Biomass Energy I

PPRE / EUREC-REMA Winter term 2011/12

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TODAYS TOPICS
Basic Technology Rural small Biogas plants Modern Biogas Parameters that inuence Methanation

Some decades ago Biogas was though to be a technology for the Third World, especially for remote rural areas. Meanwhile we nd many high-tech digesters in agro-industrial environments ...

BASIC TECHNOLOGY As we know from last lecture: the anaerobic digestion process takes place in a thermally insulated (or even heated), sealed airless digester, which creates the conditions for the bacteria to ferment the organic material in an oxygen-free environment.

Biogas technology is applied in a wide variety of situations and specications: urban kitchen waste digestors small rural farm digestors community plants agro-industrial residue procession food industry waste processing special-crop biogas plants sewage sludge treatment

... so let us look at general issues and facts, that all these different digestors share...

Fermentation test

[6]

(batch experiment)

Inuence of digestion temperature

(batch experiment)

Types of fermentation tests

Batch reactor Continuos ow reactor (Retention time)

[5]

Gas production from fresh cattle manure depending on retention time and digester temperature:

The size of the digester, i.e. the digester volume Vd, is determined on the basis of the chosen retention time RT and the daily substrate input quantity Sd. Vd = Sd RT units: [m3=m3/day x number of days]

Values for retention time

liquid cow manure: 20-30 days liquid pig manure: 15-25 days liquid chicken manure: 20-40 days animal manure mixed with plant material: 50-80 days

Rural small Biogas plants

The two most familiar types in the rural environment of developing countries are the xed-dome plants and the oating-drum plants.

Fixed-dome plants
Low coast, local materials Simple with no moving parts. a long life-time (20 years or more). Situated underground, it is protected from physical damage and saving space. No uctuations of temperature > good for biogas production.

Fixed-dome construction
Recommended minimum size of a xed-dome plant is 5m3 . Digester volumes up to 200m3 are possible.

Floating-drum plants
Floating-drum plants were mainly built in India. Plant consists of a cylindrical or dome-shaped digester and a moving, oating gas-holder.

Size of the gas holder

40-60% of the daily gas production normally has to be stored. The ratio Vd/Vg (digester volume / gasholder volume) for a typical agricultural biogas plant, is between 3:1 and 10:1, with 5:1 - 6:1 occuring most frequently.

Biogas Utilization

Gas production per day in warm tropical countries is appr. [3] 1 kg cattle dung 40 liters biogas 1 kg buffalo dung 30 liter biogas 1 kg pig dung 60 liter biogas 1 kg chicken droppings 70 liter biogas

Rule of thumb

If the live weight of all animals whose dung is put into the biogas plant is known, the daily gas production corresponds to cattle, buffalo and chicken: 1,5 liters biogas per day per 1 kg live weight

Conditioning of biogas Biogas must be treated/conditioned before utilization removal of water (humidity), hydrogen sulde and (in special cases) carbon dioxide from the raw gas.

Piping & Water Trap

Biogas appliances

Gas burner for cooking Biogas lamps Biogas fridges Special designs (60% Methan, 40% Carbon Dioxide!)

Reduction of the H2S content

The hydrogen sulde (H2 S) in the biogas combines with condensing water and forms corrosive acids. Appliances, engines and refrigerators are then at risk. The reduction of the hydrogen sulde content may be necessary if the biogas contains an excessive amount, i.e. more than 2% H2 S. Since most biogas contains less than 1% H2 S, de-sulfurization is normally not necessary, unless it is used in IC engines. For small- to mid-size systems, de-sulfurization is done by absorption onto ferric hydrate (Fe(OH)3 ), also referred to as bog iron, a porous form of limonite. Fe(OH)3 can be regenerated by exposure to air.

In another de-sulfurization method air is pumped into the gas store at a ratio of 1% to 2% of the biogas production. The oxygen of the air leads to a biocatalytic, stabilized separation of the sulfur on the surface of the sludge and the walls of the gas storage. This simple method works best, where the gas holder is above the slurry, as the necessary bacteria require moisture, warmth (opt. 37C) and nutrients.

