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Biofuel processing

Maximising biogas production efficiency

The biofuels sector, including biogas, is a fast growing industry because it means less reliance on fossil fuels, and it is sustainable. However, biomass is a difficult media, so has to be broken down to allow pumping to take place efficiently and to maximize biogas production. Harald Vogelsang explains.

iogases are gases produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Such gases mainly methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) are produced by anaerobic digestion or fermentation of biodegradable materials, which include municipal waste, biomass, manure/sewage, green waste, and energy crops (Figure 1). As methane can be burned, it makes an ideal low-cost and relatively green sustainable and renewable fuel to power any form of heat engine to generate either mechanical or electrical power. It can also be compressed to power vehicles. Biofuels, such as biogases, therefore help reduce reliance on often dirty and increasingly expensive fossil fuels. Many biogas plants originally started in Germany, because German farmers typically had slurries they needed to be rid of this provided the biomass from which biogases could be obtained. In addition, there were biogas plants for producing power out of various wastes, including biological waste. Ever since the biogas boom started about a decade ago, the demand for biogas technology has become very strong, and there is increasing interest around the world. In Germany, for example, there is currently a great deal of business to be had in biogas production, pumping and storage, which involves, among other things, biomatter crushing techniques and signifcant use of pumps. Apart from the intrinsic merits of

biogas, one signicant reason for this is that biogas demand has been increasing because of legislation. In Germany, companies are paid for any power they supply to the grid. The legislation was changed recently, so that electrical power produced

from biogas now obtains a high purchase price for electricity generating companies. It is this aspect that has helped the biogas boom in Germany, but other countries either have similar legislation or are likely to have it soon.

Figure 1. Biodegradable materials include municipal waste, biomass, manure/sewage, green waste, and energy crops.

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0262 1762/11 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

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area that makes it easier for the bacteria to digest the material. In addition, any heavy objects must be removed before processing can proceed further. This is achieved using high performance wet cutters and macerators having an integrated heavy object separator. Such machines are often similar to those used in the wastewater treatment industry (sludge and very dirty wastewater present similar problems), but biogas is a much newer industry with heavier end user involvement. Biogas companies tend to take greater ownership and are more involved with the plant design from the very beginning. Hugo Vogelsang Maschinenbau GmbH, for example, is a leading designer and manufacturer of agricultural, municipal and industrial products that are used to prepare biodegradable materials for biogas production plant. The company is also a pump manufacturer but it focuses on the biogas and wastewater treatment sectors, and on agriculture and the oil industry. Even over the past year, the company grew 10% despite the recession, and it has seen years with 30 to 40% growth. As a result, it expects good future turnover and prot. Importantly, a signicant part of this is built upon the biogas sector. Products for these sectors include wet cutters, macerators and rotary lobe pumps, and combinations of the two. The high demand for products such as these that disintegrate biomass and biological materials is because they are exactly what biogas industry needs.

Figure 4. Vogelsang rotary lobe pumps such as this VX230 model are used in conjunction with biomass crushers, cutters and macerators.

intake and discharge arranged in-line; the MXL that is ideal for vehicle mounting; and the compact XL model. Dierent drive systems and hardened steel cutting screen sizes also help customers meet varying applications. Another way of disintegrating biological materials is by using high voltages. The process is extremely good at disintegrating these, providing a greater surface area that makes it easier for the bacteria to consume the biomatter. The result is extra gas yield out of the digested material up to 18% more. Vogelsangs BioCrack (Figure 3) works this way, and its other great advantage is that very little energy is used each system runs using just 35 W of power. This relatively new technology also works well with macerating machines, such as RotaCut. Typically, a rotary lobe pump is used to ush through a RotaCut into the BioCrack, recycling material to the digester in exactly the right form for ecient biogas production. Such a system reduces the power required for mixing a very signicant benet, because conventionally, mixing is energy intensive. Several technologies from various manufacturers are available that provide good biomaterial disintegration, but the energy demand is high, and an increasing number of end-users are requesting greater energy savings. The combination of RotaCut and BioCrack is ideal for obtaining good results at very low cost.

