Grass Silage 90 90 100

Maize Silage 125 125 139

Fish Waste 100 100 111

Household Foodwaste 120 120 133

Slaughterhouse Waste 150 150 167

Grease and Fat 600 600 667

2 John Harwood, Project Manager, CNG Services

3 Metener Oy


A vehicle that is adapted for CNG can run on biomethane, and these are available all over Europe, India, Pakistan and the USA. CNG vehicles are available from new, but petrol and diesel cars can also be retrofitted with the necessary equipment to use CNG. Kazakhstan is currently investing in its domestic CNG infrastructure to take advantage of cheap natural gas. The upshot of this is that CNG is a “bridge” to the adoption of biomethane, so that modifying or buying a purpose built CNG vehicle is relatively inexpensive. Further development of this market will be stimulated by making the fuel more widespread. 3.0 Project Objectives

3.1 Feasibility study Evergreen Gas set out to evaluate the small scale biogas upgrade technologies offered by Metener Oy and by the Indian Institute of Technology and Chesterfield Biogas at scales of 5m3/h and 25m3/h raw biogas flow rate. Our aim is to develop a fundamental understanding of the process, engineering scope, mass balance, energy balance, capital cost, operational cost and maintenance cost for conversion of biogas to vehicle fuel. The feasibility study aimed to demonstrate that while biogas upgrade for grid injection is suitable for large scale AD projects, small-scale biogas upgrade can be well suited to the production of vehicle fuel. The feasibility study will open up further opportunities for farms to develop new income streams from small-scale AD plants. Evergreen Gas has learned that there are many farmers keen to install AD on their farms, but so far have been unable to find a technology provider that is at the right scale for their farming operations, so have been put off by the cost and operational requirements of large plants. Given that the NFU is hoping for 1000 on farm AD plants by 2020, there may be farms which could provide feedstock for AD restricted by the size of the grid connection, so cannot export power. A small CHP in conjunction with a small upgrade facility would both enable them to become energy self-sufficient and to diversify their income from sales of vehicle fuel. As part of this feasibility study, Will Llewellyn travelled to Finland to meet Metener and discuss the current state of their technology and work on a small-scale version that will be suitable for the pilot scale and commercial scale plants. 3.2 Outcomes The outcome of the feasibility study is to procure a pilot scale biogas upgrade plant and bring to market a simple upgrade process that can be sold in conjunction with the Evergreen Gas range of Small-Scale AD plants, and enable farmers and interested stakeholders to see for themselves the added flexibility of installing an AD plant. For the demonstration phase of the project, we will procure a 5m3/h pilot upgrade facility and incorporate it into BMAD, the 40m3 digester we are building at our site in Shropshire. This AD plant is already designed to include a 7.5kW CHP, so we will use the pilot upgrade plant to provide fuel for our works van, a VW Caddy Ecofuel. The inclusion of biogas upgrade at a small-scale will prove that vehicle fuel is an example of the flexibility of AD and will open up the market for small-scale vehicle fuel production. Proof of concept will be demonstrated with the 5m3/h plant, and the work that we have undertaken at the 25m3/h scale will enable us to offer a larger vehicle fuel production facility should there be market demand.


The proposed pilot scale upgrade plant will produce approximately 50kg day of biogas-derived vehicle fuel. A typical 2 litre-engine car (VW Caddy) can average 10 miles per kg of CNG, so a farmer would be able to produce enough fuel to travel for 500 miles per day if he installed one of these small plants on his AD plant. The 25 m3/h unit would produce sufficient biogas for approximately 2500 miles per day, for example 10 vehicles each driving 250 miles per day. Finnish tractor manufacturer Valtra has developed a 140hp (104kW) dual fuel tractor with 24.4kg biomethane storage capacity (170 litres at 200 bar), sufficient fuel for 3 to 5 hours work depending on the activity. This tractor would use approximately 6kg of biomethane per hour.

Figure 8:- Valtra T133 Biomethane-powered tractor

Figure 9:- Valtra CNG bi-fuel schematic diagram

Even the pilot-scale upgrade facility would produce sufficient vehicle fuel in a 24 hour period for 8 hours tractor operation. Clearly there is potential for additional diversification, significant fuel savings and even energy self-sufficiency on the farm. 4.0 State of Technology

4.1 Metener Low pressure water scrubbing was used in Finland during the Second World War, so is not a new technique. The difference between this approach and Metener’s technology is the use of pressure to increase the rate of gas absorption into the water. Erkki Kalmari built his first high pressure scrubbing system in 2000 using a scrubbing column and components from a pressure washer. A more advanced, automated plant with was built in 2002 and the Kalmari Farm purchased their first CNG car in November of the same year. At the time of writing this report, there are over 30 cars regularly refuelling from the biomethane filling station on the Kalmari Farm including commuters, taxis, local delivery vehicles and the post van. The popularity of fuel derived from biogas is increasing in Finland because it costs approximately half of the price of petrol or diesel. Metener’s process is centred around a pair of water scrubbing columns that alternate between filling and discharging phases. The unique attribute of the Metener process is that


upgraded gas leaves the scrubbing columns at 210 bar, and is further pressurised to 250 bar using a hydraulic booster before passing through a desiccating column and into storage. Keeping the upgraded gas at high pressure throughout the upgrade process removes the energy intensive step of re-pressurisation for storage post scrubbing. Water scrubbing also removes hydrogen sulphide, so alleviating the need for a consumable scrubbing medium. Metener has supplied biogas upgrade systems to customers including the University of Jyväskylä and abroad. The former is located on a landfill site and was the subject of a PhD thesis, and the latter has been installed on a pig farm in China where the upgraded gas is used for fuelling vehicles and for cooking. The plant in China will provide sufficient fuel for 1100 families to switch to renewable, clean fuel. Metener’s typical containerised batch scrubbing facility has an input flow rate of 40-50m3/h and costs approximately €300,000.

Figure 10:- Kalmari farm first bi-fuel vehicle: Volvo V70

Having already commercialised the technology on a large scale, Metener has agreed to work with Evergreen Gas to build an upgrade plant at a scale to match the budget and biogas production rate of the smaller operator.

