EVALUATION AND COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ENERGY POTENTIAL OF BIOGAS PRODUCED IN UASB REACTORS OF SEWAGE TREATMENT STATION

Sanitary landfills and sewage treatment plants are primarily responsible for the production of biogas, which can cause serious environmental problems when emitted uncontrollably. One of the most promising forms of exploitation of the biogas is the production of electric, thermal or mechanical energy. In this study, simulations were performed through the simulator Aspen HYSYS v8.8 software to evaluate the economic and energy impact of the biogas purification process in a CHP (Combined Heat and Power) plant. The performance of the comparative study considered two energy production plants, one linked to the purification process and the other performing the direct burning of biogas for the production of electricity. The costs for the purification and non-purification process were US $ 17,600,000.00 and US $ 13,950,000.00, respectively. The minimum selling price (MSP) was estimated at 6.59 (US$/KWh) for the purification process and 0.52 (US$/KWh) for the process without purification. The amount of surplus electricity after meeting the energy demands of the Laboreaux effluent treatment plant (ETE) was also evaluated