Services

Biogas

Green energy

What we do

The range of services offered by bioconstruct is unique. There’s no other company that offers a full suite of planning, construction and operation services for solar, wind energy and biogas projects, all under the one roof. We’re your one-stop shop for comprehensive solutions for the most-important sectors of the renewable-energies business. And with over 20 years of experience on top of that, too.

Biogas

Questions and answers about our services

Why is biogas important?
Renewable energies are continuously gaining importance. An increasing number of countries alongside Germany are turning towards sustainable fuel, energy and heat generation using biomass. Many countries are supporting the expansion and use of renewable energy by passing corresponding laws such include funding and subsidies for the construction and operation of biogas plants.
How does a biogas plant actually work?
Biogas is created by fermentation of organic substances. In nature, this fermentation can happen at the bottom of bodies of water or in bogs, for example, or even in the stomachs of ‘ruminant’ animals (e.g. cattle or sheep). At a biogas plant, the controlled fermentation process takes place in fermentation tanks known as ‘digesters’. These large tanks contain the organic substrate, which is decomposed by methane bacteria. This process, called anaerobic digestion, produces a mixture of gases. Roughly 55% of it is methane, an energy-rich biogas. The digestate, that is left over after digestion, can also be fully reused as a natural, nutrient-rich fertiliser.

There are four stages during the biogas formation process. During hydrolysis or the liquefaction stage, the starting materials (fats, carbohydrates and proteins) are split into their fundamental chemical elements (such as fatty acids, monosaccharides and amino acids). During acidogenesis or the acidification stage, the hydrolysed materials are broken down into organic acids. The third stage, acetogenesis or acetic-acid production, sees the microorganisms transform these materials into hydrogen, carbon and acetic acid, the precursor materials to biogas.
Methanogenesis, or methane production, forms the final stage of the process. Without oxygen( ‘anaerobic’ conditions), the methane bacteria first turn the acetic acid into carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane. The carbon dioxide and hydrogen subsequently become water and methane. Then, before further use, the biogas is desulphurised, purified and upgraded to the relevant plant demands. If you’d like to find out more about modern biogas plant construction and biogas technology, then we would be delighted to explain the details to you in a comprehensive information and consultation session.

Why do biogas plants use so much maize?
In Germany, roughly 900,000 hectares of maize is farmed for biogas plants, which is about equivalent to the amount of land used for maize farming in the late 1980s. Maize grows to be very tall right before it is harvested. It’s difficult to oversee and hence is seen as something “quite dominant”, though its size also offers a benefit: maize produces more biomass per hectare than almost any other crop. What’s more, it requires little water and fertiliser, and yet still forms a great amount of gas during fermentation. The farming of bioenergy crops has also had a significant part in stabilising incomes in the agricultural sector. Farmers benefit from higher profits when they sell their harvest, while biogas plants offer many farmers a secure foundation for generating income in times when milk and meat prices are low. (Source: Fachverband Biogas e.V.)
How much biogas can be produced on average?
The electrical output of a biogas plant ranges from roughly 75 kW (a small plant) to several megawatts (a large plant). The amount of power that a plant generates depends on the amount of biogas produced. A farmer can expect to obtain 400 to 500 m³ of biogas per livestock unit per year. One hectare of pasture grass can produce up to 7,000 m³ of biogas per year and energy-rich plants such as turnips or maize can produce even more. This means that building a biogas plant not only profits the climate and environmental protection, but is also a sustainable investment in a farm’s future viability and profitability.
How are plants planned, approved and financed?
Producing biogas requires a permit. If you wish to operate a biogas plant, you need to be familiar with the legal requirements and complete all the necessary formalities before starting construction. We’re happy to support our clients with their applications for permits. We can boast over 20 years of knowledge from applying and developing these systems, so we’re closely familiar with the individual steps and processes. We clear a path through the administration & government jungle of forms so that your biogas plant is fully compliant with applicable law and you can take full advantage of all potential funding and subsidies granted by the state and the nation.