Figure 11:- Metener batch scrubbing columns and flash column (biomethane storage in background)


The cost of the small unit must be proportionate to the output so that it can earn a good return on capital. If this is unachievable then it will not be economically viable. 4.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions A variation of biogas scrubbing with water has been developed at the IIT by a team led by Professor Vijay. A patent was applied for (number is 161-del-2006), and initially the technology was designed for a raw biogas inlet of only 20m3/h. Initially, Indian Compressor Ltd (ICL) took the technology license from IIT Delhi and installed a small number of plants. Unfortunately these plants did not perform well. ICL is primarily a compressor company so dropped biogas upgrade from its portfolio to concentrate on its core compressor and CNG handling business. The licence has been taken over by Green Brick Eco Systems, founded by a group of IIT Delhi alumni who under the guidance of Professor Vijay have continued the R&D work on the technology. As a result of this collaboration, GBES has successfully developed an updated version of the technology that can handle a wider range of purification capacity. GBES are the official partner of IIT Delhi for commercializing and implementing biogas purification technology in India & abroad. The IIT technology was initially developed by a team led by Professor Vijay and implemented on a farm near Delhi. Michael Chesshire visited this farm in 2009 and saw the prototype in operation which was used for fuelling CNG adapted auto-rickshaws and small vehicles. Since this prototype, a larger scale application of the technology has been used to scrub, compress and bottle biogas for use in a small car. Vijay et al. published their work in a paper titled “Biogas Purification and Bottling into CNG Cylinders: Producing bio-CNG from biomass for rural automotive applications. The IIT technology is simpler than Metener’s core product and is less automated. The upgraded gas is of a similar level of purity although a further compression step is required before it can be used as a vehicle fuel. 5.0 Legislation Production of biogas and upgrade of biogas to vehicle fuel is covered by various legislative frameworks to ensure that risks are kept to a minimum. Biogas is flammable and in some cases can be explosive. The AD facility should be designed and operated so that it poses no risk of pollution to the surrounding environment. The upgrade unit requires gas to be stored and handled at pressure so it must be fit for purpose both in terms of manufacture and suitably protected in the event of any unforeseen occurrences. 5.1 Relevant legislation The production of the biogas itself is governed by the Environment Agency permit or exemption certificate issued on a case specific basis for the anaerobic digestion facility. The upgrade and gas storage process itself is covered by the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (2000). This is in line with the European Pressure Equipment Directive 97/23/EC (PED) sets out the standards for the design and fabrication of pressure equipment over one litre in volume and having a maximum pressure more than 0.5 bar. It sets the administrative procedures and requirements for the "conformity assessment" of pressure equipment, for


the free placing on the European market without local legislative barriers. It has been mandatory throughout the EU since 30 May 2002. The Institute of Gas Engineers (IGE) SR25 document contains guidance on leakage and dissipation data from joints. This document must be referred to during the design of the upgrade plant. The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (2002) govern the inspection and auditing of pressure vessels at both the design and routine inspection level. 5.2 Road fuel duty Duty is currently set at £0.247 per kg of CNG and will increase on 1st August 2012 to £0.2907 per kg. This duty figure is based on CNG with an energy content of 14.26kWh/m3. Interestingly, the calorific value of CNG is variable, but duty is not levied against calorific value, only by mass based on a “standard” quality. At present it is unclear whether the Government will levy duty against the energy content of the vehicle fuel, so a small-scale upgrade plant should be equipped with a suitable flow meter to satisfy inspection. 6.0 Detailed Technical Appraisal of the technology

6.1 Metener simple upgrade system Water scrubbing of biogas relies on the greater solubility of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide than methane in water. Both the Metener and IIT processes rely on these gasses dissolving into water under pressure. Carbon dioxide dissolves in water to form Carbonic acid as per the following equation:

CO2 + H2O H2CO3

Figure 12:- Adsorption and desorption of carbon dioxide in water: A reversible reaction The amount of a gas that can be dissolved in water is described by Henry's Law. Higher gas pressure and lower temperature enable more gas to dissolve in the liquid. When the temperature is raised or the pressure is reduced (as happens when a container of carbonated water is opened) the dissolved gasses come out of solution, in the form of bubbles. As discussed previously the core Metener upgrade plant is a containerised, batch upgrade plant. Metener have drawn on their expertise to develop a “simple” system for Evergreen Gas. The details of the “simple” system are considered in this appraisal, based on a flow rate of 5m3/h of raw biogas. Will Llewellyn visited Metener at their offices at the Kalmari Farm near Laukaa, Finland to discuss the requirements of the DIAD feasibility study, to see first-hand how the process was managed, and enhance Evergreen Gas’ fundamental understanding of biogas upgrade to Vehicle Fuel. Will spent a day in the company of Jussi Lantela, process engineer and designer of both the commercial scale and “simple” upgrade processes, and Juha Luostarinen, process engineer and biogas specialist. Will was delighted to meet Erkki Kalmari, inventor of the Metener High pressure upgrade system, and while on site, vehicles came and filled up at the filling station.


6.1.1 Process description

Raw biogas is compressed to between 4 and 10 bar and stored in a buffer tank.

The compressed biogas flows into the scrubbing column.

The scrubbing column maintains a continuous counter current flow of water and biogas. Biogas enters from the bottom of the column and water is sprayed in from the top

Purified gas flows continuously out from the top of the column..

It is compressed to 250 bar either straight into a vehicle or into storage

Downstream of the high pressure compressor the product gas then passes through a desiccating column to remove any remaining traces of moisture.

After the desiccating column, the dry gas enters an odourisation unit to add odour so that leaks can be detected, before entering the vehicle or storage tanks.

Used water flows to a flashcolumn to desorb any dissolved gasses. The pressure is reduced so that the methane desorps preferentially to the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.

The off gas from the flash column contains between 5 and 10% methane by volumeso is recycled to the front end of the process to optimise scrubbing efficiency

From the flash column, water flows to the main desorption column where the bulk of the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide are released. To enhance gas desorption, the column can be operated under negative pressure, or air can be passed through the bottom of the column.

The water is pumped by a 1.1kW pump from the desorption column to a buffer tank and is cooled from 8 degrees to 5 degrees before returning to the scrubbing cycle.

Before being vented to atmosphere, the off gas can be passed through a biofilter to remove the hydrogen sulphide, but if the plant is not located near odour receptors, off-gas is vented safely direct to atmosphere.

Figure 13:- Metener simple upgrade process flow diagram

Table 2:- Metener simple upgrade major components list

1 Inlet biogas stream 10 Product gas outlet to storage / vehicle

2 Inlet flow meter 11 Flash column

3 Primary biogas compressor 12 Desorption column

4 Pressure regulator 13 Off gas blower

5 Non-return valve 14 Off gas outlet to biofilter

6 Packed media scrubbing column 15 Water recirculation pump


7 Pressure relief valve 16 Water buffer and cooling tank

8 Product gas flow meter 17 High pressure water pump

9 High pressure compressor

6.1.2 Engineering scope The Metener “simple” upgrading plant (capacity 5m3/h and 25m3/h) is skid-mounted and designed for easy access to major components. It has been developed for “plug and play” installation. The process pipelines and columns are manufactured from Class D or E PVC pipe. The compressor for compressing the raw biogas is a modified workshop-type compressor that is equipped with a cast iron cylinder and stainless steel reed valves. The columns are packed with an appropriate medium sized for the application. Low pressure pipelines are made from 1” PVC pipe, and high pressure pipes will be 10mm stainless steel pipe. If upgraded biogas is stored, the storage cylinders are seamless steel and pressure rated in excess of 250 bar. The plant is equipped with PLC control, full instrumentation to enable automatic operation and gas monitoring instrumentation. The upgrade plant user interface is a touch-screen scada system with data logging capacity.

