D. Monarca, P. Balsari, E.

Dinuccio,
L. Longo

Available technologies
for Biogas production

Prof. Ing. Danilo MONARCA

Associazione Italiana di Ingegneria Agraria

 … .. A BIT OF HISTORY…

1980 - International Conference "Treatment and

use of manure"
March 20-21 - Mantova
Visit to the plant of Todi (PG)
1980 Emilia - Romagna launches biogas
project - building demonstration plants 5
and 3 experimental plants.
(CRPA, ENEA, ENI, ENEL, University)
 … .. A BIT OF HISTORY…
1982 L. 308 on energy savings
(50-60% of grant funding)
1991 L.10 on energy saving
1992 CIP6 – rewards the production of
electricity from renewable sources
2002 Green certificates - Certificati Verdi (CV)

2004 D. M. 03/11/04 (G.U. 13/04/05)

Implementation of pilot programs at the
national level art. 2 point 3.
L. 1 giugno 2002 n.120
 … environmental laws …

1999 DLgs. 372/99 - AIA

2004 DLgs. 171 – Implementation Eu.Dir.
2001/81/EC on national emission limits
for some atmospheric pollutants
(agricultural and livestock)

2005 Jan-Feb. Implementation of the Kyoto

Protocol - Reduction of CO2 emissions
by 2008-2012 - Italy (- 6.5%)
 BIOGAS

• Was born in Italy in the 70s as a system of treatment of manure with poor luck
because:

- Low energy value

- Poor knoledge of processes
- High cost of the plant
- Incentive system …not incentivating

• The evolution of plant goes towards the enrichment of the energy content of the
manure with organic matter from biomass (corn silage, silomais, triticale,
sorghum, etc ...) and the reward of energy production with no subsidies for the
construction of the plant but overpaying the green kWh produced

Spazio libero per eventuale

nome struttura o altro
• If you add to this the Kyoto Protocol and the commitment to "20-20-20"
you understand why Germany has made ​since 2000, more than 4,000
plants
• All this has been well evidenced in:
- Europe with the European Parliament resolution of 12 March 2008 on
sustainable agriculture and biogas: a need for revision of EU legislation
(2007/2107 (INI) - published in the EU Official Journal March 20, 2009
- Italy: Guidelines for the authorization of plants powered by renewable
sources - (DM Economic Development dated 10 September 2010).
- Legislative Decree No. 28/2011: Italian transposition of the European
Directive on the promotion of renewable energy sources (RES).

Spazio libero per eventuale

nome struttura o altro
APPROVED SPM – Copyedit Pending I PCC WGI I AR5 Summary for Policymakers

Coral Heat Crop Econom Artic

reef waves yield y ice

Assessment Box SPM.1 Figure 1.

GEO CARBON
 ANAEROBIC
DIGESTION

natural process that converts biomass to

biogas under oxygen free conditions
methane (55-70%)
+
carbon dioxide (45-30%)
+
trace elements (hydrogen
sulfide, water vapor, etc.)
 Like for ruminants …
• The greater or lesser biogas production is a function
of the correct supply of the microorganisms
– rapid shift in diet rich in carbohydrates and low in fiber =
higher amounts of fatty acids with pH reduction
• vary the diet with fiber
• dilute with warm water
– Protein excess = production of NH3 with increase of pH
(and of H2S…)
• vary the diet by reducing the protein content
• recycling of digestate
– unstable power supply and improper formulation of the
ration = foaming
• vary the diet, use of antifoam products
 Consequences of the most
common feeding mistakes
• worsening of the composition of the biogas
• decrease of the calorific value and increase of the corrosive action for the
increased presence of H2S
• incomplete combustion of the gaseous mixture in the engine
of the cogenerator
– reduction in efficiency up to the plant stop ​in the most serious cases
• development and dissemination of foul smells from marc due
to the excessive formation of volatile fatty acids
• possible formation of foam in the digester
• possible collapse of the process with block of the production
of biogas
 It’s also important:
• To avoid the presence of inhibitory substances both
endogenous and exogenous
– ammonia, propionic acid, nitrite and nitrate ions, sulfides,
petroleum solvents, cyanides, the azotoidrati, the
surfactants in general, excessive salinity (> 30 g / l), heavy
metals, etc. ...

