Slovenia | In the Črnomelj biogas plant, a defective membrane had to be replaced. Messer supplied the nitrogen for the inertization of the tanks prior to repair. The membrane is in the headspace of the fermentation tank and its role is to separate and retain the main useful constituent of the biogas, the methane, from the air.
A leak in that membrane allowed air to penetrate it and could create a potentially explosive atmosphere. To ensure safe conditions for the maintenance work, the fermentation tank was flooded with inert nitrogen, which displaced the methane and the oxygen.
