Small Scale Biogas Using CanaGas P-LNG Technology 123
Solution Developer
CanaGas Incorporated
Project Description
CanaGas founders have developed new way to liquefy and transport natural gas using CanaGas type-4 composite tanks. The gas is held in a state of pressurized-liquefied natural gas (P-LNG). Natural gas is FULLY liquefied at -50 C and 80 to 90 Bar pressure. CanaGas makes the large type-4 tanks capable of safely storing P-LNG at this temperature and pressure. It holds the patent rights. With three tanks cocooned inside of a 40 foot intermodal shipping container, Natural gas can now be safely transported by truck, train, or ship. The CanaGas tanks are very light weight. As a result, the Tare weight of a CanaGas Intermodal Gas Transport Module (CTM) will be be approximately 8 MT, (3 tanks, piping, incased in fire-retardant foam) leaving capacity for 13 MT of P-LNG on board and still be within most road weight limitations in North America. Gas an be trucked to a customer, or train, or ship for further transport to higher valued markets. 2000 CTMs on a Panamax container ship would deliver directly to clients approximately 27,000 MT of gas. (1.25 Bcf). As the required temperature to make P-LNG is no where near cryogenic, CAPEX & OPEX costs for refrigeration are slashed. As the temperature does not go past the minus 70 C area, the supply gas does not have to be "stripped" of Carbon-dioxide, Nitrogen, Ethane, Propane, Butanes, and Hydrogen Sulphide. For P-LNG, all may remain in the gas stream. Unlike conventional LNG which, requires all of these [collectively] be less than fifty (50) parts per Million. 50 ppm. Therefore, the CAPEX cost to liquefy natural gas using this old organic chemistry is approximately 10% that of LNG. Pre Feed Engineering indicates $50 per MT of yearly output. LNG is currently $600 to $700 per MT per year (Reuters). CanaGas estimates OPEX costs to be 20% to 25% that of conventional LNG. To produce and load P-LNG into CTM requires a very small footprint. A simple flat bed skid would produce around 1000 MT per day of P-LNG. A separate skid would load 4 CTMs at a time. By ganging production skids together, scale up of production is made plug and play. Notwithstanding the above, the same CTM will also allow biogas to be liquefied, maybe even separated and stored for sequestration on a small scale. The family farm, the small town, the feedlot, the pig farmer, the food processor with bio-waste production and others will have a way to benefit from producing biogas. And its by-product organic fertilizer. (liquid and dry) We envision our product to be a 40-ft shipping container with two tanks cocooned in foam and, the equipment needed to liquefy the biogas in the end with the doors. The process is simple, compress the biogas to 90 Bar (max), dehydrate (passively), and chill to only -30 C. This all-in-the-can product would hold 10 MT of biogas. The biogas would then be picked up by trucks using the same CanaGas tanks. (And CanaGas IP regarding the very efficient discharge of its tanks) So that bio-methane producers could use some or all of "their" gas, CanaGas is working with others to develop a way to separate the liquid CO2 from the biogas without an amine unit. The CO2 could be segregated for pick up, just like the biogas process.To produce biogas with a plug and play solution, CanaGas (and team) are also proposing a modified CanaGas tank that would be used as a bio-digester. It is corrosion resistant. Because it is a low-pressure tank, it can be sealed off at night without gas off-take. This will allow such a system to be run on solar power.We will need help to make the potential of widespread simplistic small-scale biogas production become a reality. To that, we turn to CRIN.