SOLUTIONS FOR INCREASING INJECTION CAPACITY FOR BIOMETHANE
Maximise the potential for biomethane feed-in
Download the FREE white paper today to find out how new smart pressure management tech can increase biomethane injection.
Injection of carbon-neutral gas biomethane into the network is key to the transition to net-zero – but many existing networks lack the required injection capacity at certain times of the year or at night. This can lead to the highly wasteful flaring of the biomethane.
Feed-in management from Utonomy enables dynamic control and optimisation of gas pressure in medium-pressure networks, allowing maximum available injection capacity. The solution also helps you future proof your network, ready for hydrogen.
Boost biomethane injection with smart tech
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Did you know…
92%
Biomethane produces 92% lower greenhouse gas emissions than natural gas
30%
of that potential could be lost without feed-in management.
Increase output potential of biomethane plant
Typically, biomethane plants are connected to medium pressure networks and governors are set manually, normally twice a year, in winter and summer. The biomethane plant injects gas into the medium pressure network at a fixed rate that can’t be changed at short notice.
The natural gas governors are set conservatively high to ensure security of supply under all conditions including the possibility of the biomethane plant going off-line. When demand is low, for example on a warm day or at night, the high pressure setpoint results in the network being flooded with natural gas.
Rethinking biomethane injection
With UtonomyOne, natural gas governor pressures are continuously adjusted to the minimum level needed to maintain security of supply, depending on the demand conditions. This always enables prioritisation of biomethane feed-in.
During periods of lower demand, at night or on warm days, the natural gas governor pressures are reduced to prioritise biomethane. These lower pressures are still sufficient to safely ensure security of supply. This means the biomethane plant is now able to maximise its feed-in during these periods.
By varying pressures, the network volume can also be used to store surplus biomethane produced overnight
UtonomyOne deployment
Implementing UtonomyOne will allow GDNs to remotely control the medium pressure governors to optimise the pressure in the medium pressure network so as to prioritise and enable the injection of biomethane, whilst maintaining and protecting security of supply. A schematic representation of the UtonomyOne application for feed-in is shown in the diagram below. The solution for biomethane feed-in uses the UtonomyOne family of products.
Autonomous station operation is provided by two electro-mechanical actuators, deployed in a twin stream configuration. The station communicates with Utonomy’s cloud based software via the mobile phone network. This gives the GDN the ability to program both the seasonal and daily governor setpoint adjustments necessary to reduce the flow of gas from the higher pressure networks when required to enable the biomethane plants to feed at maximum capacity.
