Agenda - Council - 05/26/1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

SCIENCE MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH OFFICE SEN. WAYNE OLHOFT Chairman, Ioint Legislative Committee on Science and Technology REP. TOM REES Vice-Chairman METHANE FROM LANDFILLS Inquiry Response No. 126 April 1, 1981 INQUIRY: JOHN G. MALINKA Director/Staff Scientist FRED R. PEARSON Staff Scientist JUDITH A. BAILEY Secret al'y/Administ r ative Assistant What is the feasibility of collecting methane gas for energy purposes from landfills? KEY RESOURCES:* Allan Gebhard Vice-President Barr Engineering Company 6800 France Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55435 (612) 920-0655 Sambhunath Ghosh Manager, Bioengineering Research Institute of Gas Technology 3424 South State Street IIT Center Chicago, IL 60616 (312) 567-3724 BACKGROUND: Methane (CH4) is the main constituent of natural gas. It is also a natural product of the decomposition of organic matter. Methane from landfills has often been a nuisance where buildings or parks have been located on or near a landfill. For years, gases released from landfills have been collected to prevent these prob- lems. However, only in the past seven years have efforts been made to collect and purify the methane as a substitute for natural gas from petroleum fields. The production of methane in landfills occurs in two steps. First, bacteria break complex organic molecules into simpler ones--mainly organic acids. If no oxygen is present (anaerobic conditions) different bacteria convert these acids into methane, carbon dioxide (C02), and water. If oxygen is present, the organic acids are con- verted into other gases by aerobic (oxygen-tolerant) bacteria, and mo methane is produced. QSPONS~: Collection of Methane'from Deep Landfills The first successful effort to convert landfill gas to pipeline-quality fuel began in 1972 when a test well was sunk to collect the gas being produced deep in the Palos .Verdes landfill in Los Angeles County, Califoruia.1 Test samples contained 53 per, cent CH4, 45 percent C02, and 2 percent other gases. The Southern California Gas Company indicated interest in the gas, provided it could be economically purified from-its raw state of 535 Bt6/scf (British thermal'units/standard cubic foot) to high-Btu (1,000 Btu/sci) gas, which could be put into their gas pipelines. Another company, Reserve (now Getty) Synthetic Fuels, had recently developed a process 'to accomplish this, and an agreement was reached among the landfill operators and the two companies to collect, purify, and sell the gas from the Palos Verdes landfill.' Several years of work were needed to implement and improve the original process, but the landfill is now the source of gas used to heat roughly 3,500 homes in the Los Angeles area.2 .. *A key resource is a person who knows the technical aspects of the topic being consider- ed and has indicated a willingness to answer questions on the topic from legislators. Room 49, State Office Building · St. Paul, Minnesota 55155 ° [612) 296-8041