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World’s first methods for detecting hydrogen fluoride contamination in biomethane

Biomethane for transportation or energy can be produced from agricultural waste

An EMPIR project helps pave the way for the use of the energy gas biomethane and publishes a free guide on measuring gas impurities

The project

As European natural gas resources are declining the EU is increasingly depending on imported natural gas. This lack of fuel security has become increasingly pressing with the current energy crises.

Biomethane is a renewable energy gas – generated by upgrading of biogas or methanation of syngas. To fully exploit this source of fuel requires access to existing transmission and distribution systems such as the natural gas grids and fuel stations. Before biomethane can enter European networks, it must first demonstrate conformity to the standard EN 16723 for fuel quality – to prevent damage to the grid from impurities in the gas.

However, the test methods cited in EN 16723 were neither harmonised nor validated, lacked aspects of metrological traceability, and were usually not dedicated to biomethane. Thus, they hampered the energy transition from natural gas to biomethane.

The now completed EMPIR project ‘Metrology for biomethane’ (16ENG05, Biomethane) has helped resolve many of these problems, developing validated methods for the determination of biomethane quality and composition.

World first

This included the development of portable spectroscopic analysis techniques for hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride in methane at trace levels. The successful work on hydrogen fluoride is the first of its kind worldwide.

Other project achievements

In addition, the project also:

Developed a micro-gas chromograph for in-field terpene detection.
Terpenes are impurities produced during digestion of food waste, and at high concentrations may damage the integrity of things such as plastic pipelines.
Validated a radiocarbon (C14) method to distinguish between biogenic methane content and petrochemical methane in gas mixtures.
Produced measurement standards for detecting compressor oil in methane using different analytical techniques, such as infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography.
Compressor oil in gas streams is a contaminant carried over from gas refuelling stations which is often a complex mix of components that cannot be fully separated from each other with gas chromatography.

Good practice guide – freely available

These and other results were published in a free to download good practice guide “Test methods for the conformity assessment of biomethane” detailing nine different measurement methods for detecting impurities, including siloxanes. These guides were produced by the project consortium to allow industry to have this information in advance of new standards anticipated to be published in this area.

By facilitating the implementation of European standards, such as EN 16723, project outputs will increase the confidence and use of European generated biomethane quality – and reduce the need of importing foreign natural gas.

The coordinator of the project Jianrong Li, based at VSL the National Metrology Institute of the Netherlands, said about the project:

“The success of the project relied on great collaboration of project partners and with stakeholders. The development of relevant ISO- and EN-standards based on the outputs of this project will certainly help the increased acceptance and integration of biomethane into the European energy networks.”

This EMPIR project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the EMPIR Participating States.

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