THYME: Improvement of an AD biogas production by application of a biogas upgrading process.

Project Description

The proposal addresses one of the possible options to improve an anaerobic digestion (AD) biogas generation efficiency by development, optimisation and application of a biogas upgrading process.
A biogas upgrading process proposed for development is based on new combination of approaches, specifically a biological hydrogen methanation (BHM) which is combined with catalytic decomposition of biogas (CDB).
In this proposal the required for BHM hydrogen will be generated with use of CDB. Development and application of an efficient CDB process allows to generate hydrogen containing mixtures as well as market valuable nanostructured carbons ranging from CNTs to nano-filaments, depends on conditions.
The BHM process is driven and catalysed by specific archaea of Methanothermobacter genus, capable of converting H2 and CO2 to CH4 with water as a by-product. New and optimised microbial communities capable to effectively perform BHM from (H2, CO2 , CH4 ) mixtures will be created.
This proposed biogas upgrading process allows for the potential doubling of the CH4 yield form a conventional AD. Same time the proposed biogas upgrading process could be see as an effective carbon capture technology.
A feasibility study of a proposed biogas upgrading process will be performed on integrated systems at lab scale with use of selected catalytic and microbial systems and processing conditions.