Integrated system and method for methane production using off gas recycling to anaerobic digester from a gas separation membrane unit

1 . A system for improved production of biogas from an anaerobic digester, comprising:

an anaerobic digester comprising:

i) a tank having a feedstock inlet and a biogas outlet, and

ii) a recycle gas injector disposed within the tank adjacent to a bottom thereof, the anaerobic digester being adapted and configured to convert organic feedstock with a culture of anaerobic microbes into a product gas comprising methane and CO 2 ;

a feed gas conduit in downstream fluid communication with the anaerobic digester;

a gas separation membrane unit comprising one or more gas separation modules each of which includes a plurality of gas separation membranes that are selective for CO 2 over CH 4 housed within a pressure vessel having a feed gas inlet in fluid communication with the feed gas conduit, a permeate gas outlet, and a retentate gas outlet, the gas separation membrane unit being adapted and configured to separate a stream of raw biogas obtained from the anaerobic digester into a methane enriched stream of biomethane and a CO 2 enriched stream of permeate gas;

a product gas conduit adapted and configured to receive the stream of biomethane from the gas separation membrane unit and feed the stream of biomethane towards a point of use;

a recycle gas conduit in fluid communication between the permeate gas outlet and the recycle gas injector; and

means for providing a driving force comprising a vacuum pump, blower, and/or biogas compressor that is adapted and configured to provide a pressure difference across the plurality of membranes serving as a driving force for the separation of the stream of raw biogas into the streams of biomethane and permeate gas.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the means for providing a driving force comprises a blower that is disposed in the feed gas conduit and configured and which is adapted to boost a pressure of the stream of raw biogas at the feed gas inlet.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the means for providing a driving force comprises a vacuum pump that is disposed in the recycle gas conduit and which is configured and adapted to provide a vacuum pressure on the permeate gas outlet.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the means for providing a driving force comprises a biogas compressor that is disposed in the feed gas conduit and which is configured and adapted to boost a pressure of stream of raw biogas at the feed gas inlet.

5 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a point of use receiving the biomethane from the product gas conduit, the point of use comprising a compressor that is adapted and configured to compress the biomethane and optionally further purify the compressed biomethane and either inject the compressed biomethane into a pipe of a natural gas grid or into a tank of a compressed natural gas fueled vehicle.

6 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a point of use receiving the biomethane from the product gas conduit, the point of use comprising a compressor that is adapted and configured to compress the biomethane and one or more storage vessels for storing the compressed biomethane.

7 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a point of use receiving the biomethane from the product gas conduit, the point of use comprising a generator, other powered equipment, combustor, heater, or boiler consuming the biomethane as fuel gas.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of gas separation membranes is a hollow fiber membrane made of one or more of fluoropolymers, copolymers of polyether-polyamide, polyimides, and polymers of intrinsic morphology (PIMs).

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the hollow fiber membranes are made of one or more of fluoropolymers, copolymers of polyether-polyamide, polyimides, or polymers of intrinsic morphology (PIMs) having a CO 2 /methane selectivity of at least 10 and a CO 2 permeance of at least 50 GPU.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of gas separation membranes is a composite hollow fiber membrane comprising a separation layer disposed on a substrate layer, the separation layer being made of one or more of fluoropolymers, copolymers of polyether-polyamide, polyimides, and polymers of intrinsic morphology (PIMs), the substrate layer being made of one or more of polysulfone, polyvinyledene fluoride, a polyimide, polyether ketone, and polyether ether ketone.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the separation layers are made of one or more of fluoropolymers, copolymers of polyether-polyamide, polyimides, or polymers of intrinsic morphology (PIMs) having a CO 2 /methane selectivity of at least 7 and a CO 2 permeance of at least 50 GPU.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the CO 2 /methane selectivity is at least 10.

13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the means for providing a driving force is controlled to achieve a pressure difference between an exterior and interior of the recycle gas injector so that a recycled stream of permeate gas may be injected by the recycle gas injector into digestate in the digester.

14 . A method for improved production of biogas from an anaerobic digester, comprising the steps of:

providing the system of claim 1 ;

feeding a feedstock having an organic content to the anaerobic digester;

converting the feedstock under anaerobic conditions in the digester into a stream of raw biogas comprising methane and CO 2 ;

separating the stream of raw biogas with the gas separation membrane unit into a biomethane stream comprising at least 60 vol % methane and a permeate gas stream comprising at least 60 vol % CO 2 ;

feeding the biomethane stream towards a point of use; and

recycling the permeate gas stream back to the digester where the recycled permeate gas stream is injected into digestate contained in the digester, wherein a pressure difference across the plurality of membranes, serving as a driving force separation of the stream of raw biogas into the streams of biomethane and permeate gas, is achieved with the means for providing a driving force.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the biomethane stream comprises at least 60 vol % methane.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the digester is operated at a pressure of 0-2 psig.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein operation of the means for providing a driving force is controlled in order to achieve a pressure difference between an exterior and interior of the recycle gas injector so that the stream of permeate gas may be injected into the digestate.