EUBCE 2024 - Niina LAURILA - Demonstrating Biochar’s Potential to Filter Siloxanes from Landfill Gas

Demonstrating Biochar’s Potential to Filter Siloxanes from Landfill Gas

Short Introductive summary

Previously, biodegradable waste ended up in a landfill, where it decomposed and produced landfill gas, which can be utilized in a gas power plant for heat and electricity production. However, the gas formed in the landfill contains impurities such as siloxanes, which are harmful substances to the process equipment. Siloxanes form silicon dioxide, which accumulates on surfaces, corroding engine parts, and reducing the efficiency of heat exchange surfaces. Activated carbon, made from fossil raw materials, is commonly used in raw gas purification, but it could be replaced with a cheaper and more eco-friendly biochar. The study investigated the effectiveness of biochar in purifying landfill gas from siloxanes through laboratory and field experiments. For biochar, the experiments achieved a filtration efficiency of 99.2%, and for activated carbon the efficiency was 99.9% with 19.2 ppm total siloxane concentration in raw gas. In the study, siloxanes in gas were monitored using a DMS analyzer, and their concentration was determined by sampling them into VOC tubes.

N. Laurila, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Mikkeli, FINLAND
H. Kettunen, South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Mikkeli, FINLAND
O. Anttalainen, Olfactomics, Mikkeli, FINLAND