W.S.G. Isaac Newton

One of the greatest challenges facing society today and in the coming decades is decarbonization and the need for sustainable energy supplies. Much effort is being put into electrification from renewable energy sources. However, many renewable electricity sources such as wind and solar energy are less flexible in terms of energy demand and are highly susceptible to fluctuations in production. Methanation of syngas into gas-grid-quality methane is only one of the pathways for synthetic natural gas (SNG) production and chemical energy storage. Methanation of gases provides technologies to reduce the fluctuations in energy supply by using chemical energy storage. In addition, the methanation of syngas into SNG reduces the carbon footprint of the gas grid because of the reduction of fossil fuel consumption.

HoSt Bioenergy Systems is a fast-growing company located in Enschede which is a world leader in sustainable energy technologies for renewable gases and energy generation. HoSt provides biogas plants, biogas upgrading, carbon capture technologies, and hydrogen technologies.

In the study, a techno-economic assessment of the biological methanation of syngas for grid-quality biomethane production via syngas fermentation is done. The experiments from the Green Gas Cascade project are used for the reactor data. The operational conditions of the packed bubble column are investigated. Finally, the CAPEX and OPEX for different pathways are determined. The advantages and disadvantages of the syngas fermentation are discussed.