Scale Up of Laboratory Scale to Industrial Scale Biogas Plants

Kowalczyk, Alexandra; Schwede, Sebastian; Gerber, Mandy

doi:10.3384/ecp1105748

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Very few studies [58][59][60][61][62][63] have been noted in the literature that investigates hydrodynamics in an anaerobic digester under both scale-up and scale-down conditions of an actual biogas plant anaerobic digester. It is noted that the observation of mixing in digesters under real conditions is complex and cost-intensive.…”

Section: Correlation Between Lab-scale and Large-scale Mixing In Anaerobic Digestersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The energy requirement may be improved by adjusting the mixing period and configuration. Frey et al [63] observed that the power usage for mixing declined by 50% by changing the agitator location without any mixing efficiency loss. Kress et al [47] observed an 85% reduction in electricity usage by increasing the resting time of the mixer.…”

Section: Energy Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Critical Analysis of Methods Adopted for Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in an Anaerobic Digester

Singh

Čonka

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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The effect of slurry mixing in an anaerobic digester on biogas production was intensively studied in the last few years. This subject is still debatable due to fact that this process involves three phases, solid-gas-liquid, along with the involvement of microbes during biochemical reactions, which are highly vulnerable to changes in hydrodynamic shear stresses and mixing conditions. Moreover, the complexity in the direction of optimization of mixing magnifies due to the implication of both fluid mechanics and biochemical engineering to study the effect of mixing in anaerobic digestion (AD). The effect of mixing on AD is explored using recent literature and theoretical analysis, concentrating on the multi-phase and multi-scale aspects of AD. The tools and methods available to experimentally quantify the function of mixing on both the global and local scales are summarized in this study. The major challenge for mixing in an anaerobic digester is to minimize dead zones and maintain uniform distribution of viscosity and shear at low mixing intensities without disrupting the microbial flocs and syntrophic relationships between the bacteria during the AD process. This study is a critical analysis of various techniques and approaches adopted by researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of mixing regimes and mixing equipment. Most studies describe biogas production performance and hydrodynamic characteristics of the digesters separately, but the evaluation of mixing requires interdisciplinary experts, which include mechanical engineers, microbiologists and hydrodynamic experts. Through this review, the readers will be guided through intensive literature regarding agitation, the best possible way to scrutinize the agitation problems and the approach to answering the question “why is the optimization of mixing in an anaerobic digester still a debatable subject?”.

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Section: Correlation Between Lab-scale and Large-scale Mixing In Anaerobic Digestersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Energy Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical Analysis of Methods Adopted for Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in an Anaerobic Digester

Singh

Čonka

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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“…As an alternative, the methane production data from the high-throughput biomethane potential tests (BMP) [47] may be described using more simplistic kinetic models [48][49][50] and used to predict the effect of different pretreatment approaches on AD performance. It has been demonstrated in several studies that BMP results correlate well with methane production in continuously operated AD systems despite the presence of scaling effects and fluctuations in methane production [51][52][53][54].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrothermal but Not Mechanical Pretreatment of Wastewater Algae Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion Energy Balance due to Improved Biomass Disintegration and Methane Production Kinetics

Bohutskyi,

Phan,

Spierling

et al. 2023

Energies

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This study used pilot-scale high-rate algae ponds to assess algal–bacteria biomass productivity and wastewater nutrient removal as well as the impact of mechanical and hydrothermal pretreatments on biomass disintegration, methane production kinetics, and anaerobic digestion (AD) energy balance. Mechanical pretreatment had a minor effect on biomass disintegration and methane production. By contrast, hydrothermal pretreatment significantly reduced particle size and increased the solubilized organic matter content by 3.5 times. The methane yield and production rate increased by 20–55% and 20–85%, respectively, with the highest values achieved after pretreatment at 121 °C for 60 min. While the 1st-order and pseudo-1st-order reaction equation models fitted methane production from untreated biomass best (R2 > 0.993), the modified Gompertz sigmoidal-type model provided a superior fit for hydrothermally pretreated algae (R2 ≥ 0.99). The AD energy balance revealed that hydrothermal pretreatment improved the total energy output by 25–40%, with the highest values for volume-specific and mass-specific total energy outputs reaching 0.23 kW per digester m3 and 2.3 MW per ton of biomass volatile solids. Additionally, net energy recovery (energy output per biomass HHV) increased from 20% for untreated algae to 32–34% for hydrothermally pretreated algae, resulting in net energy ratio and net energy efficiency of 2.14 and 68%, respectively.

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“…Therefore, the proposed technologies should be analysed in detail and adjusted to national and local requirements. Scientists and biogas plant owners struggle with these problems not only in Poland but also in other countries [25][26][27][28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Efficiency of Industrial and Laboratory Anaerobic Digesters of Organic Substrates: The Use of the Biochemical Methane Potential Correction Coefficient

et al. 2020

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This study is an elaboration on the conference article written by the same authors, which presented the results of laboratory tests on the biogas efficiency of the following substrates: maize silage (MS), pig manure (PM), potato waste (PW), and sugar beet pulp (SB). This article presents methane yields from the same substrates, but also on a technical scale. Apart from that, it presents an original methodology of defining the Biochemical Methane Potential Correction Coefficient (BMPCC) based on the calculation of biomass conversion on an industrial scale and on a laboratory scale. The BMPCC was introduced as a tool to enable uncomplicated verification of the operation of a biogas plant to increase its efficiency and prevent undesirable losses. The estimated BMPCC values showed that the volume of methane produced in the laboratory was overestimated in comparison to the amount of methane obtained under technical conditions. There were differences observed for each substrate. They ranged from 4.7% to 17.19% for MS, from 1.14% to 23.58% for PM, from 9.5% to 13.69% for PW, and from 9.06% to 14.31% for SB. The BMPCC enables estimation of biomass under fermentation on an industrial scale, as compared with laboratory conditions.

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Scale Up of Laboratory Scale to Industrial Scale Biogas Plants

Cited by 6 publications

References 2 publications

Critical Analysis of Methods Adopted for Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in an Anaerobic Digester

Critical Analysis of Methods Adopted for Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in an Anaerobic Digester

Hydrothermal but Not Mechanical Pretreatment of Wastewater Algae Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion Energy Balance due to Improved Biomass Disintegration and Methane Production Kinetics

The Efficiency of Industrial and Laboratory Anaerobic Digesters of Organic Substrates: The Use of the Biochemical Methane Potential Correction Coefficient

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