The percentage of methane in the upgraded gas from the main scrubber column is determined by the flow rate of water through the column and can be varied as required. This can be between 85 and 97%. The upgraded gas passes either to storage or to an additional compression phase depending on what the final use will be. 6.1.3 Energy balance The upgrading process requires energy input, and the amount of energy used is influenced by the degree of purity of the upgraded gas. Table 5 illustrates the two scenarios: They are for upgrading to 85% methane from 55% methane with an input rate of 5m3 per hour and 25m3 per hour.


Table 3:- Energy balance for Metener simple upgrade system. All gas volumes are normalised.

Biogas flow rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

Raw biogas CH4 concentration % 55 55

Upgraded biogas CH4 concentration % 85 85

Upgrading Pressure bar 10 10

Input biogas flow rate m3/h 5 25

Total system power kW 2.23 11.17

Product gas flow rate m3/h 3.24 16.18

Product gas flow rate kg/h 2.43 12.13

Energy consumption /unit volume of product gas

kWh/ m3 0.69 0.69

Energy consumption /product gas kWh/kg 0.92 0.92

Energy produced /energy consumed 12.3 12.3

The bottom row refers to the ratio of energy produced in terms of kWh per kg of product gas relative to the amount of energy consumed by the upgrade facility in kWh. 6.1.4 Mass balance

Table 4:- Mass balance for Metener simple upgrade system. All gas volumes are normalised.

Biogas flow rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

Methane content of biogas % (v/v) 55 55

CO2 content of biogas % (v/v) 44 44

Total Moisture and H2S content of biogas % (v/v) 1 1

Density of biogas kg/m3 1.23 1.23

Mass flow-rate of biogas kg/h 6.15 30.75

CH4 content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 85 85

CO2 content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 14.9 14.9

H2O content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 0.1 0.1

H2S content of upgraded gas (before dryer) ppm <10 <10

Density of upgraded gas kg/m3 0.882 0.882

CH4 input flow rate as a component of biogas m3/h 2.75 13.75

CH4 loss during upgrade process % (v/v) 1% 1%

Volume flow rate of product gas m3/h 3.203 16.01

Mass flow rate of product gas kg/h 2.86 14.12

CO2 released to the environment m3/h 1.72 8.60

CO2 released to the environment kg/h 3.30 16.52

CH4 slip (volume flow rate) m3/h 0.0275 0.137

CH4 slip (mass flow rate) kg/h 0.02 0.09

Water flow in (no recycle) m3/h 1.25 6.25

Water flow out (no recycle) m3/h 1.25 6.25

Water flow in (recycle) m3/h 0.06 0.31

Water flow out (recycle) m3/h 0.06 0.31


The mass and energy balance figures have been provided by Metener Oy. Slight differences appear between the mass flow rate of product gas given in the energy balance and the mass balance, but the two figures are well within range of each other so are representative of expected values. 6.1.5 Economics a) Cost of construction

Item Cost (€) 5m3/h

Cost (€) 25m3/h

Low pressure compressor 5,000 6,000

Scrubbing columns and packing materials 20,000 20,000

Proportional valves 5,000 5,000

Instrumentation 10,000 10,000

Main water scrubbing pump ( 4,000 6,000

Desorption column water discharge pump 500 1,000

Containerisation, insulation and installation 4,000 4,000

Compressor to 250 bar 6,500 10,000

Cost of materials 55,000 62,000

Cost of labour 10,000 10,000

Total cost 65,000 72,000

b) Operational and maintenance costs: both scales

Labour € 0.05/kg product gas

Spare Parts € 0.05/kg product gas

Desiccating Medium Dry every 3000kg product gas

The desiccating medium is dried by placing on a tray in an oven for 1hour at 250 degrees C so the cost is negligible. Hydrogen sulphide is generally vented to atmosphere, although where necessary a simple filter or activated carbon scrubber could be fitted. The cost of this item was not investigated as the quantity of hydrogen sulphide released is negligible. Plant water consumption is also minimal as the water can be re-used through the process several times. 6.1.6 Operational parameters The raw biogas flow must be maintained at constant rate as the upgrade process is continuous. The gas composition must not vary and a supply of replacement water should be available to the plant. The upgrade unit is equipped with gas monitoring equipment to enable the product gas quality to be kept constant, as it is water throughput that governs the purity of the product gas. The upgrade facility has an automatic shutdown facility in the event that the storage capacity is reached or a problem is detected. In the event of shutdown, the upgrade unit sends a fail signal to the AD plant control system to allow biogas to be diverted elsewhere on


the biogas plant, either in a CHP unit or burned safely to prevent fugitive methane emissions to atmosphere. 6.2 Green Brick Eco Solutions Water scrubbing technology as patented by IIT Delhi is one of the cheapest and most viable solutions for biogas purification, and multiple purification plants are in operation throughout India. GBES did not provide the degree of process detail by comparison to the other technologies assessed, but we are able to give a thorough overview of the core process and engineering scope. 6.2.1 Process description The IIT Delhi upgrade unit’s core components are a scrubbing column, a water supply system, a low pressure compressor, a buffer storage vessel, and a high pressure compressor for bottling the product gas. Raw biogas is pressurised and stored in a buffer tank before entering the scrubbing column from the base. Water is pumped into the scrubbing column from the top and carbon dioxide and other impurities dissolve into the water. The water is removed from the base of the scrubbing column to prevent flooding of the packed media. The water is channelled to a desorption tank for the carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide to diffuse out of solution before being returned to the scrubbing column. The process is considered to be a closed loop, and GBES did not specify the degree of water loss / replenishment required during the scrubbing operation. GBES describe the product gas as having a methane content >95%.

Figure 14:- IIT / GBES schematic diagram


6.2.2 Engineering scope In addition to the above core of the upgrade unit, the GBES purification system contains the following equipment4:-

Knock-out drum on incoming biogas line

Biogas compressor

Biogas receiver-1

Scrubbing tower

Knock-out drum-2

Purified gas receiver-2

High pressure compressor

Heat exchanger

Water pump

Dryer (dehumidifier)

Two-cylinder set for purified biogas filling/storage

Dispensing unit for vehicle filling

Instruments: flow-meters/pressure gauges etc.

Ball-valves/safety valves/check-valves etc.

Piping/fittings/strainers etc.

Electrical fittings/Panel etc.

