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Project

SBO project with a primary economic finality aimed at the transfer to existing companies : Biogas-MAMBO: Enhanced biogas valorization by membrane, adsorption and microbial technologies (FWOSBO38)

Anaerobic digestion transforms organic waste streams into biogas,
mainly used in combined heat and power production. Purification of
biogas into biomethane can open a range of more efficient applications,
both from economic as ecological point of view, including gas grid
injection and animal feed production. It is critical for such biogas
upgrading to be simple and cheap to render sustainable waste
conversion to biogas economically viable.

KU Leuven recently developed a new membrane consisting of a quasiinert
material with record-high CH4/CO2 selectivity. In contrast to
current industrial setups, such membranes have the potential for singlestage
upgrading of even heavily loaded biogas to sufficiently clean
biomethane. To make these membranes practically applicable, fluxes
still need to be increased substantially and membrane (module)
preparation facilitated. To reach the required biomethane specs for the
different end-uses in a cheap and robust way, hybrid processes will be
considered involving adsorption (VUB). One of the most promising
added-value uses of biomethane is the production of microbial protein
for animal feed via methanotrophic bacteria. This leads to higher
economic impact and contributes to making protein supply for
agriculture more sustainable. The integration of the treated biogas
leaving the membrane/adsorption process and the methanotrophic
culture in the bioreactor will be investigated and steered to control the
yields and amino acid profile of the animal feed (Ugent). The loop will be
closed by coupling biogas upgrading and protein production directly to
fish culturing (Inagro). Finally, a techno-economic feasibility study will
supplement the technical developments, and define the most ecological
and economical routes. Critical input will also be provided from pilotscale
tests in which sufficient amounts of treated biogas will be
converted to feed full-scale fish cultures.
Date:1 Oct 2020 →  Today
Keywords:membrane
Disciplines:Membrane technologies
Project type:Collaboration project