Brasil Biogas Plant is Now Selling Biogas!

Selling Biogas!
It’s a big day at Gás Verde’s biogas purification plant as the first batch of biogas is sold! The green arrow indicates that cleaned gas has been successfully delivered to a nearby customer — Brazil’s largest company, Petrobras.
The Big Picture
At right is Jardim Gramacho, the landfill depicted in the Wasteland movie. This large landfill produces dirty biogas that is cleaned using FirmGreen’s green technology, installed at Gás Verde’s biogas purification plant. The green line shows the route of the pipeline that will transport cleaned gas to a nearby customer — Petrobras.
Biogas Plant & Biogas Source
In the background is Gramacho landfill — about the size of 250 football fields, and rises 300 ft. above the surrounding terrain. That’s a whole lotta trash – about to be put to good use producing energy! In the foreground is the biogas purification facility the cleans the landill’s gas to produce a clean, renewable fuel.
Miles of Pipeline
As commissioning of the biogas plant continues, cleaning the inside of pipeline is an important task. As seen here, there’s quite a lot of pipeline to be cleaned, so this process will take quite a few days!
Another Angle on the Site
The large columns to the left of the overhead pipe rack are vessels that that remove contaminants from the dirty biogas. This raw biogas is taken through several filtration stages before it goes into the Wash Column that removes carbon dioxide (CO2).

The result is a clean natural gas known as biomethane, that can replace the use of natural gas from fossil fuel.
Pipeline Cleaning...
The yellow plugs — called “pigs”— are pushed through the pipeline to remove any debris or soil that accumulated during construction. (The next slide shows another step in the pipeline cleaning process.)
...And Pipeline Drying
Once debris is removed, liquid nitrogen (N2) is introduced, which is vaporized and then used to render the pipeline inert. (i.e., dry and free of oxygen). After this process, the pipeline will be ready to safely transport biomethane (renewable natural gas).
Up In the Air...
Workers are checking every connection in the system.
...And On the Ground Level
Correct operation of every valve is verified by the team in Brazil.
System Controls Check
Each controls panel undergoes testing to insure that an accurate view of the system is reported continuously.
Checking the List
That’s a log book, with system diagrams and other detailed information.

Steve Wilburn (left) and Jeff Cook, P.E. (right) carefully review what pre-startup checks have been accomplished so far.
"Um Abraço!"
Several workers take a moment to smile for the camera, with FirmGreen’s Steve Wilburn at center. (“um abraço” literally means a hug; figuratively it is an expression of friendship)
Starting up the compressors
Workers are on site continuing to test the various systems and components of the biogas cleaning operation.

These two men are working to start up the intermediate compressors that keep biogas pressurized as it moves through the cleaning process.
Is the Fridge Working?
At the “Cold Corner”, Jeff Cook, P.E. (left), and Eduardo Lagana, Plant Manager for the Gás Verde Biogas Plant (right) are inspecting the refrigeration skids. The equipment in this area of the plant performs a critical step in removing impurities from the biogas.

Yes, that is a wrench in Jeff’s hand! He will make adjustments to various valves as part of the continued system testing, before commercial operation begins.
"Cold Corner" Monitoring
FirmGreen’s precise system monitoring (system controls) technology is already in use during the plant start up process.

The application quickly pinpoints the location of any issues and provides detailed data that identifies the source & scope of any problem that might occur.