Biotown (USA)

Background

BioTown Biogas, a renewable energy business with a long track record of success in the sector, has expanded its already impressive portfolio, turning agricultural waste into renewable natural gas (RNG) that is fed into the U.S. natural gas pipeline network.

 

The process starts with five farming groups located near the site of the new BioTown Biogas plant in Indiana, U.S. The local farms supply up to 400,000 gallons per day of agricultural waste slurry from the equivalent of about 22,000 milking cows. The waste slurry is used to feed the plant’s digestors, which turn the waste into biogas that then is cleaned to gas grid injection standards as biomethane, an RNG. To make all this magic happen, BioTown Biogas relies on highly efficient Jenbacher engine technology. The project was facilitated by INNIO Group's distributor Clarke Energy, a global business specializing in the engineering, installation, procurement, and supply of distributed power plant solutions, including maintenance and local service support.

A sustainable energy solution

The Jenbacher technology for power generation and heat recovery comprises a fully containerized Jenbacher J420 engine running on RNG, in addtion to another six Jenbacher J320 engines operated with biogas. The Jenbacher J420 engine generates 1.4 MW of renewable power in either a prime or resilient isolated operation mode, providing 5,388 MBTU per hour of renewable heat to support operations and run the digestors at the BioTown Biogas plant. A three-stage membrane system is used to inject clean RNG, or biomethane, into the pipeline network.

Results

The biogas from the plant’s digesters is used for two functions. About 460 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) of treated biogas fuels the Jenbacher J420 engine to generate renewable electricity and heat for the plant. Also, more than 1,500 scfm of raw biogas is cleaned and injected into the gas pipeline network, where it is marketed under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Program and tracked using D3 Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs).

Customer benefits

• The cogeneration systems allows BioTown Biogas to operate its RNG production facility on 100% carbon-neutral fuel (biogas).

• With this highly efficient cogeneration system, BioTown Biogas can feed more than 1,500 scfm of RNG into the gas pipeline network, adding even more value by helping to decarbonize California’s gas grid.

• The biogas plant uses the heat created during the Jenbacher engine’s operation for the RNG production process, which can add up to an overall efficiency of more than 85%, depending on the plant’s cyclical heat demand.

• Jenbacher technology delivers proven performance and high availability for stable operation over many years.
• Fast response for spare parts and repairs is delivered as needed.