To check the analytical parameters

– in the digester
• pH, NH3, determination of the AGV
– in the biogas
• CH4, CO2, H2S, H2
 Biogas treatment
• DRYING
– are concentrated in the condensate also NH3,
H2S, dust and other impurities..
• DESULPHURISATION
– biological (sulfobacter oxidans)
• Internal and external to the digestor
– chemical (addition of FeCl3 or FeCl2)
• Internal and external to the digestor
• FINAL FILTRATION ON ACTIVE CARBONS
 … and finally COGENERATION

• Gas engines:
– Efficiency in electricity: 35-40%
• Diesel-gas engines (pilot injiection):
– Efficiency in electricity : 39-44%
• Gas turbines:
– Efficiency in electricity : 30%

… and use of Thermal Energy

 ISSUES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE SECTOR

• The energy destination of the UAA requires

large surfaces:
- 3.5-5 kW / ha of electric power

• The distance UAA / plant should be limited

• Competition with the target food of biomass
- Use of by-products = true environmental resource
Aim of biogas production:
• Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
• Substitution of fossil energy sources

Cumulated energy cost (fossil) of different electricity production options

GJ/GWh of electrical energy

(Wulf, 2005)
Biogas production and utilization

Source: BIOPACT
PROCESSES FOR BIOGAS PRODUCTION

HUMIDITY OF
STOCK FLOW
SUBSTRATE
WET (TS ≤ 10%) CONTINOUS

DRY (TS ≥ 20%) DISCONTINOUS

PSYCHROPHILIC PROCESS
(>10°C) DESIGN
MESOPHILIC SINGLE-STAGE
(35-40°C)
THERMOPHILIC MULTIPLE-STAGE
(50-55°C)

RANGE OF STAGES OF
TEMPERATURE FERMENTATION
 PROCESSES FOR BIOGAS PRODUCTION

Mesophilic vs. Thermophilic

Characteristics Mesophilic Thermophilic

Heated
35-40°C 50-55°C
Temperature
Residence Time 30-60 days 12-20 days

Size of Tanks Larger Smaller

Separated process Better pathogen and
Sanitization
stage virus kill
Cost Less Greater
More robust and More expensive
Other
tolerant technology
 Wet anaerobic digestion systems

MAIN A.D. PLANTS TYPOLOGIES

A) SIMPLIFIED A.D. PLANTS

BATCH COVERED TANKS OR

LAGOONS

B) CONTINUOUS STIRRED TANK REACTORS (CSTR)

ONE STAGE TWO STAGES

C) HIGH EFFICIENCY PLANTS (HEP)

 SIMPLIFIED A.D. PLANTS

- No mechanical stirring systems

- Can be heated or not

- Low investment and management costs

- Lower methane yields compared to CSTR

 BATCH REACTORS

- No constant biogas
production

- No constant biogas quality

To overcome peaks and troughs

in biogas production there is
usually multiple batch digesters
with staggered changeover times
 SIMPLIFIED DIGESTERS
FIXED DOME DIGESTERS
- Widely used in rural India and China
- Mainly fed with human waste and manure

influent
effluent

influent effluent

slurry slurry
CHINESE
DIGESTER

INDIAN DIGESTER “GOBAR”

 SIMPLIFIED DIGESTERS
COVERED TANK OR LAGOON

- Floating dome biogas collector made from

Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP)

- Liquid manure with < 3% solids

- Best in warm climates

 SIMPLIFIED DIGESTERS
COVERED TANK OR LAGOON
e.g. A.D. plant for psychrophile Combustion
plant
digestion of pig slurry
MECHANICAL SEPARATOR
Separated liquid fraction
biogas biogas biogas THERMIC ENERGY

FERMENTER

ON FARM UTILISATION

DIGESTATE

Slurry from pig barns

SOLID FRACTION

FARM LANDS
 SIMPLIFIED DIGESTERS
COVERED TANK OR LAGOON
Floating system for biogas
recovery
 SIMPLIFIED DIGESTERS
COVERED TANK OR LAGOON

AIR - PRESSURIZED
GASOMETRIC COVERAGE
CONTINUOUS STIRRED
TANK REACTORS (CSTR)

