UGS installs biogas upgrading system in Michigan and Wisconsin

October 17, 2024. Unconventional Gas Solutions (UGS), the specialist in gas upgrading systems, announces the successful commissioning of two innovative biogas upgrading plants in the US states of Michigan and Wisconsin. The two plants, which together feed 800 Nm3/h of biomethane into the local gas grid, are the first UGS systems of their kind. The two projects exemplify the company’s commitment to developing innovative and sustainable gas upgrading systems and offering economical solutions even under unusual conditions. The projects were particularly challenging due to the change in operating procedures and the high grid requirements. The first commissioning, the Three Petals RNG plant in Berlin, Wisconsin, was followed by the second: the Red Leaf RNG plant at the Maple Row Dairy Farm in Saranac, Michigan.

In cooperation with the project developer Novilla RNG, UGS played a decisive role in the development, commissioning and optimization of the systems. The specialist is thus setting a new benchmark in the treatment of biogas: when high H2S concentrations occur, operators normally have to pre-treat the biogas with costly additives or install an expensive external desulphurization system for the entire biogas volume. This reduces the H2S load to levels that can be handled by an activated carbon filter. However, this approach is often accompanied by a decisive disadvantage: The need for such systems to increase oxygen addition; the additional oxygen can also affect the product gas quality. At the sites in Berlin and Saranac, however, those responsible decided to bypass this complex process.