Modern landfills are required to install gas collection systems to capture and destroy the methane gases that are naturally produced within a landfill. These gases are burned in a flare. Rather than eliminating landfill gas by simply burning it off, Caterpillar can help you turn it into a renewable fuel by providing methane generators that can produce electric power from landfill gas.
Landfill gas is produced naturally as organic waste decomposes in landfills. It is composed of methane, carbon dioxide, and small amounts of non-methane organic compounds. As an important and growing application within the world's power generation mix, landfill-gas-to-energy systems collect, process, and treat this gas for use in generating electricity. Two common approaches to landfill gas collection include vertical well extraction and horizontal collectors or trenches.
Municipalities generally use blowers or vacuums to direct the gas from a collection site through a network of pipes to a central facility. At most developed municipal solid-waste landfills, the methane and carbon dioxide are destroyed in a gas collection and control system or utility flare. The sustainable alternative is to divert the landfill gas from the flare to be used in electricity-producing Cat methane generators.
The diverted fuel is dried and sometimes refined to remove impurities such as:
After fuel treatment, the methane is introduced into a Cat gas generator as fuel. These generators are specifically designed for operation at landfills with:
Cat switchgear with PLC-based controls is supplied to parallel the generators to the local electrical grid to export renewable power at a premium to the local electric utility.
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