Sponsored Content: Transforming Landfill RNG Economics With Low-Cost INTRUPTor Technology

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In 2025, Hydron Energy (Hydron) commercialized the INTRUPTor, its low-cost platform for upgrading biogas from anaerobic digesters and wastewater treatment plants into renewable natural gas (RNG). That same year, Hydron sold its first two commercial biogas-upgrading plants to an agricultural biogas producer in Ontario, Canada. The first plant is scheduled to be commissioned in late 2026.

The INTRUPTor platform uses proprietary, biomimicry-inspired metal-organic framework (MOF) sorbents that Hydron develops and manufactures. These advanced sorbents offer significant advantages over conventional biogas-upgrading technologies, particularly for landfill gas applications. Hydron designed its MOFs to remove nitrogen (N₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) in a single stage at near-ambient pressure. This capability simplifies system design and operation while reducing capital and operating costs compared with incumbent technologies.

Conventional upgrading systems often face substantial challenges when processing landfill gas, which can contain elevated concentrations of N₂ that are difficult and costly to remove. Traditional approaches typically require stringent contaminant-control pretreatment, high operating pressures, multiple separation stages, and a combination of adsorption and membrane technologies to remove N₂ and CO₂. These requirements increase energy consumption, equipment costs, maintenance demands, and overall system complexity, frequently limiting the financial viability of landfill RNG projects.

The INTRUPTor addresses these challenges through a streamlined, regenerative rapid-cycle sorption process. The system uses structured MOF sorbents in a single stage at near-ambient pressure. Low-quality steam removes contaminants together with the captured N₂ and CO₂, enabling the production of pipeline-quality RNG without complex, multistage processing.

The platform’s regenerative cyclic operation also enables it to tolerate and reject higher contaminant concentrations than many conventional industrial solutions. This capability can simplify pretreatment requirements, reduce system footprint, lower energy and consumables use, and support more straightforward operation and maintenance.

The INTRUPTor transforms the economics of RNG production from landfill gas by combining two of the most difficult biogas separation steps — nitrogen and carbon dioxide removal. The platform enables producers to achieve market-acceptable RNG quality at materially lower cost, improving the viability of landfill projects across a range of sizes and creating economic value for developers, operators, municipalities, and other stakeholders.

RNG producers rely on regulated pricing because they cannot compete directly with natural gas using current commercial solutions. Using conventional biogas-upgrading technologies, RNG production from landfills typically costs at least US$8 per GJ for large landfills and at least US$20 per GJ for small landfills. Most small landfills do not upgrade their gas to RNG because current multistage processes are too expensive.

By reducing process complexity, lowering capital and operating expenses, and improving overall project economics, the INTRUPTor provides a pathway to develop smaller landfills and close that cost gap for all landfill projects while supporting the transition to cleaner energy. The INTRUPTor is a game-changing solution that will achieve costs as low as US$2.5 per GJ for large landfills and US$6 per GJ for small landfills, competitive with fossil-fuel-based natural gas prices.

In early 2026, Hydron launched a landmark RNG demonstration project at the Bailey Landfill in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada. The project validated Hydron’s proprietary biogas-upgrading platform under landfill gas operating conditions.

In October 2026, Hydron will demonstrate the INTRUPTor system at the Bailey Landfill. Two site-tour opportunities are planned: October 8, in conjunction with the Canadian Biogas Association’s Biogas West Conference, and October 20–21 through Darcy Partners.

Organizations and individuals interested in the technology or the site tours are invited to contact Hydron at info@hydron.ca.

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