W.S.G. Isaac Newton

Biogas is separated into pure CO2 and biomethane in Bright Renewables’ upgrading installations (see image below) through the utilisation of a three-stage membrane system. The pure CO2 can be recovered through liquefaction, or be vented to the air. There will always be a small amount of methane present in the CO2 stream leaving the membrane system, called methane slip. Slip is undesirable as part of the methane is lost, reducing the recovery rate of the system, and introducing environmental concerns. Slips can be monitored and controlled by an off-gas analyser, which does introduce additional costs and is therefore generally avoided. The purpose of my internship at Bright was to analyse real data from installations equipped with off-gas analysers in order to create a mapping tool to control slip, without the need for an off-gas analyser. In the end, I was able to create a model, and successfully validate it on historical data. The next step is to test the model in real life by applying it to an installation which is currently in operation. This process has already been set in motion, and it is of course an exciting prospect to have the ability to test your model in practice. I would highly recommend an internship at either Bright or the rest of the HoSt group