Once the preparations are complete, you can get started building your biogas plant at your intended location. We perform all the required inspections and professional acceptance testing before putting it into routine operation. If desired, we can also make a separate arrangement to guarantee a specific electricity, gas or heat yield from your plant, giving you full certainty for your planning and finances.

Which biogas plant suits my needs?
Using our modern process control system, BioControl, we ensure that biogas plants always perform at their best potential and at an optimal profitability. The software was developed by experienced bioconstruct technology specialists and can also be retrofitted to older biogas plants. It can help you to configure your plant perfectly to your needs (e.g. for an on-demand-based electricity generation) and enjoy a precise overview of individual operational processes at all times.
How do you turn manure into fuel for lorries or carbon dioxide for soft drink?
Unfortunately, animal waste and slurry can’t be put straight into vehicle fuel tanks (just yet). Nevertheless, there’s an alternative that’s just as genius: our biogas plants digest slurry and manure and produce biogas from them. The main products created from this are carbon dioxide and methane. These two are separated from each other and purified using biogas upgrading systems. The carbon dioxide is then purified again and compressed. The end product is ready to dispense into bottles and be transported to soft drink bottling lines to carbonate beverages. Alternatively, it’s also possible to make dry ice – which is already done at our Crofthead biogas plant (see our testimonials).

The methane embarks on an even-longer journey. It’s usually fed into the gas network at the same location as the biogas plant. Then, at any other point in the gas network, an equivalent amount is extracted back out of the network and conveyed to a liquefaction facility that turns the biomethane into bio-LNG (liquefied natural gas). Heavy goods vehicles can use this as fuel and drive up to 1,000 km per tank of it (compared to roughly 1,500 km on diesel), making it an excellent alternative to diesel. The best part is that both the carbon dioxide and LNG can be produced in an environmentally friendly way, while generating and marketing them together with CO2 certificates provides for great profits. This creates a perfect synergy between economy and environment.

What does bioconstruct offer?
bioconstruct plans, builds and maintains plants for farms, medium-sized plants for community use and waste-to-energy plants for industrial use. We have the right technical solution ready for any type of input material or we can create a solution together with our partners. When it comes to utilising biogas, we offer cogeneration and ORC plants as well as biomethane upgrading plants and technology for further processing of the gas. Accordingly, we can generate valuable fuels such as CNG or LNG out of biomethane and even make good use of the carbon dioxide from biogas.

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More Information
#this_is_how_biogas_works

Certainty for planning

We know from experience how things go

Based on the experience we’ve gained from many biogas projects we’ve developed ourselves, we possess the entire toolkit needed for successful project development: knowledge of agriculture, state-of-the-art planning software, precise contract templates, a sound knowledge of commercial law, excellent contacts with banking and financing partners and, last but not least, best-practice experience in relation to plant operation. With us you can be assured of having partnered with someone being able to provide you “everything” from one single source at an affordable price, from the greenfield site ultimately to a complete project.

Investments

Long-lasting security for everyone’s capital​

bioconstruct operates over 20 biogas plants either alone, in conjunction with agribusinesses or with its known investors, friends & family. Overall an investment of more than €80 million has been realized by such partnership schemes which allows everyone involved to play out their strengths and thus creating advantages for all involved. If you have a fantastic project but lack capital, we’d be happy to join as a (co-)investor subject to a positive project check.

Secure the
operation permit
for your
new biogas

Engineering and
technical planning.
Permit approved.
Check!

#plan_of_action

1. Project planning

bioconstruct has a design and engineering department with an excellent team of experts in construction, process engineering, heating technology, gas technology, electrotechnology and more. To ensure the optimal preparation for the subsequent construction, any key component of your biogas plant is planned and designed individually by our planners and engineers beforehand. 3D models can be created for the pipework and -brackets to ensure a good space utilisation and production. If requested, we can act as a project designer and provide you with detailed engineering so that you can build your plant with any third party.