Gas analysers for: CH4, CO2, H2S, moisture content

Table 5:- GBES/IIT drive specifications

Biogas Flow Rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

Biogas Compressor Specification

Flow rate 6m3/h 25m3/h

Medium Biogas Biogas

Input pressure Atmospheric Atmospheric

Output pressure 10 bar 12 bar

Water Pump Specification

Flow rate 1.2 m3/h 4 m3/h

Delivery pressure 10 bar 10 bar

Medium Water Water

High Pressure Compressor Specification

Flow rate 3.5 m3/h 16 m3/h

Medium Product gas Product gas

Input pressure 8 bar 8 bar

Output pressure 200 bar 200 bar

4 Vijay et al. The 2nd Joint International Conference on “Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE 2006) 21-23 November 2006, Bangkok, Thailand


6.2.3 Mass and energy balance GBES provided Evergreen Gas with details of both the 5m3/h and 25m3/h upgrade plants upgrading to a product gas purity of >95% CH4. The mass balance is as follows, although it does not take into account water losses from the closed loop system which requires topping up at a rate of 0.0075 litres per cubic metre of raw biogas upgraded. Water flow rate is in the range of 0.7m3 to 1m3 per hour for 5m3/h biogas inlet rate, but GBES did not advise what this figure would be for the 25m3/h variant, although given that the water circuit is a closed loop and we know what the water losses to evaporation are per cubic metre of raw biogas, this will not overly affect the mass balance. We would expect the flow rate for the scrubbing water to be five times faster for the 25m3/h variant.

Table 6:- IIT / GBES mass balance at 5m3/h and 25m3/h biogas input. All gas volumes are normalised.

Biogas flow-rate 5m3/h 25m3/h

CH4 content of biogas % (v/v) 60 60

CO2 content of biogas % (v/v) 39 39

Total H2O and H2S content of biogas % (v/v) 1 1

Density of biogas kg/m3 1.2 1.2

Mass flow rate of biogas kg/h 6 30

CH4 content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 95 95

CO2 content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 4 4

H2O content of upgraded gas (before dryer) % (v/v) 1 1

H2S content of upgraded gas (before dryer) ppm <20 <20

Density of upgraded gas kg/m3 0.7658 0.7658

CH4 input flow rate m3/h 3 15

CH4 loss during the upgraded process % (v/v) ~ 0 ~ 0

Volume flow-rate of upgraded gas m3/h 3.15 15.79

Mass flow rate of upgraded gas kg/h ~2.41 ~12.1

CO2 released to the environment m3/h 1.85 1.85

CO2 released to the environment kg/h 3.58 17.87

The above figures make the assertion that there is no methane slip through the upgrade process. Methane slip is the expression to describe methane that is lost from the product gas and is released to atmosphere with the carbon dioxide and other impurutues that are removed through the scrubbing process. 6.2.4 Economics

a. Capital Cost 5m3/h inlet gas flow rate: INR 4,000,000 EXW (£50,000) 25 m3/h inlet gas flow rate: INR 6,500,000 EXW (£81,250) b. Operational and maintenance costs


GBES recommend that a single semi-skilled operative can operate both sizes of plants. The only details of consumables given are water which must be topped up at a rate of 0.0075m3 per m3 of raw gas. Minimal maintenance is required for this type of plant, and a budget has been given (basis India) as INR 150 (£1.60) per day for the smaller plant and INR 200 (£2.50) per day for the larger plant. Electricity consumption given by GBES for upgraded product gas compressed to 250bar for the 5m3/h plant is 1.86kWh/kg and 0.80kWh/kg for the 25m3/h raw biogas plant. The difference is due to the fact that equipment for such low capacity (i.e. 5n.m3/hour) is not readily available in India. The exact figures for above values are subject to availability of equipment for particular flow-rate/capacity. 6.2.5 Operational parameters We do not know a great deal about the operational parameters of the IIT plant, as there are no examples of this type of plant that we are aware of in Europe, so operational data is drawn from numerous scientific papers authored by Professor Vijay that document the performance and development of the process. Please see Appendix 2 for further details. A spokesman from GBES has told us that GBES has co-developed an improved version of the upgrade process in collaboration with IIT. 6.3 Chesterfield Biogas Initially, Evergreen Gas set out to assess the feasibility of small-scale biogas upgrade to vehicle fuel using Metener and IIT/GBES technology at 5m3/h and 25m3/h raw biogas flow rate. During the research, we became aware that Chesterfield Biogas is developing a small scale biogas to vehicle fuel upgrade unit that fitted our requirements. While the unit is currently at the prototype testing stage, it deserves a mention as Chesterfield Biogas is a well-established company with extensive experience of biogas upgrade. Rather than using water scrubbing, the Chesterfield Biogas technology employs a variant of Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) to scrub the gas. 6.3.1 Process description

Raw biogas at a flow rate of between 5m3/h and 40m3/h enters the upgrade unit from the AD plant at low pressure (20-50mbar).

The incoming gas is compressed to a working pressure of 1 bar. The system is a 5 vessel system comprising buffer storage, gas processing and stripping, recirculation and outgoing buffer storage vessels.

Hydrogen sulphide is removed from the incoming biogas stream in a scrubbing vessel using a replaceable scrubbing medium. This medium must be replaced every six months.

A vacuum pump is used to strip the carbon dioxide from the scrubbing medium, and hydrogen sulphide is removed by adsorption into a scrubbing medium.

Outgoing upgraded gas is piped to a refuelling compressor for direct vehicle refuelling, or alternatively compressed into bulk cylinder storage for future dispensing requirements.

Process pipework is 10 bar-rated PVC and gas routes are controlled with solenoid valves.

The plant is equipped with a remote panel that consists of a gas analysis panel, main control panel and variable speed drive control panel. The pressure vessels are


continuously monitored with pressure / temperature instrumentation and are fitted with relief valves in the event of an overpressure situation.

Flow meter monitoring is fitted throughout and a gas monitoring system is fitted to maintain gas specification.

Methane slip is approximately 1-2%.

6.3.2 Economics

a. Capital cost £150,000 Installed and commissioned. b. Operations and maintenance We have basic details of the requirements of this plant, although as it is at the prototype stage of development, the figures that we have are empirical. 6.4 Conclusion Having investigated three biogas upgrade technologies, Evergreen Gas has chosen to work with Metener. This decision was not taken lightly, but is as a result of a number of factors. First, Metener and Evergreen Gas have a working relationship extending over more than five years, and we are on very good terms with key personnel there. Second, Metener are relatively close to hand which will be advantageous as we get through the detailed design and manufacture of the upgrade unit. Thirdly, we have seen first-hand the high standard of workmanship, materials and instrumentation employed on the Metener product. Finally, Metener have been very forthcoming with the quality of information and data that they have provided for the development of the “simple” upgrade unit. 7.0 Detailed Economic Analysis

7.1 The economics of different biogas utilisation at 5m3/h and 25m3/h

Evergreen Gas has identified that for the case of a 5m3/h upgrade plant, a side stream of biogas may be routed into the unit while the bulk of the AD plant biogas production continues to flow to a CHP unit. The CHP would provide process heat and electricity to run the AD plant and upgrade unit with the surplus electricity available for on-site use and export as normal. This configuration would permit farmers to maintain self-sufficiency of electricity and heat, and enable them to generate a substantial side stream of vehicle fuel production. For the case of a 25m3/h upgrade plant, consideration needs to be given to the provision of heat for the AD plant and the cost of the electricity for running the upgrade unit. Running the upgrade unit as a side stream to main CHP generation would be feasible for small AD plants. The following calculations compare the value per cubic metre of biogas when it is used for the following processes:

Heat only

CHP

Upgrade to vehicle fuel.