Figure 2. Crushing and macerating machines, such as Vogelsangs RotaCut, solve typical problems involving coarse and brous foreign matter and foreign objects in liquid media.

Pump manufacturers, being often involved in supplying large products for very big projects, have a much more immediate feel for how economies are doing around the world, because they are much more international in terms of contract placements, which are often municipal or governmental. This feeds back a realistic barometer of the general global economic situation, because when money starts to be spent on biogas or wastewater projects, pump manufacturers know that money is being released through various government departments and budgets.

Biomatter preparation
Biomass is a dicult media, so has to be broken down to allow pumping to take place eciently and to maximize the biogas yield. The biomatter has to be crushed or cut, so that bres and biological matter are chopped up, creating a greater surface

Biomass preparation
The crushing and macerating machines, like Vogelsangs RotaCut (Figure 2), solve typical problems involving coarse and brous foreign matter and foreign objects in liquid media. The liquid media ows continuously through the unit. Foreign objects such as stones, metal parts, etc are separated by gravity and can easily be removed later through a cleaning out port. All material that oats, such as brous materials, bones, wood, etc, are carried by the owing medium to the cutting screen where the solids are cut up using rotating, self-sharpening knives. In this way, foreign objects are separated, while coarse and brous materials are chopped up, making the liquid medium homogeneous. The method also keeps all foreign objects away from pipe systems, preventing pump clogging and helping to assure trouble-free system operation. Blockage protection is available through the autoreverse function. Four dierent heavy object separators are available for dierent applications and media. These are: cyclone with heavy object separator;

Figure 3. Vogelsangs BioCrack uses high voltages to disintegrate biological materials. One great advantage is that very little energy is used each system runs using just 35 W of power.

Figure 5. BioCut is a combination of rotary lobe pump and the RotaCut wet shredder.

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Figure 6. A Vogelsang rotary lobe pump showing the coated lobes.

Elastomer-coated pumps
Vogelsang rotary lobe pumps (Figure 4) are used in conjunction with biomass crushers, cutters and macerators, sometimes in the same unit, such as the BioCut (Figure 5), which is a combination of rotary lobe pump and RotaCut wet shredder. These pumps can easily handle even abrasive media, acids or liquids with high solids content. To meet virtually any application, the pumps are available in various materials, including grey cast iron with tungsten carbide (TC) coating, aluminium or stainless steel, with combinations of hardened and/ or coated housing and wear components. There are also mechanical sealing options, including as a cartridge, with duronite or SiC, and there are various lobe materials and geometries that can be provided to suit specic applications. The advantages of this type of pump for the biogas, wastewater, sewage treatment, recycling, drinking water supply and other sectors are as follows:

Changeable pumping direction Self-priming Insensitive to running dry, foreign objects and particles Compact design allowing reduced space requirements Pulsation-free lobes Flow rate proportional to pump speed Very good accessibility for maintenance and repair.
Improving maintenance
The bio industry is very demanding because of the highly dicult media that systems have to contend with. Examples include sludge and maize, which both contain much dirt, such as sand, stones and foreign bodies. All of this has to be mixed together and pumped to all of the bio-units. This is a very abrasive and demanding material, and can quickly wear pumps and other equipment, so customers are requesting that lifetimes be improved. Research and development is ongoing into this crucial aspect. A related aspect is ease of maintenance, which is one of the key features for customers. Everything must be accessed very easily; it must be possible to remove and replace worn parts quickly.

Contact
Holger Eggert Director of Marketing Hugo Volgelsang Maschinenbau GmbH Holthoge 10 - 14, D-49632 Essen Oldb, Germany Tel: +49 5434 83 231 Email: eggert@vogelsang-gmbh.com Web: www.vogelsang.info

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