- Heated – (mesophilic – thermophilic)

- Presence of mixing systems
- More «complex» structures compared to
simplified digesters
- Higher investment and management costs
(mixing, feeding, heating…)
 ONE-STAGE CSTR SYSTEMS

F all the biochemical reactions take

place in one reactor

EFFLUENT GASOMETER

heater TO CHP
(cogenerator)
INFLUENT

HEAT EXCHANGER

MIXING SYSTEM
 TWO-STAGES CSTR SYSTEMS

F hydrolysis/acidification and
acetogenesis/methanogenesis processes
are separated

GASOMETER

INFLUENT
TO CHP
EFFLUENT

SLUDGE
CONTINUOUS STIRRED TANK
REACTORS (CSTR)
State of the plant technology
 Heating systems
Pipes with hot water (on the bottom)
 Heating systems
Pipes with hot water (on the walls)
Heated reactors: Thermal Insulation
Feeding/recirculation systems for liquid feedstocks
 Feeding systems for solid feedstocks

Feedstocks
biomassa

Some examples of feeding systems

for solid biomasses

Fermenter
digestore

Feedstocks
biomassa

digestore
Fermenter
Feeding systems for solid feedstocks
Feeding systems for solid feedstocks
Feeding systems for solid feedstocks
 Systems for feeding mixture (solid + liquid feedstocks)

Es. QuickMix®
 Combined conveyor screw and
rotary lobe pump

• It enables the crushing, mixing and

feeding in one operation
• Good homogeneisation of the feeding
mixture (solid + liquid)
• Reduction of odour emission Foto Vogelsang
QuickMix®: how does it work
Biomass mixing within fermenters

Important to:
avoid crust formation

improve the action of microrganism

enable the digestate unloading from

fermenters (homogeneous composition)
 Biomass mixing within fermenters

Double chambered fermenter Single chambered fermenter

 Mixing systems (double chambered
fermenters)
Vertical axis mixer
(inner chamber)

Long axis
mixer (external
chamber)
Horizontal axis
mixer (external
chamber)
 Gasometric coverage systems

Concrete roof External gasometer

Gas lines between chambers

 Gasometric coverage systems

Pressurized gasometric coverage

(Weiland et al., 2013)

 Gasometric coverage systems

Concrete roof + central pressurized coverage

 High efficiency plants

The slurry flows as a thin layer over an inhert material

where micro-organisms are fixed:

 Very high contact surface (slurry organic

matter/microrganisms)

 Very short retention times

Termophilic conditions
 FLUIDIZED BED REACTORS (FBR)

Microbial biomass is attached to surface of small particles (anthracite, high density

plastic beads, sand etc.) which are kept in suspension by upward velocity of liquid
flow.
Effluent is recycled to dilute incoming waste and to provide sufficient flow-rate to keep
particles in suspension.
Large surface area of support particles and high degree of mixing that results from
high vertical flows enable a high biomass conc. to develop and efficient substrate
uptake.
 FLUIDIZED BED REACTORS (FBR)

The greatest risk with FBR is the loss of biomass particles from the reactor
following sudden changes in particle density, flow rate or gas production.

If flow is interrupted and the bed allowed to settle, there is a tendency once
flow is restarted for the entire bed to move upward rather than fluidizing.

In practice, considerable difficulties were experienced in controlling the

particle size and density of flocs due to variable amounts of biomass growth
on particles.

FBRs are considered to be difficult to operate.

 FIXED BED
REACTORS

EFFLUENT

FIXED BED

INFLUENT
U.A.S.B. (Upflow sludge anaerobic blanket)

Baffles to avoid flocs discharge

Sludge flocs

Sludge bed

Sontaneuos ability of anaerobic bacteria to form flocs

 Dry anaerobic digestion

- Can be performed in a continuous or

discontinuous system

- Typical feedstock is structure rich material (e.g.

municipal organic waste, farm yard manure, straw,
…)
- Can be heated or not

- Usually one stage

 Dry anaerobic digestion
Discontinuous systems

- Usually boxes or garages

- At minimum 3-4 boxes

- Feeding (loading) by loader or filled cages

- 4-6 weeks retention time

 Dry anaerobic digestion systems
1 Biomass Storage
GARAGE SYSTEM
2 Mixing Platform

