BIoT proof of concept: improved biogas monitoring using optical technologies resistant to chemical degradation

• Grant number: 22/15266-5
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering - Chemical Process Industries
• Principal Investigator: Rafael Augusto Theodoro Pereira de Souza Nahat
• Grantee: Rafael Augusto Theodoro Pereira de Souza Nahat
• Company: Gustavo Henriques Lasinskas
• CNAE: Extração de petróleo e gás natural ; Pesquisa e desenvolvimento experimental em ciências físicas e naturais ; Atividades profissionais, científicas e técnicas não especificadas anteriormente
• City: São Paulo
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/10739-5 - Development of the BIoT conceptual prototype - electronics, BP.TT; 23/10744-9 - Development of the BIoT conceptual prototype - mechanics, BP.TT; 23/10727-7 - BIoT proof of concept: improved biogas monitoring using optical technologies resistant to chemical degradation, BP.PIPE

Abstract

The manual control is the major operational bottleneck in the production of biogas anywhere in the world, specially in the upgrading step, in which the gaseous composition of O2 is critical in the trade-off between the efficiency and the safety of the global process. The biogas producers are mostly small enterprises unable to execute this manual control well, even in the USA. The automatic control frees up human resources and increases efficiency and safety. However, it requires continuous monitoring, which rapidly destroys the electrochemical O2 sensors of the commercial systems due to the presence of the gasses H2S and H2O in raw biogas. Even prior to showing clear signs of failure, the measurements are unreliable. Thus, in practice, it is necessary to recalibrate several times per day and replace the sensors several times per year, at the discretion of specialized technicians. This is unfeasible for most biogas producers. Therefore, the aim of this project is to demonstrate the technical feasibility of a platform which improves biogas monitoring by using optical sensing technologies resistant to chemical degradation. The platform is an IIoT modular system, whose O2 module uses UV-quenching technology to measure with accuracy, precision and total response time similar to the current market alternatives, albeit without the complicated upkeep: UV-quenching is intrinsically robust against H2S and H2O, the internet connection would allow a service of predictive maintenance and the modularity would greatly simplify part replacement. The BIoT company, founded in 2017 by Gustavo Lasinskas and Rafael Nahat, is located in São Paulo, SP, and results from the research work carried-out by both of them in the fields of IIoT, AI, beverage bottling control, supply chain control (Ambev), process instrumentation, automation and control in rare earth electrolysis, ore grinding 4.0 (IPT) and polyhydroxyalkanoates bioprocesses (ICB/USP), as well as other developments with IoT and IT systems for other startup companies. The previous efforts of the company, in partnership with the research labs of Bioproducts (ICB/USP), of the GEnBio group (EP/USP) and of Industrial Biotechnology (IPT), have shown that the UV-quenching technology is as fast, stable, durable, accurate and non-invasive for O2 as the technology NDIR is for CO2. (AU)