Abstract
In this contribution, the effect of the presence of a presumed inert gas like N2 in the feed gas on the biological methanation of hydrogen and carbon dioxide with Methanothermobacter marburgensis was investigated. N2 can be found as a component besides CO2 in possible feed gases like mine gas, weak gas, or steel mill gas. To determine whether there is an effect on the biological methanation of CO2 and H2 from renewable sources or not, the process was investigated using feed gases containing CO2, H2, and N2 in different ratios, depending on the CO2 content. A possible effect can be a lowered conversion rate of CO2 and H2 to CH4. Feed gases containing up to 47N2 were investigated. The conversion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide was possible with a conversion rate of up to 91 but was limited by the amount of H2 when feeding a stoichiometric ratio of 4:1 and not by adding N2 to the feed gas.
Highlights
Today’s demand for energy all over the world makes it necessary to reduce the use of fossil energy sources to a minimum
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 1992, politics has officially cared about the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2)
CO2, H2, and CH4 were measured in the off-gas with BCP gas sensors via infrared (IR) and thermal conductivity (BlueSens gas sensor GmbH, Herten, Germany)
Summary
Today’s demand for energy all over the world makes it necessary to reduce the use of fossil energy sources to a minimum. The volatility of renewable energies is still a big problem when switching from conventional power plants to photovoltaics and wind power plants without having a system for distributing this energy to those places where it is needed. To reduce the emissions of CO2, it is necessary to recycle emissions that are not avoidable. This approach of recycling increases the overall efficiency of a process where CO2 is an unused product and reduces its carbon footprint. Biological methanation is a technology that combines these aspects and converts hydrogen from electrolysis (power-to-gas), operating with power from renewable energies and carbon dioxide, possibly from biogenic sources, and methanogenic microorganisms. It is a contribution to the solution of storing power that is not needed at the time of its generation, the smoothing of current peaks in the power grid, and reducing
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