Greenlane Biogas secures contract with CR&R for RNG pipeline

Scope of work includes design solution to meet California pipeline injection requirements.

  • September 18, 2015
  • REW Staff

Greenlane Biogas, Burnaby, British Columbia, has received a contract to provide engineering services to CR&R; Waste & Recycling for its biogas to renewable natural gas (RNG) project in Perris, California. Under the terms of the agreement, Greenlane’s scope of work will involve detailing a design solution to enable the RNG produced at the facility to meet the stringent Rule 30 requirements for injection into California pipelines.

Rule 30 is a guideline created by the state utilities specifying the pipeline gas quality RNG producers must meet in order for RNG to be received and distributed. One standard in Rule 30 that has inhibited producers from injecting their RNG into pipelines is the requirement for the RNG to have a heating value of 990 BTU/SCF.

To meet the 990 BTU/SCF criteria, a higher heating value fuel such as propane, would normally need to be blended into the RNG. This practice reduces the “green” content of the RNG and it may be cost prohibitive. Lower heating value requirements for RNG, most commonly 960 BTU/SCF, have been adopted in other states making the California requirement the most rigorous in the US.

“We are confident that we have the right team to get our biogas compliant to California pipeline standards,” says Mike Silva, civil engineer and project manager for CR&R.; “We will be the first in California to produce and supply pipeline quality RNG from organics recycling. California has a statewide goal of 75 percent recycling, composting or source reduction of solid waste by 2020 and organics recycling is a major component of this mandate.”

“We are excited to be continuing to work with CR&R; on the next phase of this project,” says Brent Jaklin, managing director for Greenlane Biogas North America. “With our proven expertise in biogas upgrading, we offer CR&R; a solution that allows their RNG to meet Rule 30 for pipeline injection. At Greenlane we are continually challenging ourselves to stay ahead of our competition and we are fortunate to have customers like CR&R; that share that same motivation.”

Greenlane previously provided a Totara biogas upgrading system for the CR&R; RNG facility which is being developed in four phases. With a capacity range of 400 to 1,250 standard cubic feet (SCF) per minute, the Totara system will initially convert biogas produced from the anaerobic digestion of 80,000 tons annually of municipal organic waste into one million gallons of diesel gallon equivalent RNG to fuel CR&R;’s fleet of waste collection vehicles. Subsequent phases will see the facility expand to process over 300,000 tons annually of organic waste to produce RNG for both vehicle fuel and pipeline injection.

Greenlane Biogas is a global supplier of integrated full system solutions to upgrade biogas released from organic waste to biomethane, a renewable natural gas. The company offers modular upgrading systems that utilize water scrubbing technology to generate an energy source interchangeable with natural gas.