"Expect a lot!" Premium technologies for the biogas industry - made by AERZEN The use of biogas for energy generation will help considerably when it comes to achieving the objectives set out, both nationally and internationally, in nuclear energy programmes and for the reduction of CO2 emissions. AERZEN COM.PRESS interviewed Axel Cichon, Head of Business Unit biogas, about what customers in the biogas industry can expect from AERZEN. Axel Cichon, Head of Business Unit biogas at AERZEN: Our strengths with regard to biogas technology are our experience gained over decades, our international positioning and a complete product portfolio. AERZEN VMX 110 compressor for compression of biomethaneMr. Cichon, what is the role of biogas/biomethane today in the generation of energy? Cichon: To be able to reply to this question correctly, it is important for me to clarify the two terms, as both gas types have, and will continue to have, a different meaning, and importance, for energy supply: Biomethane is processed biogas - after processing, it has natural gas quality, so it may be fed into natural gas systems. Whereas from biogas itself, power can be generated directly, at block-type thermal power stations. This is then fed into the power system. So, we are talking about two different uses. What worldwide trends do you see in the field of biogas/biomethane? Cichon: Currently, in Europe, there are about 16,000 biogas plants generating power out of biogas, but only about 350 plants processing biogas into biomethane, which is then fed into the gas system. According to EU targets (please refer to www.greengasgrids.eu), this situation will change significantly by the year 2030: The number of plants converting biogas into electricity is likely to remain fairly stable, while the number of biomethane plants is set to increase to several thousand. Even if you consider these figures to be very optimistic, you can clearly see the direction of travel. In the process of converting biogas into electricity, our blowers are not often used, due to the low pressure required, but when it comes to producing biomethane, we see significant market potential for our products in the near future. Which products or technologies does AERZEN offer for biogas and for the processing of biogas into biomethane? Cichon: Our strength is that we can offer suitable blower and compressor packaged units for nearly all processes. No matter whether a discharge pressure of a few hundred millibars or 20 bar is required: We have a suitable solution for our customers. In addition, we can measure, with our gas meters, the biogas/biomethane generated. Furthermore, we can offer local service worldwide via our 43 AERZEN subsidiaries. So, we are well ahead of our competition. Which products are currently in particular demand? Cichon: At present we are experiencing increasing demand for our oil-injected compressors for compression of biogas in treatment processes. Another satisfactory development is that we are seeing a change in the market, and with our customers, towards using high-quality, reliable products, complying with all safety standards. Meeting such requirements comes as standard for our products, but this is not the case with low-price products, which have high susceptibility to failure. The extra price to be paid for our products pays off very quickly, due to the long service intervals and resulting high availability of the plant the keyword is: Life Cycle Cost Analysis. For how long has AERZEN been working on biogas applications? Cichon: For us, the compression of biogas is nothing extraordinary, special or new. In our opinion, biogas is a type of process gas. And, in turn, compression of process gases has been a core competence of AERZEN for decades. So, in all our products for the biogas market, our extensive know-how of development, manufacturing and application of twin-shaft rotary lobe compressors gained over 150 years can be found. Based on this knowledge, and this experience, we always offer our customers the optimal and most economical solution for their application.
Aerzen Asia at Asia Water 2016 Supported by its local distributor, Solidium, Aerzen Asia participated from 6th to 8th April in Asia Water 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is the biggest industrial trade fair in the region for water and waste water. Aerzen Asia received a great response from many important visitors, including decision-makers in governmental and industrial water management, with the concept Performance3, including Turbo, Hybrid and Blower. Paving the way for further progress, Aerzen Asia was awarded the SPAN certificate by the National Water Services Commission Malaysia last year. This certification is a prerequisite for all blowers used in Western Malaysia’s wastewater treatment plants.
AERselect - new on the Customer Net With the introduction of AERselect, AERZEN has made the Customer Net even more user-friendly. AERselect is a tool that has been designed especially to meet the demands of engineering offices, system manufacturers and end users. AERselect, which is based on MS Excel, is a helpful support tool for making various calculations, such as acoustic calculations or calculations of pressure loss, room ventilation and dew point. With a few clicks, users can create a tailored service specification which will be provided in the form of an editable text file, which can easily be integrated into tender documents. The new planning tool is available at: www.aerzener.de/customernet.
New Embedded Webserver modules AERZEN has introduced an extension for its proven communication-capable control system AERtronic: Thanks to the new module, Embedded Webserver, operating data is available and can be read at any time, and from anywhere in the world, by means of an HTML5-capable web browser. An intuitive operating concept, as well as a user-friendly interface, quickly provides information about the most important measured values of packaged units, such as pressure, temperature, operating hours and service hours. All process data is safely stored on an SD card integrated in the webserver module. Possible malfunctions can be detected, and remedied, as quickly as possible, and maintenance assignments can be scheduled at an early stage. Operational interruptions will therefore be reduced significantly.