No consideration is made for the cost of energy to maintain the digester.


The calculation sheet below illustrates the relative values, and how they change depending on the degree of heat utilisation.


Table 7:- Calorific value calculations. (biogas flow rate: 5m3/h)

Biogas Calculations

LCV of methane kWh/m3 9.9

Methane content of biogas % 55

LCV of biogas kWh/m3 5.45

Flow rate of biogas to upgrade m3/h 5.0

Flow rate of methane to upgrade m3/h 2.8

Total biogas flow to upgrade m3/day 120

Energy of biogas kWh/day 655

Energy of biogas MJ/day 2,356

Table 8:- Value of biogas for production of heat only

Heat generation

Boiler efficiency % 85.0

Boiler heat output kWh/day 556

Boiler heat output kW 23.2

RHI value p/kWh 6.8

RHI income £/day 37.83

LCV of kerosene MJ/kg 46.6

Density of kerosene kg/litre 0.80

LCV of kerosene MJ/litre 37.3

Oil boiler efficiency % 85.0

Heat output from kerosene MJ/litre 31.7

Heat output from kerosene kWh/litre 8.8

Kerosene equivalent of boiler output litres/day 63.2

Price of kerosene (ex VAT) p/litre 62.0

Value of heat (c.f. kerosene) £/day 39.19

Value of heat from biogas £/day 77.02

Value of biogas £/m3 0.64


Table 9:- Value of biogas when used for CHP

Electrical

Efficiency % 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0 32.0

Thermal Efficiency % 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 53.0

Electricity Output kWh/day 209 209 209 209 209 209 209 209 209 209 209

Electricity Output kW 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7 8.7

Heat Output kWh/day 347 347 347 347 347 347 347 347 347 347 347

Heat Output kW 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5 14.5

Heat Utilisation % 100.0 90.0 80.0 70.0 60.0 50.0 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 0.0

Heat Utilisation kWh/day 347 312 278 243 208 173 139 104 69 35 0

FIT value p/kWh 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7 14.7

RHI value p/kWh 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8

FIT income £ 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79 30.79

RHI Income £ 23.59 21.23 18.87 16.51 14.15 11.79 9.44 7.08 4.72 2.36 0.00

Displaced

electricity value p/kWh 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5 7.5

Displaced

electricity value £/day 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71 15.71

Heat output from

kerosene kWh/litre 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8 8.8

Kerosene

equivalent of CHP

heat output

litres/day 39.4 35.5 31.5 27.6 23.6 19.7 15.8 11.8 7.9 3.9 0.0

Price of kerosene

(ex VAT) p/litre 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0 62.0

Value of CHP heat

(c.f. kerosene) £/day 24.43 21.99 19.55 17.10 14.66 12.22 9.77 7.33 4.89 2.44 0.00

Value of electricity

+ heat from CHP £/day 70.93 68.49 66.04 63.60 61.16 58.71 56.27 53.83 51.38 48.94 46.50

Value per m3

biogas £ 0.79 0.75 0.71 0.67 0.63 0.59 0.55 0.51 0.47 0.43 0.39

The value of biogas changes as the level of heat utilisation increases / decreases. The greater the heat utilisation, the higher the value of biogas.


Table 10:- Value of biogas when upgrading to vehicle fuel

Biogas flow to upgrade m3/h 5.0

Methane content of biogas % 55

Methane flow rate in biogas m3/h 2.75

Methane slip % 1.0

Methane slip flow rate m3/h 0.03

Methane flow rate in upgraded biogas m3/h 2.72

Methane flow rate in upgraded biogas m3/d 65.3

Methane content of upgraded biogas % 85.0

Upgraded biogas flow rate m3/h 3.20

Upgraded biogas flow rate m3/d 76.9

Methane content of upgraded biogas % 85.0

Methane flow rate in upgraded biogas m3/d 65.3

Density of methane kg/m3 0.71

Total methane production per day kg/day 46.7

Energy flow rate of upgraded biogas kWh/day 648

Energy density of diesel MJ/kg 45.0

Density of diesel kg/litre 0.823

Energy density of diesel MJ/litre 37.0

Energy density of diesel kWh/litre 10.3

Diesel equivalence (in terms of energy) of upgraded biogas

litre/day 63.0

Pump price of diesel (ex VAT) £/litre 1.25

Pump price of diesel (ex VAT) £/kWh 0.12

Diesel equivalence (in terms of energy) of upgraded biogas

£/day 78.73

Fuel duty for biogas p/kg CH4 26.3

Total methane production per day kg/day 46.7

Fuel duty £/day 12.30

Electricity consumption of upgrade plant kWh/m3 0.81

Cost of electricity per kWh p/kWh 4.50

Electricity used kWh/day 62.47

Cost of electricity used £/day 2.81

Net value of vehicle fuel £/day 63.64

Value of biogas £/m3 0.53

Taking above calculations in isolation for the 5m3/h scale operating on a side stream of biogas, it is clear that the value of biogas is affected by the percentage utilisation of the available heat from the CHP. Unless at least 33% of the available heat can be reliable used beneficially, it is more economic to upgrade biogas to a vehicle fuel than to use it to fuel a CHP unit if a side-stream upgrade facility is fitted. If the RHI support was not available, or the project was unable to take advantage of the RHI, then biogas for upgrade to vehicle fuel is an economically-attractive option. At the larger scale of upgrade facility, all of the biogas from the small AD plant considered so far would be consumed bringing into question where the heat and parasitic electrical requirement would come from. The alternative scenario would be for the 25m3/h scale to be installed on a larger biogas plant, for example where there is more than enough gas to fuel a


500kW CHP and the plant operator is unable to increase engine output or is constrained by the FiT restrictions on output. 8.0 Overall Environmental Impacts

8.1 The macro-economic picture Agriculture is an excellent means of converting oil to crops thanks to agriculture’s reliance on oil to provide energy and fertiliser. Energy is required for mechanical equipment and for heat. Energy is also required for fertiliser production, a stage of which is the manufacture of ammonia. Ammonia production is highly energy intensive firstly as the triple covalent bond between the two atoms of a nitrogen molecule must be broken, and secondly because ammonia gas is often shipped long distances under refrigerated conditions in specialist gas carriers to the plants which turn it into fertiliser. Oil is a scarce resource and the cost continues to rise putting farmers under pressure from increasing overheads. Anaerobic digestion is a unique renewable energy generation process thanks to its outputs of methane and digestate. Methane is a portable, versatile energy source, for reasons already outlined in this appraisal. Digestate is a valuable biofertiliser, and has an enhanced level of available nitrogen thanks to the digestion of atomic nitrogen out of proteins and conversion to ammonia. Digestate contains P and K thereby reducing the requirement to buy in additional material. 8.2 The carbon footprint of agriculture For the above reasons, the core and peripheral carbon footprints of agriculture can be reduced by the implementation of an AD plant on a farm. The environmental impact of upgrading biogas to vehicle fuel is negligible in its own right providing the digester has been fed on a sustainable or waste feedstock. A calculation detailing the relative carbon dioxide emissions from using CNG in the place of petrol/diesel shows that net GHG emission reductions can be achieved by using biogas-derived vehicle fuel.

