technical background small scale biogas production
DESCRIPTION
Presentation by Iemke Bisschops of Lettinga Associates Foundation (LeAF) held at the biogas information seminar in Wageningen the Netherlands, 4 October 2009, organized by the Wageningen Environmental Platform & the Community Composting NetworkTRANSCRIPT
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Technical background on small scale anaerobic digestion of food waste
Iemke Bisschops, Els Schuman, Kasia Kujawa, Henri Spanjers
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Anaerobic digestion
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What is anaerobic digestion
A chain of biological processes
Carried out by different groups of microorganisms
In absence of oxygen
• Products: biogas and digestate
• Different digester configurations are employed– depending on substrate and local conditions/preferences
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Types of digesters
• Completely mixed
• Plug flow
• Batch
• Fed-batch
• Percolation systems (type of batch system)
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Slurry digestion
• Digestion of animal manure is the most widespread AD application worldwide. It produces:– Valuable fertiliser – Biogas
• Farm-scale digestion plants– widespread use throughout the world – plants in both developing and
technically advanced countries
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Digesters
• Rural communities: typically small-scale units– Nepal 50,000 digesters; China > 8 million.
• These small plants are generally used for providing gas for cooking and lighting for a single household.
(images references in CCN phase 1 report)
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Digesters
• Western countries: normally medium- to large-scale
• Germany, Austria and Switzerland are leading countries– Farm-scale digesters: Germany > 2000; Austria ~ 120;
Switzerland > 70.
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AD systems - Suitability
• Small plants used in developing countries seem attractive from engineering point of view– relatively simple design, construction, operation
• Not suitable for use in
Western Europe– Regulations to meet– Temperature too low
• At low temperature– Very large systems needed– And/or heating
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AD systems - Suitability
• Current systems used for AD of organic solid waste– Large to very large scale systems– Usually batch systems with percolation & recycling of leachate
• Percolation systems not suitable for very small scale– Technically too difficult– Moving parts, risk of clogging,…
• Slurry digester seems most feasible option– Technically quite simple– Experience exists at small scale
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Small scale AD interest growing
http://www.patervis.com/sintex.html
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Anaerobic digestion of food waste
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Food waste
• Main substrate considered in project with CCN
• Weekly production on average 3 kg per household
• Complex substrate – carbohydrates– proteins– lipids– nutrients, minerals
• Usually very concentratedand highly degradable
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Anaerobic Conversion of Organic Matter
CH4 / CO2
Methanogenesis
Acetogenesis
Suspended, colloidal organic matter
Hydrolysis
Acidogenesis
volatile fatty acidsalcohol
H2 / CO2acetic acid
proteins carbohydrates lipids
amino acids sugars free fatty acids glycerol
ammonia
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Methanogenic capacity exceeded
Poor bufferingcapacity
VFAincrease
pHdecrease
Unionised VFAincrease
Methanogenic toxicityincrease
Overloading
Biological stability - Acidification
Overloading may lead to process deterioration – A vicious circle
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Methanogenic capacity exceeded
Poor bufferingcapacity
VFAincrease
pHdecrease
Unionised VFAincrease
Methanogenic toxicityincrease
Biological stability - Acidification
pHConcentration
(mg/l)
5 30
6 300
7 3000
8 30000
50% inhibition by acetic acid
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Food waste as AD substrate
• Characteristics of reactor feed and as a result the reactor performance depend on:– composition– particle size– storage time
• Fast acidification, already starting during storage
• Acidification continues inside reactor– Careful process operation is essential
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Food waste as AD substrate
• In principle suitable substrate for AD
• Challenging for a small system without advanced monitoring and control
• But:
Normally contains waste from
animal origin
→ regulatory barriers
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Examples of regulations
• Animal by-product regulation (ABPR)
• Environmental permitting rules
• Planning regulations
• Regulations for fertiliser use
• Rules on gas safety
• etc…
Important factor!
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Legislation - ABPR
• Animal by-product regulation (ABPR) regulates all waste from animal origin including kitchen waste– Classified as “category 3 catering waste”
• Hygienisation of kitchen waste necessary
• Treatment standards for category 3 catering waste:– minimum 57°C for 5 hours, maximum particle size 50 mm– 70°C for 1 hour, maximum particle size 60 mm
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Digestate
• Organic nitrogen is converted into ammonia– Directly available to crops– Possibly higher ammonia emissions from the field
• Reduced viability of pathogens and weed seeds
• Legislation – Important to ensure safe use– Probably largest barrier
• Quality protocols– e.g. UK: “Quality Protocol for the Production and Use of Quality Compost
from Source-Segregated Biowaste”– Defines the point at which the material ceases to be a waste and instead
becomes a product.
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Digestate use – Practical
• When all regulations are complied with, the digestate can be used as fertiliser
• It should be worked into the soil to prevent ammonia emissions
• Separation in liquid and solid fraction– Solid fraction can be composted together with green waste (might
be more attractive)– Liquid fraction can be used as liquid fertiliser– Will still contain solids and salts, this might limit its application in
drip systems.
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Biogas
• Composition (most important compounds)– Methane– Carbon dioxide– Hydrogen sulphide
• Examples of uses:– Heating– Steam production– CHP: electricity and heat– Transport fuel (e.g. car, lift truck, city busses)– Supply to normal natural gas network (so called Green Gas)
• End use determines the needed gas quality
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Biogas use on small scale
• In developing countries very common, e.g. cooking and lighting
• In Western Europe not common– gas quality upgrading normally necessary– economy of scale
• But: starting to gain interest
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Proposed system concept
for CCN project
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Summary of system criteria
• Digester volume fixed at 1 m3
– Amount of waste will be made to fit system size
• Robust and easy to build
• Steel and plastic as preferred building materials
• Focus on kitchen waste as a substrate
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Process design
• Biodegradability
• Hydrolysis rate of substrates (particle size!)
• Applied conditions– Temperature (mesophilic / thermophilic)– Retention time– Presence of toxic or inhibitory compounds
• All combined determine overall process performance– Stability of process and products– Biogas production
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Proposed system concept
Digester(isolated vessel)
Shredder
Pasteuriser
Biogas holder
Mixer
Sampling port(optional)
Digestate use
Feed storage Digestate storage
Biogas cleaning
Safe
ty valve
Sampling port (optional)
T-I T-RT-C
T-I Temp.indicator / T-R Temp.recorder / T-C Temp.controller
Safe
ty valve
T-I
Check valve
Pump
Hot water boiler
Exhaust gas
Other gas uses
Biogas from digestate storage
Safety valve
Simplified process flow diagram, not to scale.Dashed connecting lines: slurry/liquid flow could be done manually