New process turns sewage into high-purity natural gas

The team used a novel bacterial strain to upgrade the biogas in a reactor. PIC COURTESY/WSU

A wastewater management program produced cleaner natural gas more efficiently and lowered waste disposal cost.

The result was a 200 per cent increase in renewable natural gas production while cutting disposal costs in half.

In the first step, the sludge was heated to high temperatures and exposed to oxygen.

Under pressure, the oxygen shreds long molecular chains into bite-sized pieces for bacteria.

After this, a newly discovered, patented bacterial strain was introduced.

The bacterial strain converts carbon dioxide and hydrogen into 99 percent pure methane or renewable natural gas.

This efficiency gain nearly halved the treatment cost, dropping it from $494 (Rs 46,315) to $253 (Rs 23,720) per tonne.

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