Table 11:- Carbon dioxide production from CNG, petrol and diesel

Methane

CH4 + 2O2

CO2 + 2H2O

Molar mass

16

32

44

18

Molar ratio

1

2

1

2

Mass kg 16

64

44

36

Mass kg

80

80

CO2 / kg CH4 kg 2.8

Petrol / Diesel

C8H18 + 12.5O2 8CO2 + 9H2O

Molar mass

114

32

44

18

Molar ratio

1

12.5

8

9

Mass kg 114

400

352

162

Mass kg

514

514


CO2 / kg C8H18 kg 3.1

The environmental impact of the upgrade plant is negligible when compared to other biogas utilisation technologies. A biofilter is fitted so that odour issues are mitigated, and the unit is a self-contained unit to minimise visible impact. Increased vehicle traffic to the upgrade unit may be a problem, so the unit will need to be sited with due consideration made for access. 9.0 Phase 2 Demonstration

9.1 Methodology for the demonstration If Evergreen Gas is successful and the project continues to the demonstration stage, we will procure a 5m3/h upgrade facility from Metener Oy, and install it on BMAD, the AD plant that we are building at our site in Shropshire.

Shropshire Council has granted planning consent for BMAD, and construction will take place over the summer, with commissioning complete by the beginning of October 2012. Orders for long lead items such as the feed system, CHP unit and grid connection have already been placed, and Evergreen Gas already owns a CNG vehicle which will be fuelled and trialled on the vehicle fuel produced by the upgrade unit. . We have chosen to site the trial upgrade unit at our site for the following reasons: 1 We have a source of biogas that is consistent and of the correct quality. 2 The gas production rate of BMAD is the design feed rate of the upgrade unit. 3 We will have full flexibility of operation as we operate the AD plant and the upgrade unit. 4 The AD plant control system and the upgrade unit will be connected to allow for

automatic operation and control. 5 The addition of upgrade to vehicle fuel will demonstrate the flexibility of the Evergreen

Gas approach to small-scale AD. 6 We will be able to carry out in-depth monitoring of key processes including mass /

energy balance and scrutinise the operational performance of the upgrade unit. 9.2 Project Timescale

9.2.1 Project development When Evergreen Gas has been informed that its bid for phase 2 has been successful, we will meet Metener to finalise details of the design and obtain the programme for manufacture of the trial unit. We anticipate that the lead time for manufacture may be as much as nine months. Metener will manufacture the unit at their site in Finland, assemble it, test it and dismantle it for transportation to Shropshire. Before placing the order with Metener, Evergreen Gas will visit Finland to confirm the requirements of the pilot upgrade unit and discuss the detailed design. This meeting will enable all interfaces between BMAD and the upgrade unit to be covered and ensures that the pilot will be as required. Evergreen Gas will also obtain enough information to plan the exact location of the upgrade plant at their site.


On completion of detailed design, Evergreen Gas will place the order with Metener for the pilot plant. The lead time for delivery is long due to Metener’s commitments, although there will be regular project review meetings and updates. Once the unit is complete it will be rigorously tested to ensure everything is working correctly, including operation at design rate on biogas from Metener’s AD plant and fuelling vehicles. Evergreen Gas will visit the unit at this point. After testing, the unit will be made ready for dismantling and disassembled for transport to the UK. The unit will go by sea and road between Finland and Shropshire. On arrival at the Evergreen Gas site, the unit will be reassembled by Metener personnel, and connected to the BMAD control system to enable automatic operation. During the reassembly and commissioning process, Evergreen Gas staff will be trained on the operations and maintenance of the upgrade unit. When assembled, the plant will be re-commissioned and a vehicle fill will be carried out. After this point, the unit will be monitored and operated at design throughput. When fully operational, Evergreen Gas will embark on a series of vehicle trials to ascertain the lowest quality upgraded fuel that can be run in a road vehicle and driven normally. The performance of the upgrade plant will be monitored for a period of 3 months and a report written covering energy consumption, plant availability, maintenance requirements, operational requirements and performance of the vehicle running on the product gas. This report will be submitted to WRAP as part of the demonstration project. 9.2.2 Permiting and approvals No additional permits will be required for the operation of the pilot upgrade facility, although it will be registered with HM Customs and Excise as road fuel duty must be applied to the upgraded fuel. The advantage of using Metener as the technology provider is that the upgrade unit will be constructed and certified in accordance with the relevant rules covering pressure vessels and the columns will be CE marked. Evergreen Gas has been granted approval by the Environment Agency to operate BMAD under a T25 Exemption owing to the small size of the digester and storage. 9.2.3 Project financing The project will be financed in part from Evergreen Gas reserves and in part by WRAP. 9.2.4 Construction, operation and maintenance As detailed in section 9.2.1 the pilot upgrade unit will be manufactured by Metener personnel or their subcontractors at their workshops in Laukaa, Finland. The purpose of this is to capitalise on Metener’s expertise in the construction of such plants and to ensure that costs are kept to a minimum without compromising the safety of the unit or its operational capacity. Operation and routine maintenance will be performed by trained Evergreen Gas personnel. We anticipate that the person running BMAD will also look after the upgrade unit, as the two


will be closely linked and the performance of one will affect the other. Metener will provide a maintenance schedule including component lifespan information and will make half-yearly inspections of the unit for its first 18 months of operation. 9.2.5 Monitoring and evaluation Evergreen Gas understands that close process monitoring is essential to get the best from any complex system. Both BMAD and the pilot upgrade unit will be fitted with instrumentation to enable the inputs and outputs to each unit to be accounted for. These mass and energy balances are essential to the fundamental understanding of the process, and will form a component of the marketing literature associated with Evergreen Gas’ biogas to vehicle fuel facilities. Readings from the plant’s instrumentation will be recorded in spreadsheets for analysis, periodically reviewed and stored. Maintenance costs and operating costs will be monitored as part of the trial stage, including a detailed evaluation of electricity and process water consumption. 9.2.6 Decommissioning The upgrade unit will be decommissioned at the end of its operational lifespan which will be approximately 10 years. There will not be any toxic or hazardous elements to dispose of and the majority of the plant is recyclable. 9.3 Cost breakdown and milestones

9.3.1 Project milestones The demonstration phase of the project has been broken down into five distinct phases which are treated as work packages for the purpose of analysing breakdown of costs. Staff input varies depending on the nature of the work package, so cost varies between each of the packages. The work packages are summarised in table 15 and correspond to milestones on the demonstration phase project programme.

