Swedish biomass gasification plant expands strategy for smart devices and valves

Metso's valve and field instrument solutions will support performance of renewable gas production.

October 16, 2012

Göteborg Energi AB has selected Metso to supply valves and smart instrumentation for its innovative GoBiGas project in the Rya harbor, Gothenburg, Sweden. GoBiGas is a major project for a new biomass gasification plant. The plant is currently being built by Metso Power and is the first of its kind in the world. The plant converts biomass into renewable biomethane gas, and will use the existing natural gas grid for distribution.

Metso has been selected to supply the state-of-the-art control and on-off valves, together with intelligent and safety valve controllers for both the gasification and the methanation units. Reliable valve performance in demanding conditions is key to ensuring safety, flow control accuracy, and reliability together with reduced process variability, which are challenges in such gasification processes. With the intelligent valve controllers supporting performance diagnostics and the safety valve controllers providing extensive safety valve testing and improved diagnostics data, predictive maintenance is possible, resulting in improved plant safety and minimizing the operational and maintenance costs of the valves.

The scope of supply includes approximately 320 valves, including Finetrol eccentric rotary plug control valve, butterfly valves, Neles RotaryGlobe valves, segment, and ball valves. Additionally there are 145 intelligent controllers and about 60 new generation safety valve controllers.

GoBiGas focuses on producing biomethane through gasification of biofuels and forest residues. The gasification system, together with the subsequent methanation and gas upgrading system, will produce high-calorific gas, biomethane, for distribution in the existing gas grid. This is the first plant of that kind ever and gas of this quality has never been produced continuously before from gasification. The facility will be built in two phases, the first scheduled to be operational late 2013, and the second phase after the first phase has been evaluated.

www.metso.com

https://gobigas.goteborgenergi.se/En/The_plant

Edited by Peter Welander, pwelander@cfemedia.com