Influence of liquid-to-biogas ratio and alkalinity on the biogas upgrading performance in a demo scale algal-bacterial photobioreactor

The influence of the liquid-to-biogas ratio (L/G) and alkalinity on methane quality was evaluated in a 11.7 m(3) outdoors horizontal semi-closed tubular photobioreactor interconnected to a 45-L absorption column (AC). CO2 concentrations in the upgraded methane ranged from < 0.1 to 9.6% at L/G of 2.0 and 0.5, respectively, with maximum CH4 concentrations of 89.7% at a L/G of 1.0. Moreover, an enhanced CO2 removal (mediating a decrease in CO2 concentration from 9.6 to 1.2%) and therefore higher CH4 contents (increasing from 88.0 to 93.2%) were observed when increasing the alkalinity of the AC cultivation broth from 42 +/- 1 mg L-1 to 996 +/- 42 mg L-1. H2S was completely removed regardless of the L/G or the alkalinity in AC. The continuous operation of the photobioreactor with optimized operating parameters resulted in contents of CO2 ( < 0.1%-1.4%), H2S ( < 0.7 mg m(-3)) and CH4 (94.1%-98.8%) complying with international regulations for methane injection into natural gas grids.