Table 12:- Work Packages for delivery of demonstration phase

Description Estimated completion date

WP1 Design of upgrade plant 01-10-12

WP2 Manufacture and delivery 18-02-13

WP3 Installation 25-02-13

WP4 Commissioning 04-03-13

WP5 Monitoring & reporting 10-06-13

9.3.2 Cost estimate Evergreen Gas has prepared a cost estimate based on the work packages and requirements of the demonstration phase of the project. The total project cost for phase 2 of the project is 134,160 and is broken down as follows:

Table 13:- Phase 2 Cost estimate

WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5

Total


Staff Costs

MJC days 2.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 3.0

8.0

WDL days 8.0 8.0 4.0 2.0 9.0

31.0

SCW days 10.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 2.0

14.0

Operator days 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 55.0

58.0

Scientist days 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.0

5.0

Total days

Staff Costs

MJC £ 1,280 640 640 640 1,920

5,120

WDL £ 3,840 3,840 1,920 960 4,320

14,880

SCW £ 2,400 0 480 0 480

3,360

Operator £ 0 0 0 600 11,000

11,600

Scientist £ 0 0 0 0 1,800

1,800

Total £ 7,520 4,480 3,040 2,200 19,520

36,760

Metener £ 0 55,000 5,000 5,000 2,000

67,000

Instrumentation £ 0 0 0 10,000 0

10,000

Delivery £ 0 3,000 0 0 0

3,000

Consumables £ 0 0 0 0 2,000

2,000

Electricity £ 0 0 0 100 300

400

Travel £ 2,000 2,000 0 0 1,000

5,000

Contingency £ 1,000 5,000 1,000 1,000 2,000

10,000

Total Cost £ 10,520 69,480 9,040 18,300 26,820

134,160

Table 14:- Evergreen Gas staff rates

MJC £/day 640

WDL £/day 480

SCW £/day 240

Operator £/day 200

Scientist £/day 360

10.0 Commercialisation of technology post demonstration

10.1 Intellectual property We do not believe that there are any specific intellectual property issues at stake in regard to the Metener “Simple” upgrade process. Metener holds a patent for their high pressure system, although this technology will not be applied in this instance. What intellectual property is generated from the development and commercialisation of the simple upgrade process will reside with Metener. Design responsibility for the unit rests with Metener as Evergreen Gas is procuring the unit from them and they will manufacture and install it. Evergreen Gas will hold the license to distribute the technology in the UK.


10.1.1 Commercialisation plans going forward Evergreen Gas will market the upgrade system as an addition to their core business of designing, installing commissioning and supporting small-scale AD plants. The company is well known in the AD marketplace, so will offer biogas upgrade to vehicle fuel either on a like for like CHP / vehicle fuel upgrade substitution basis, or as an addition to a biogas plant which will be equipped with CHP and biogas upgrade. Evergreen Gas’ approach to any new project requires involvement of the key stakeholders from the outset, and each plant is developed to suit their particular scenario, so in the course of our normal marketing activities, we will disseminate and advertise our expansion into the vehicle fuel market. Evergreen Gas has an active programme of advertising, attendance at trade exhibitions, circulation of press releases, delivery of lectures and media engagement which will include the biogas to vehicle fuel upgrade addition to the product range. Biogas-derived vehicle fuel for resale needs to conform to a specification approved by vehicle manufacturers. In Europe where the CNG market is mature, H and L grade CNG is available. H grade has a higher calorific value than L grade so is more expensive, but ultimately a quality standard is set to protect the fuel buyer from damaging his vehicle or suffering substandard performance. The quality standard states maximum concentrations of impurities and other compounds secondary to the primary energy carrier, methane. See Appendix 1 for H&L Grade CNG specifications. On the other hand, if the vehicle fuel is going to be used for “personal” consumption rather than resale, risk lies with the fuel user. It may be the case that satisfactory performance can be achieved from an engine using a fuel below the lower standard for L-Grade (or equivalent) CNG, but as this has been upgraded more crudely, it may have cost less so be worth the risk. Road Fuel Excise duty will be levied on vehicle fuel derived from biogas used on public roads, but there are no formal guidelines on how this will be implemented at present. A prudent operator would record the quantity of vehicle fuel produced in the event of an inspection. At present, CNG is taxed at 0.247p per kg at approximately 95% methane by volume. We anticipate that as the market for biogas-derived vehicle fuel takes off, road fuel duty will be levied against the energy content of the fuel rather than on a mass basis. The market for small scale biogas upgrade to vehicle fuel is enormous and it is a question of “when”, not “if” it takes off. Oil is expensive and the price is unlikely to soften to sub $100 a barrel, and CNG has built a “bridge” for the arrival of biogas-derived vehicle fuels in terms of vehicle technology, infrastructure and public perception of methane-based vehicle fuel. Major manufacturers are already offering CNG vehicles ranging from family cars to dual fuel HGV’s and the European market for retro-fit CNG conversions is well developed. The NFU aspires to a figure of 1000 farm-scale AD plants by 2020 so producing vehicle fuel from agricultural residues and crops opens a diversification and cost reduction opportunity for farmers without having to put land into crops for biofuels, thus side-stepping the food or fuel debate. Recent developments from the agri-machinery sector are introducing biogas / dual fuel tractors into the market helping farmers to achieve a greater degree of self-sufficiency.


Our projection for the roll out of small scale upgrade units is that the market will grow rapidly as AD plant developers appreciate the added flexibility they can bring. Once the concept has been proven, demonstrated and marketed, farms and communities will queue up to install a unit onto a new plant or retro fit onto existing plant. At this point it is hard to say how long this will take, but it will be driven in part by the price of energy from conventional sources. Evergreen Gas will deliver Metener technology to the marketplace under an exclusivity arrangement. The arrangement will be mutually beneficial as Evergreen Gas is a core AD technology specialist so can focus on delivering the AD component, and Metener will be able to control manufacture and product development as they are specialists in the field of biogas upgrade.


10.1.2 Key personnel Metener and Evergreen personnel are key to the successful implementation of the demonstration and commercialisation phases of the project. There is a degree of crossover between the two companies, although biogas upgrade is highly specialised and Metener personnel will assume full responsibility for this side of the process. Evergreen Gas Michael Chesshire, Managing Director Graduating from the University of Cambridge with a first-class degree in thermodynamics and having had a brief spell in the nuclear industry, Michael has been involved with the design, construction, commissioning and process optimisation of AD plants since 1976. Michael’s track record of delivering successful projects and understanding of AD enables Evergreen Gas to maintain a critical focus on plant design, delivery and operation. In addition to hands-on engineering, Michael is a director of the Renewable Energy Association so is very active in lobbying for better support for anaerobic digestion at all scales. Will Llewellyn, Commercial Director Will comes to Evergreen Gas after two and a half years working for BiogenGreenfinch, 7 years’ experience working in international shipping and a biology and French degree from the University of Manchester. Having delivered a number of projects on time and to budget, Will leads Evergreen Gas’ marketing campaign, innovation and engineering development. Stuart Winkless, CAD Engineer Stuart is responsible for all aspects of detailed design using Solidworks CAD software. Covering all aspects of plant design from subassemblies to full plant layout, Stuart will design the interfaces and installations between the core AD process and the biogas upgrade units. Phil Greenaway, Sales Manager Having run his own business, Michael and Will met Phil while they were all working for BiogenGreenfinch. Phil brings 35 years’ sales experience to the Company. Phil’s in-depth understanding of AD and sales track record will play a key role in the commercialisation of small-scale upgrade systems. Metener Oy Erkki Kalmari, Managing Director Erkki is the inventor and patent holder of the Metener high pressure upgrade process and founded the Company. He is a skilled engineer whose expertise will ensure a high quality product. Jussi Lantela, Process Engineer, Upgrade Jussi specialises in the application and design of biogas upgrade systems using both high and low pressure water. Jussi’s process engineering background and CAD skills enables him to develop designs to an advanced stage before being passed for manufacture. Juha Luostarinen, Process Engineer and Sales engineer