2. Permit support​

We’re alongside yourself as a partner for the preliminary planning of your project and supporting you with technical documentation for your permit applications needed for your plant. We accompany your project from the filing of the applications until the final approval. In addition, we support you in creating the operational documentation that you’ll need, for example explosion safety documents, incident response plans, alarm plans and plant documentation. We’ve gathered more than 20 years’ experience in these fields, which means that we can give your project the ideal support with the necessary planning skills.

#controllin’rollin’rollin’

Everything under biocontrol …

Software and hardware
for optimal plant operations

BioControl is the name of our own developed software which our tech team keeps continuously up to date and evolving. It’s an application that provides what a plant operator is looking for, such as electrical load management, on-demand power generation, dashboard system monitoring, plant documentation, daily management reports and much more. BioControl 2.0 offers you a process visualisation based on the latest technology on the market. It’s compatible with all types of controllers (e.g. Siemens S7), which means it can be easily retrofitted to existing plants.
We also develop some of the ‘hardware’ for biogas plants in-house. In our workshop we build special components such as the stainless-steel substrate heat exchangers or wall ducts. Moreover our engineers are continuously working to develop new systems for intelligent and demand-based gas storage.

EPC projects

Fully wrapped biogas plants

All in one hand without any cost or interface risks – we’re an experienced technology provider and general contractor who can be your partner and deliver the entire plant, commencing with excavation and infrastructure works and finishing with a successful plant test run, and even with a guaranteed gas yield if desired. We’ve delivered over 300 turnkey projects – with single project contract volumes of more than €25 million net- only bioconstruct can offer you this level of experience!

See our references

Keeping your biogas “tip-top”

Our service and maintenance offering

Spare parts

We can achieve excellent prices for you due to the economies of scale. Thanks to our stock in our own warehouse we have access to critical components which we can provide quickly in case of an emergency.

Overhaul and renewal

Biogas plants are exposed to extreme wear and tear during daily operation. In particular, the interior of the digesters and digestate storage tanks face a heavy burden from abrasion, corrosion from sulphuric acid and temperature variations between the inside and outside. These factors can make even the best of liners fail and corrode the concrete. Normally, every tank must be inspected, emptied and relined inside at least once during its 20-year service life. We’re happy to help you and procure the entire overhaul – quickly and efficiently so to keep production losses to a minimum.

Plant inspections & audits

Biogas plants are subject to highest safety standards, which is why they are fitted with numerous sensors, shut-down features, automatic valves and measurement features. These must be regularly checked by a certified expert. In Germany, for example, such checks are to be conducted every three years. We can do this and provide recommendations for optimisation so that your plant always gets the best results in class by the authorities.

Further on we can offer you thermal-imaging inspections of your electrical cabinets and -last but not least- leak detection for your gas roofs.

CHP service & maintenance

Services for your biogas plant, all under one roof: with us, you have a partner who not only takes care of all components necessary for gas production, but also of the things which utilise your gas. Our technicians can perform maintenance on your combined heat and power plant (CHP) no matter what manufacturer it’s from. Simply enquire with us about it.

Commercial & technical management

We’ll name a few keywords to start with: electricity tax discounts, declarations of conformity, Parasitic load, Medium Voltage Directive and environmental expertise. The increasing complexity of laws and regulations is raising the demands of managing and operating a biogas plant, in particular the commercial aspect. We rely on our experience of over 15 years in plant operations to manage more than 20 projects in Germany and abroad.

We provide the on-site operations personnel and manage the commercial affairs of the operating company. We’d be delighted to offer you our services.

Repowering

Repowering often is more worthwhile than people actually think. In the near future, refurbishing your plant to a fuel-producing biomethane gas to grid plant might be a very lucrative option for you. We are happy to evaluate this possibility for yourself and deliver you a turnkey gas upgrading plant.

There has also been significant progress in the solid feeding technology. For example, difficult input materials such as domestic waste or manure can nowadays be fed into the plants at a much lower level of impurities and with way less electrical power. Further on, installing our BioControl with the electrical load management can reduce your plant’s power costs by avoiding peak loads.

These are just a few examples of potential optimisations for your plant. There’s no reason to hesitate – simply get in touch with us today.

Who to contact

Who to contact

BioConstruct Newenergy Ltd.