3 Fermentation Chamber
1
4 4 Flexible gas Storage

5 Biogas Boiler

6 CHP
5 6 3
2 7 Electric Grid Connection
8
8 To District Healting
7
 Dry anaerobic digestion
Continuous systems (PLUG FLOW)
- Cylindrical or rectangular digesters

- The substrate is continuously pushed forward by

the fresh material

- A horizontal stirring shaft with paddles provides

mixing
 Dry anaerobic digestion

Continuous systems (PLUG FLOW)

Advantages
- In comparison to discontinuous process the
biogas production and microbiology is more
stable and better automated
Disadvantages
- Greater demand of process technology
as result of high forces on
the agitation system
 Potential for biogas in EU 27 by source type
(EBA, 2013)
Type of resource PJ Billion m³CH4
Manure 738 20.5
Residues (straw from grain, corn, rice,…) 407 11.3
Energy crops 978 27.2
Total from agriculture 2123 59
Urban waste (organic fraction of MSW) 360 10
Agro-industry waste 108 3
Sewage sludge 216 6
Total waste 684 19
Total (agriculture and waste) 2807 78

Equivalent to 15% of the present consumption of

natural (fossil) gas in the European Union
 Primary Energy
production from
biogas in EU27 (ktoe)
Source: EurObserv’ER, 2012

Total EU27= 10.086 ktoe

16% of the energy potential production from biogas
Historic and projected biogas production in EU27
(Revised by van Foreest, 2012)

• Total estimate for energy production from biogas in

2020 is approximately 28 Mtoe:

F 64 TWh (5.5 Mtoe) electricity

F 5.1 Mtoe heating and cooling
F 6 TWh (0.5 Mtoe) trasport
 The state of biogas in
Europe
• Over 13800 biogas plants at the end of
2012

• More than 7400 MWel of installed capacity

• Recent boost of biogas plants in the agro-

industrial and zootechnical sector
Diffusion of Agricultural Anaerobic Digestion plants in Italy
since 2000 (Fabbri et al., 2013)
Agricultural anaerobic digestion plants in Italy

38 69
994 Plants  756 MWe installed power
374 151
(Fabbri et al., 2013)
106 143
• 90% are installed in
14
23 the North Regions
14
13
9 2 • Most all are Mesophilic
6
7
6 • Mainly fed with livestock
12
manure, energy crops and
6
agroindustrial residues

(Fabbri et al., 2013)

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL
BIOGAS PLANTS IN ITALY

Installed electric power (kWel)

68.4
70
60
50
40
30
21.6
20
10 7.6
2.4
0
< 100 kWel 101-500 kWel 501-1000 kWel > 1000 kWel
(Fabbri et al., 2013)
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL
BIOGAS PLANTS IN ITALY

70 Plants typology
64
60
50
40 33
30
20
10 3
0
CSRT Covered Lagoon Plug-Flow

(by Piccinini, CRPA)

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL
BIOGAS PLANTS IN ITALY

The biomass used to feed the digesters

Only livestock manure

20.1 17.7
livestock m. + agro-industrial
5.2 12.3 by-products + energy crops
livestock manure + energy
crops
44.7 livestock manure + agro-
industrial by-products
energy crops and/or agro-
industrial by-products
(Fabbri et al., 2013)
 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF AGRICULTURAL
BIOGAS PLANTS IN ITALY

Hydraulic retention time

100
80
60
60
40
40
20
0
< 40 > 40 Process temperature
Retentione time (gg) 100
83
80
60
40
20 8 9
0
Psychrophilic Mesophilic Termophilic

(by Piccinini, CRPA)

 Conclusions

The anaerobic digestion can be a reliable and

effective way to produce energy in a sustainable
way

Wide technological options

Attention in the designing phase of the plants is needed to

choose the most adequate technological option
Conclusions
Thanks for your attention…

Danilo Monarca

Università degli Studi della Tuscia

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY FOR
AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY, NATURE AND ENERGY

Via De Lellis s.n.c. - 01100 Viterbo

Tel +39 0761 357357, Fax +39 0761 357356, monarca@unitus.it,
ergolab@unitus.it