First coming into contact with biogas while a student at the University of Jyväskylä, Juha worked for Michael Chesshire at Greenfinch Ltd between 2003 and 2004 before returning to Finland to work alongside Erkki Kalmari at Metener. Juha divides his time between work on process optimisation, turnkey biogas plant design and commissioning both upgrade units and whole biogas plants. Juha was instrumental in the successful delivery of the Metener high pressure upgrade facility that was exported to China. 10.2 Evaluation and monitoring The principal methods of evaluation and monitoring the pilot project and later commercialised plant will be as follows: 10.2.1 Pilot: Data will be recorded from instrumentation to enable mass balance and energy balance to be calculated. The following will be metered: 1 Biogas inlet flow rate and composition 2 Water circulation rate 3 Water replacement rate 4 Product gas flow rate and composition 5 Off-gas flow rate and composition 6 Plant electrical consumption The time taken for operations and maintenance will be recorded, as will the cost and frequency of spares and consumables that require replacement to build up a clear picture of the efficiency of the plant. The data and experience gained from operating the upgrade plant for the first 3 months will be included into a report that will be submitted to WRAP. 10.2.2 Commercial plant The development of the commercial-scale will depend on the experience and market sentiment experienced in regard to the trial unit. It may be the case that demand is strong for a commercialised version of the 5m3/h upgrade unit. Evergreen Gas will report on the uptake of the commercialised plants and offer on-going after sales support to ensure that they are operated to the best of their capacity. This information will be periodically reviewed and disseminated as a component of the Evergreen Gas marketing strategy to encourage others to invest in biogas upgrade for vehicle fuel. 10.3 Health and safety

Health and safety is of paramount importance to Evergreen Gas. Appendix 3 details the company health and safety policy, and the installation and operation of the pilot plant will not be an exception to this policy.

The upgrade unit will be operated and maintained only by personnel who have received training from Metener, and it will not be operated outside its set design limits. The plant is designed in accordance with relevant UK legislation so must be operated by a competent person.


10.4 Conclusion It is clear that there is potential for massive growth in small-scale biogas upgrade to vehicle fuel. The high cost of energy and an increasing number of small-scale AD technology providers has contributed to the acceptance of AD as a valuable source of renewable energy generation at all scales. Thanks to the energy carrier being methane, which can be used in a variety of ways, biogas upgrade is an example of the flexibility of AD. Initially this report set out to evaluate two scales of biogas upgrade: 5m3/h and 25m3/h raw biogas flow rate. What we have come to understand is that for a farm-scale AD plant producing a biogas flow rate of 25m3/h, it may be most economic to install the 5m3/h upgrade plant alongside the CHP and run the two in parallel. As shown in the detailed economic assessment, biogas as a vehicle fuel can be the most economic use of biogas, particularly when the heat load on an AD plant is less than 30% of available heat, or when RHI support is not obtainable. 24 hours biogas at 5m3/h flow rate equates to approximately 50kg of vehicle fuel which in turn equals about 500 miles in a small van or 8 hours work in a dual fuel tractor. The subtlety of “side chain” upgrade (parallel operation of CHP and vehicle fuel production) is that the process heat and power for the digester are produced by the CHP so digester heating is not impacted by loss of gas, and does not require bought-in fuels, and the upgrade process power costs less than the imported electricity price as is taken from electricity generated on-site otherwise destined for export to grid. The economics of the 25m3/h upgrade facility using all of the biogas from a farm-scale plant are less attractive than parallel operation of upgrade and CHP as process heat and power for the digester must be bought in. On the basis of the above, a simple upgrade facility offers the AD developer more flexibility of output and presents an additional channel for diversification of income. CNG technology has paved the way for biogas-derived vehicle fuel, and examination of commercially available CNG quality standards shows that a fuel as low as 75% methane by volume may be viable for use in vehicles. Farmers are increasingly motivated by the desire to be energy self-sufficient rather than pursuit of further diversification of income, so home production of vehicle fuel must appeal. 11.0 Appendices 1 CNG Specification: H&L grades 2 Biogas Purification and Bottling into CNG cylinders: Producing Bio-CNG from Biomass for

rural Automotive Applications. Vijay et al. 2006 3 Evergreen Gas Company Health and Safety Policy


Appendix 1 - CNG Specification: H&L grades


Appendix 2 Biogas Purification and Bottling into CNG Cylinders: Producing Bio-CNG from Biomass for Rural Automotive Applications Virendra K. Vijay1,*, Ram Chandra1, Parchuri M. V. Subbarao2 and Shyam S. Kapdi3# Available from: www.jgsee.kmutt.ac.th/see1/cd/file/C-003.pdf

http://www.jgsee.kmutt.ac.th/see1/cd/file/C-003.pdf


Appendix 3 - Evergreen Gas Company Health and Safety Policy

EVERGREEN GAS LTD HEALTH & SAFETY POLICY Evergreen Gas Ltd acknowledges the paramount importance of Health & Safety at work and accepts its responsibilities, both to its employees and to the general public. The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 imposes statutory duties on employers and employees and to enable these statutory duties and general duties to be carried out it is the policy of Evergreen Gas Ltd to ensure that the responsibilities of health & safety are properly assigned, accepted and fulfilled at all levels of our company and that all practical steps are taken to safeguard the safety of all operations under our control and to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of all employees. It is the intention of our company to ensure that:- 1. The provision and maintenance of places and systems of work, plant and machinery are safe and without risks to health, not only to employees and sub-contractors but also to any person who may be affected with regard to any premises or operations under our control. 2. Arrangements for use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances for use at work are safe and without risk to health and that adequate information is available in this respect. 3. Employees are provided with such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure their health & safety. 4. The working environment of all employees is safe and without risks to health and that adequate provisions are made with regard to the facilities and arrangements for their welfare at work. Suitable protective clothing and safety equipment will be made available where appropriate. 5. All employees and sub-contractors are familiar with the company’s Health & Safety Policy It shall be the duty of all employees at work: 1. To take reasonable steps for the health and safety of themselves and of other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work. 2. To co-operate with the company in the implementation of the Health & Safety Policy. Michael Chesshire Managing Director

22nd December 2011

www.wrap.org.uk/diad

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