Making Landfill Gas-to-Energy Projects Work: For pipeline-quality gas, carbon dioxide removal is critical for high-BTU value
By Arlene Karidis, Waste 360.
The decision on what kind of landfill gas-to-energy project to go with comes with many considerations, with the cost of gas treatments being a major one. Projects to produce electricity or combined heat and electricity may require no more than removal of moisture and a few other constituents, depending on gas quality. But producing pipeline-quality natural gas gets complicated and expensive.
Primary treatments are typically all that’s required for converting to electricity or heat to be use at or near the site. Secondary treatments usually used for high-BTU or pipeline quality gas, are only done when they are mandated or to protect equipment.
“With pipeline quality, requiring more advanced treatment, capital, operational and maintenance costs would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” says Milind Khire a geo-environmental engineer and professor at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.