Michell Instruments is partnering with VSL, the national metrology institute of The Netherlands, on a jointly EU and Euramet funded project to increase the use of energy from renewable sources.
The European Community has set a target for 20 per cent of its energy consumption to come from renewable sources by 2020.
One of the research projects set up to achieve this is Metrology for Biogas, a three-year program which began in June 2014.
Its purpose is to devise and validate traceable methods for determining key impurities, moisture, particulates, calorific value, and density in biogas and bio-methane so it can be used as a mainstream alternative to natural gas.
VSL is working on the measurement of moisture and water dew point calibration.
As an industrial collaborator, Michell Instruments has provided a moisture analyser – the OptiPEAK TDL600 – for assessment testing.
It uses advanced tuneable diode laser absorption spectroscopy to provide a fast response to changes in moisture concentration whilst being able to withstand the acidic nature of the biogas.
Because the sensor uses laser light to measure moisture content, there is no contact between it and the biogas – meaning that there is no long-term degradation of performance or stability of the analyser from the corrosive elements of the gas.
The testing work is now complete, and the results have been published in a paper.
Michell Instruments equipment is available from AMS.