Modern Biogas

And Biogas in Germany...

Remaining open topics Biogas from energy plants (corn/maize) Synthetic natural gas from Biogas Role of Biogas in energy systems

Parameters that inuence Gas Production Substrate input (Sd)= biomass (B) + water (W ) [m3/day]
In most agricultural biogas plants, the mixing ratio for dung (cattle and / or pigs) and water (B/W ) amounts to between 1:3 and 2:1.

Daily Gas production G

The amount of biogas generated each day G [m3 /day], is calculated on the basis of the specic gas yield Gy of the substrate and the daily substrate input Sd .

The calculation can be based on

the volatile solids content Vs G = Vs Gy (solids)

the weight of the moist mass B G = B Gy (moist mass)

standard gas-yield values per livestock unit LSU G = LSU Gy (species)

The temperature dependency is given by Gy (T, RT ) = mGy f (T, RT )

where Gy (T, RT ) =gas yield as a function of dig. temp. and RT . mGy =average specic gas yield, per kg volatile solids content f (T, RT ) = multiplier for the gas yield as a function of digester temperature T and retention time RT.

ADVICE

As a rule, it is advisable to calculate according to several different methods, since the available basic data are usually very imprecise, so that a higher degree of sizing certainty can be achieved by comparing and averaging the results.

Biogas Plant parameters

The degree of safe-sizing certainty can be increased by dening a number of plant parameters Specic gas production Gp Gp = G/Vd [(m3/day)/m3] Digester loading Ld LdT = T Sd/Vd [kg/(m3day)]

Ldv = V Sd/Vd [kg/(m3day)] with T Sd =daily total solids input and V Sd = daily volatile solids input. Vd = digester volume.

Biogas - Costs and Benets

Techno-economic assessment
Before a biogas plant is built or a biogas program is implemented, a techno-economic assessment should be made. For this, two sets of cost-benet analyses have to be carried out:

The macro-economic analysis (economic analysis) which compares the costs of a biogas program and the benets for the country or the society. The micro-economic analysis (nancial analysis) which judges the protability of a biogas unit from the point of view of the user.

In judging the economic viability of biogas programs and -units the objectives of each decision-maker are of importance.

Total costs
for a biogas plant, including all essential installations but not including land, is between 50-75 US Dollar per m3 capacity. 35 - 40% of the total costs are for the digester. The specic cost of gas production in community plants or large plants is generally lower compared with small family plants.

Running costs
The operation and maintenance costs consist of wage and material cost for:

acquisition (purchase, collection and transportation) of the substrate; water supply for cleaning the stable and mixing the substrate; feeding and operating of the plant; supervision, maintenance and repair of the plant; storage and disposal of the slurry; gas distribution and utilization; administration.

The running costs of a biogas plant with a professional management (e.g. for operation, maintenance, expenses for painting, service and repair.) are just as important as the construction costs.

Large-scale biogas plants have a high water consumption. Investigations are necessary, if the water quantity required causes additional costs in the long run. These could be construction costs for water piping or fees for public water supply. The question of water rights has to be claried.

Steps have to be taken to cover the demand for water during dry periods requires thorough planning.

... and now Your Questions

References
[1] Donald L. Klass, Biomass for renewable energy, fuels, and chemicals, Chapter 4 Virgin Biomass Production, p. 91 ff, ISBN: 978-0-12-4109506, Elsevier, 1998 [2] Microorganisms html http://www.earthlife.net/prokaryotes/welcome.

[3] Biogas Basics (Reader by GIZ), http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/ en-biogas-volume1.pdf [4] San Thy, T R Preston and J Ly, Effect of retention time on gas production and fertilizer value of biodigester efuent, ftp.sunet.se/.../lrrd/ lrrd15/7/sant157.htm [5] http://wiki.lamk.fi/download/attachments/3227570/bgsyield_ prod.JPG?version=1&modificationDate=1255966588000 [6] http://www.electrigaz.com/images/labgraph2.jpg