Comparative Study of Biomethane Purification Process using Analytical Hierarchy Process
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33795/jtkl.v9i2.7428Keywords:
analytical hierarchy process, biomethane, cost, environmental impact, state of technologyAbstract
The selection of purification technology for upgrading biogas to biomethane involves complex considerations, as each technology -such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA), membrane separation (MS), or chemical absorption (CA) - offers distinct advantages and disadvantages. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), provides a systematic framework to simplify and resolve such complexities. This research aims to apply AHP to critically compare purification technologies for biomethane. AHP method is implemented in four steps which includes determination of AHP structure (goal, criteria, sub-criteria and alternatives), formation of pairwise comparison matrices based on literature study and expert opinion, normalization and consistency calculation, and prioritization of alternatives. The criteria considered in AHP analysis of this study are technology capacity, cost, and environmental impact. Overall, PSA received the highest weight for state of technology. In terms of separation performance, CA achieved the highest scores for methane purity and methane retention. From a cost and environmental impact perspective, MS performed best. However, despite its advantages, MS application is limited by its relatively lower maturity and limited scalability. By evaluating alternatives based on AHP framework, PSA was identified as the top-priority option, with total weight score of 0.426, followed by MS with total weight score of 0.387 and CA with total weight score of 0.181. This study has successfully demonstrate the application of AHP to select purification technologies for converting biogas to biomethane.
References
M. Igini, Fossil fuels accounted for 82% of global energy mix in 2023 amid record consumption: report, https://earth.org (accessed 09/04/2025.
S. Bakkaloglu, A. Hawkes, A comparative study of biogas and biomethane with natural gas and hydrogen alternatives, Energy Environ. Sci., vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 1482–1496, 2024.
SEAI, Assesment of cost and benefits of biogas and biomethane in Ireland, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland 2017.
A. A. Werkneh, Biogas impurities: environmental and health implications, removal technologies and future perspectives, Heliyon, vol. 8, no. 10, p. e10929, 2022.
A. I. Adnan, M. Y. Ong, S. Nomanbhay, K. W. Chew, P. L. Show, Technologies for biogas upgrading to biomethane: a review, Bioengineering, vol. 6, no. 4, p. 92, 2019.
R. Chandra, A. Isha, S. Kumar, S. A. Khan, P. M. V. Subbarao, V. K. Vijay, A. K. Chandel, V. P. Chaudhary, Potentials and challenges of biogas upgradation as liquid biomethane, in Biogas Production: From Anaerobic Digestion to a Sustainable Bioenergy Industry, N. Balagurusamy, A. K. Chandel (Eds.), Springer, Cham, pp. 307–328, 2020.
A. Alsulaili, O. Ali, N. Alenezi, A. N. Al-Dabbous, Selection of municipal solid waste disposal technology using the Analytic Hierarchy Process and Genetic Algorithm for Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, J. Eng. Res., vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 865–873, 2025.
T. L. Saaty, Decision-making with the AHP: Why is the principal eigenvector necessary, Eur. J. Oper. Res., vol. 145, no. 1, pp. 85–91, 2003.
S. Kheybari, F. M. Rezaie, S. A. Naji, F. Najafi, Evaluation of energy production technologies from biomass using analytical hierarchy process: The case of Iran, J. Clean. Prod., vol. 232, pp. 257–265, 2019.
R. Kapoor, P. Ghosh, M. Kumar, V. K. Vijay, Evaluation of biogas upgrading technologies and future perspectives: a review, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res., vol. 26, pp. 11631–11661, 2019.
J. Tan, K. Y. Low, N. M. N. Sulaiman, R. R. Tan, M. A. B. Promentilla, Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) for multi-criteria selection of microalgae harvesting and drying processes, Clean Techn. Environ. Policy, vol. 18, pp. 2049–2063, 2016.
V. Vrbova, K. Ciahotny, Upgrading biogas to biomethane using membrane separation, Energy Fuels, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 9393–9401, 2017.
O. Maile, E. Muzenda, H. Tesfagiorgis, Chemical absorption of carbon dioxide in biogas purification, Procedia Manufacturing, vol. 7, pp. 639–646, 2017.
A. A. Abd, M. R. Othman, Z. Helwani, J. Kim, An overview of biogas upgrading via pressure swing adsorption: Navigating through bibliometric insights towards a conceptual framework and future research pathways, Energy Convers. Manag., vol. 306, p. 118268, 2024.
A. Golmakani, B. Wadi, V. Manović, S. A. Nabavi, Comparative evaluation of PSA, PVSA, and Twin PSA processes for biogas upgrading: the purity, recovery, and energy consumption dilemma, Energies, vol. 16, no. 19, p. 6840, 2023.
C. A. Grande, Biogas upgrading by pressure swing adsorption, in Biofuel's Engineering Process Technology, M. A. dos Santos Bernardes (Ed.), IntechOpen, 2011.
F. Ardolino, G. Cardamone, F. Parrillo, U. Arena, Biogas-to-biomethane upgrading: A comparative review and assessment in a life cycle perspective, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 139, p. 110588, 2021.
F. Bauer, T. Persson, C. Hulteberg, D. Tamm, Biogas upgrading – technology overview, comparison and perspectives for the future, Biofuel Bioprod. Bioref., vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 499–511, 2013.
Q. Sun, H. Li, J. Yan, L. Liu, Z. Yu, X. Yu, Selection of appropriate biogas upgrading technology-a review of biogas cleaning, upgrading and utilisation, Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev., vol. 51, pp. 521–532, 2015.
E. Martín-Hernández, L. S. Guerras, M. Martín, Optimal technology selection for the biogas upgrading to biomethane, J. Clean. Prod., vol. 267, p. 122032, 2020.
M. Wang, H. J. Herzog, T. A. Hatton, Carbondioxide capture using electrochemically mediated amine regeneration, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., vol. 59, no. 15, pp. 7087–7096, 2020.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Theodora Mega Putri, Berlian Simanjuntak, Eyunike Rumahorbo, Kristy Panggabean
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
