Tan Delta Technology Empowers the Sustainable Energy Sector

A little known fact is that Bioenergy production, including that of biogas, still relies on fossil fuels to power plants and machinery. In an innovative installation in Germany, Tan Delta Systems has now proved that its sensor technology can help biogas plants extend their oil change intervals by a factor of two or more, and reduce their resultant oil usage by up to 50%.

Over a continuous twelve month deployment, the customer reported almost €3,000 per annum saving per engine on oil; oil change intervals have been increased from 400 hours to 800 hours, with a target of 1000 hours in the future; plant disruptions have been reduced and ROI was achieved in just a few months. An unexpected bonus of Tan Delta’s technology at the biogas plant is advance warning of feed mix problems. This enables further reductions in plant disruption, because the customer gets at least two days’ warning that things are going wrong with the mix and can plan accordingly.   

Powering sustainability through organic renewables

Biogas is a renewable energy, produced from organic matter. A biogas plant is an oxygen-free environment that allows bacteria to transform biomass into biogas - which is made up of methane and carbon dioxide, with trace amounts of other gases. Biogas can power generators to produce electricity, be used as a heating fuel for buildings and play the role of traditional natural gas to power vehicles. The goal of a biogas plant is to create a carbon-neutral energy source for homes, schools, farms, hospitals and businesses. They can come in various sizes, designed specifically for what they are powering.

But oil is still used to lubricate engines and machinery – even in green industries.  

Global oil condition monitoring leader Tan Delta is revolutionising oil use in Biogas plants. Its solutions help operators reduce oil usage and hit ESG targets; lower costs; avoid expensive machinery failure and generally increase operational efficiencies.

Founded in 2007, Tan Delta is headquartered in Sheffield, England, and is redefining industry standards with its next generation oil condition monitoring sensors; Tan Delta sensors provide real time data insights indicating oil wear or contamination and advance warning of potential problems with machinery. Knowing such problems before failure occurs can save operators hundreds of thousands of pounds, and avoid additionally costly downtime.   

Tan Delta has shown its commitment to the bioenergy market by recently joining ADBA (The Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association) and WBA (World Biogas Association).

The company is led by CEO Chris Greenwood, who is dedicated to making sectors like the bioenergy market aware of what impact this technology can have on a biogas plant’s efficiency and environmental impact.
“Our real-time oil analysis provides critical information about oil quality to a molecular level, as well as indicating possible future equipment failure,” said Chris.

“Keeping machinery operating at the optimal level and avoiding unnecessary downtime can dramatically improve a plant’s efficiency. A real bonus of our technology is that it can help the bioenergy market reduce its own carbon footprint by reducing oil usage,” he added.

He concludes: “Our twelve-month deployment in the European biogas plant has proven beyond reasonable doubt that we have a compelling offer for the bioenergy sector, and our conversations with members within ADBA and the WBA have confirmed this.”

Tan Delta's SENSE-2 and MOT Kits

The SENSE-2 kit 

SENSE-2 can be fitted easily and efficiently to any existing equipment in any application and is configurable to any oil type. It is plug-and-play and accurately identifies when oil reaches the end of its life, superseding traditional time-based maintenance schedules which can result in oil being discarded prematurely with the potential of wasting up to 50% of its useful life.

MOT Kit

Using Tan Delta’s portable MOT (mobile oil tester) kit, maintenance crews can make fact-based decisions remotely in the field, from any oil type in any equipment, in just seconds. 
The kit can instantly and scientifically determine:

• How worn the oil is
• How long until the oil needs to be changed or refreshed
• If there are any signs of contamination
• If equipment is showing early signs of potential failure 

With the burgeoning bioenergy industry expanding globally at a rapid rate - and the reliance on oil for industrial lubrication undiminished - Tan Delta Systems hopes to help an industry with green credentials become even greener. 

Visit Tan Delta Systems for more information.

Disclosure: This article is an advertorial and monetary payment was received from Tan Delta. It has gone through editorial control and passed the assessment for being informative.

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