What is siloxane? Siloxanes at Landfill Sites? How is siloxane removal from biogas and landfill gas?
A. What is siloxane?
The structure of siloxanes can be linear (L) or cyclic (D). The general formula of linear siloxanes is ‘(2n+6)methyl-(n+1)siloxane’ (For example, L=2 for n=1). On the other hand, cyclic siloxanes are named based on the ‘dimethylsiloxane’ unit (D-unit).
B. Siloxanes at Landfill Sites?
It has been determined that siloxanes are found especially in treatment sludge and biogas formed in solid waste storage areas. Typical types of siloxanes in landfill gas are shown in Table 1.
Typical Siloxane Sources
Solid wastes and sewage sludge have silicon content originating from cleaning materials, skin care products or waterproofing materials. Siloxanes, which are formed as a result of anaerobic decomposition or fermentation, exist in significant amounts in biogas, which is increasingly used as an alternative energy source. Typical sources of siloxane are shown in Figure 2.
C. How is siloxane removal from biogas and landfill gas?
Activated carbon is a filter material with a large surface area and is a preferred material in various industries. The performance of the treatment process with activated carbon, depends on the exact calculation of the contaminant load of the incoming gas. Activated carbon and similar adsorbents tend to release the contaminants that they previously held when the pores in their structure are filled.
The Anka Regenerative Siloxane Removal System, which started as an R&D project supported by the Ministry of industry, has become a regenerative system that eliminates the need for gas analysis at the point it has reached and ensures that the fuel, which is considered as clean gas, is constantly supplied to the system. Unlike activated carbon, the selective feature of the filter materials used in the Anka Regenerative Siloxane Removal System both ensures an effective purification process and prevents problems such as continuous analysis and frequent material changes, which are not possible and feasible in practice. It is very important for long-term energy savings that the system, which can be easily scaled for any capacity due to its modularity, has a very low pressure drop.
Regenerative Siloxane Removal System by ANKA Yenilenebilir Enerji offers a unique solution for all these problems and treat the landfill or biogas to the acceptable limits by the gas engine manufacturers.
