Greenlane Completes Testing of its New Linear NRU Technology Demonstrating Methane Recovery Performance of up to 99.5% in the Removal of Nitrogen from Landfill Gas when Producing Renewable Natural Gas

(Greenlane) Linear NRU technology, at the heart of Greenlane’s next generation Cascade LF landfill gas upgrading system, demonstrates breakthrough methane recovery performance with low-cost architecture~ Greenlane Renewables Inc. (“Greenlane” or the “Company”) (TSX: GRN / FSE: 52G) is pleased to announce that recently completed testing of its proprietary Linear Nitrogen Rejection Unit (NRU) technology has demonstrated breakthrough methane recovery performance of up to 99.5%. Greenlane’s Linear NRU technology, at the heart of its next generation Cascade LF landfill gas upgrading system, is engineered to efficiently remove nitrogen from landfill gas, producing pipeline quality renewable natural gas (“RNG”) while maximizing methane capture in a configurable low-cost system architecture.

Greenlane’s Linear NRU technology is based on equilibrium pressure swing adsorption (“PSA”) principles and removes nitrogen to the level required to meet RNG pipeline injection specifications in a simplified stepwise methane gas enrichment process using fewer and smaller adsorption beds than conventional equilibrium PSA technology. It also eliminates the internal gas recycling step, which is wasteful in terms of operating cost and methane recovery. For landfill gas with higher nitrogen levels, Greenlane's modular design uses additional adsorption beds and compression in a staged configuration, maintaining the linear approach.

As part of the design validation process, Greenlane engineers built a prototype Linear NRU, scaled down in size from the production design, installed it in a testing environment, heavily instrumented it, and measured all process parameters during a series of tests. A variety of mixed gases, containing methane, nitrogen and oxygen in different ratios representing different qualities of landfill gas, were tested to verify the technology’s ability to upgrade biogas to pipeline quality RNG. The testing program was designed to verify methane recovery in the nitrogen removal steps across the full range of nitrogen levels found in landfill gas.

Methane recovery is the primary performance parameter for an upgrading system because it is vital to the economics of an operational RNG facility. It is a measure of the amount of methane remaining in the product gas compared to the amount in the inlet stream expressed as a percentage. Nitrogen, which is prevalent in landfill gas, is particularly difficult to remove without losing methane.

Results from the testing program demonstrated methane recovery of 99.5% for a single Linear NRU processing the equivalent of landfill gas containing 4% nitrogen. This result considers reaching a typical RNG methane purity specification of 96% for pipeline injection and does not consider methane recovery during the upstream carbon dioxide removal step. For the equivalent of landfill gas containing 8% nitrogen, two Linear NRUs are used in series. In this case, the testing demonstrated methane recovery of 99.0% in the first Linear NRU followed by 99.5% in the second, for a total nitrogen removal methane recovery of 98.5%. For the equivalent of landfill gas containing 15% nitrogen, three Linear NRUs are used in series. In this case, the testing demonstrated methane recovery of 98.5% in the first Linear NRU followed by 99.0% for the second and 99.5% for the third for a total nitrogen removal methane recovery of 97.0%. Optimal results occur when Cascade LF is paired with automated wellfield control technology which is being increasingly adopted to stabilize gas quality across the wellfield when increasing vacuum to simultaneously limit nitrogen to under 8% or 4% in the landfill gas and significantly increase the flow rate of methane.

Results from the testing were slightly better than Greenlane’s initial performance expectations and correlated well with modeled results calculated based on adsorption fundamentals. Watch Dale Goudie, Chief Technology Officer, present the Linear NRU testing results through a video presentation on the Company’s website located HERE.

“When asking our customers how we can help them be more successful, they consistently ask us to help them find ways to make their projects more economically viable so they can build more of them and scale up their portfolios of RNG producing assets,” said Brad Douville, CEO of Greenlane. “Specifically, they ask us to find ways to provide lower cost systems that perform better without adding new technology risk. With Cascade LF, featuring our new Linear NRU technology, we believe we have accomplished all three. Methane recovery is the primary performance parameter for any upgrading system, because every 1% improvement translates into a 1% increase in project revenue, which drops directly to the bottom line. The industry methane recovery benchmark is 99.5% for upgrading of anaerobic digester biogas, which does not have to deal with the difficult challenge of removing nitrogen. We asked ourselves if it was possible to achieve this methane recovery high benchmark in the process to remove nitrogen from landfill gas. Now we know it is not only possible, but has been demonstrated. At a time when global energy markets are increasingly focused on supply security and reliable fuel sources, technologies like Cascade LF are well positioned to support the growing role of RNG as a resilient, scalable and low-carbon energy solution.”

Conventional methods for upgrading landfill gas that remove nitrogen to meet pipeline quality RNG can have methane recoveries of less than 90% and can cost double that for systems upgrading anaerobic digester biogas for the same size. Cascade LF is a simplified low-cost architecture that reduces technology risk compared with conventional systems. Cascade LF’s Linear NRU builds upon previously announced innovations within the platform, strengthening Greenlane’s leadership in landfill gas upgrading and the production of biomethane or RNG.

Greenlane’s goal in bringing new technologies to market is to make RNG projects more accessible and scalable by enabling project owners to enhance revenue generating RNG output from their assets while minimizing upfront investment. The Company aims to unlock new opportunities for RNG deployment globally.

Greenlane is driving change: accelerating the energy transition. We are cleaning up two of the largest and most difficult to decarbonize sectors of the global energy system: the natural gas grid and commercial transportation. As a pioneer and leading global specialist in biogas desulfurization and upgrading, we have been actively contributing to the decarbonization of our planet for over 35 years with more than 500 systems sold into 32 countries. We transform biogas generated from organic waste into high-value grid-ready renewable natural gas (“RNG”) from a wide range of sources such as landfills, sugar mills, dairy farms, wastewater, and food waste. Greenlane is transforming energy production and creating new, sustainable revenue streams for its customers - all while dramatically reducing carbon emissions. Partner with us, let’s accelerate the energy transition together. For further information, please visit www.greenlanerenewables.com. READ MORE