9/17/2012

1
Anaerobic Digestion Basics 2
Sergio Capareda
Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Department
Texas A&M University
Anaerobic
Digester
Designs
Daily Manure Production Per 1000
lb (454 kg) of Animal Weight
Manure Production Swine Dairy Beef Poultry
Weight of wet manure (kg/day) 30 37 27 24
Volume of wet manure (m
3
/day) 0.03 0.04 0.03 0.02
Volatile solids (kg/day) 2.2 3.9 2.7 4.2
Volatile solids content (%weight) 7.5 11 10 18
Example: Given: 100 heads of swine weighing 75 lbs each. Determine the
total amount of wet manure produced per day (kg) and the volume (m
3
). If
the retention time is 30 days, what is the minimum size of reactor.
Solution:
1. Daily manure production = 100 x 30 kg/day x 75/1000 = 225 kg
2. Daily volume of manure = 100 x .03 m
3
/day x 75/1000 = 0.225 m
3
3. Minimum size of reactor = 0.225 m
3
x 30 days = 6.75 m
3
Biogas Production, HV & Equivalents
Livestock
(450kg, 1000
lbs body
weight)
Approximate
biogas
production
Heating
Value
1
Approximate Equivalents
(m
3
/day) (MJ) Gasoline
2
(l)
Diesel
(l)
Natural
gas
2
(m
3
)
Propane
2
(kg)
Beef 0.85 19.0 0.57 0.53 0.51 0.4
Dairy 1.27 28.5 0.87 0.76 0.76 0.6
Broilers 2.61 58.2 1.74 1.59 1.56 1.2
Layers 2.04 45.6 1.36 1.21 1.22 1.0
Swine 0.82 18.4 0.57 0.49 0.48 0.4
1
Assumes biogas contains 65% methane or heating value of 22.4 MJ/m
3
(600
Btu/ft
3
2
Heating values: gasoline = 33.4 MJ/l; diesel = 37.1MJ/l; natural gas = 37.3
MJ/m
3
; propane = 48.7 MJ/kg
9/17/2012
2
Design Criteria
Determine production requirements of methane
Inventory of raw materials
Determine optimal digestion period (retention
time)
Determine size of digester (allow some
headspace, around 10-20% volume)
Identify type of digester (batch or continuous)
Determine size of gasholder (normally several
times the daily requirement)
Theoretical Gas Composition Calculation
2 4 2
4 8 2 4 8 2 2 4
CO
c b a
CH
c b a
O H
c b
a O H C
c b a
|
.
|

\
|
+ + |
.
|

\
|
+ |
.
|

\
|
+
( ) ( ) ( )
2 4 2 6 12 6
5 . 1 5 . 1 3 5 . 1 5 . 1 3 3 3 6 CO CH O H O H C + + + +
Example: Determine the theoretical methane production from glucose C
6
H
12
O
6
Solution: 1. a = 6; b = 12; c = 6
2 4 2 6 12 6
4
6
8
12
2
6
4
6
8
12
2
6
2
6
4
12
6 CO CH O H O H C |
.
|

\
|
+ + |
.
|

\
|
+ |
.
|

\
|
+
C
6
H
12
O
6
3CH
4
+ 3CO
2
[12*6+1*12+16*6 3*[12*1+1*4 + 12*1+16*2]
180 lb glucose 48 lb methane + 132 lb CO
2
Anaerobic digestion is about 60-70% efficient.
3 3
167 . 0
48 . 7 cos
0223 . 0
2 . 168
cos
75 . 3
48
cos 180
ft
lb
ft
gal
x
methane gal
e glu lb
methane gal
methane lb
x
methane lb
e glu lb
methane lb
e glu lb
= = =
e glu lb
methane ft
cos
6
3
or
methane ft
e glu lb
3
cos
167 . 0
Biogas Utilization
Engine Use
Use high compression engines (13-14:1)
Full engine power realized when CO
2
is removed (water or
caustic scrubbing)
General Formula: 2XOH + CO
2
X
2
CO
3
+ H
2
O
where X refers to Na, K or Ca
Use of Ca is known as lime-water scrubbing (inexpensive but
has great deal of precipitate. Use of Na is more convenient but
expensive
Water vapor eliminated through sloping gas pipes and drainable
collection traps
H
2
S should be eliminated using solid chemical absorption (inert
woodchips mixed with iron oxides or rusts, Fe
2
O
3
)
A volume of 0.1m
3
will scrub 3300 m
3
of biogas (assuming 2g of
H
2
S/m
3
)
The scrubber is regenerated by exposure to oxygen (air)
Biogas Utilization
Engine Use (assumptions)
Engine thermal efficiency is roughly 25%
Electrical to mechanical efficiency is about 80%
Heating value of biogas = 22.4 MJ/m
3
(600 Btu/ft
3
)
Density of dairy manure slurry=1.08 L/kg (0.13 gal/lb or 7.7 lbs/gal)
Mixing Ratio = 1:1 (fresh manure to water)
Hydraulic retention time = 21 days
Example Calculations for 100 kWh/day [341,500 Btu/day]
requirement
1. Biogas needed
2. Required number of beef animals (1,000 lbs each)
3. Digester volume and dimensions
4. Gas holder volume and dimensions
5. Weight of slurry withdrawn (10% volatilization)
9/17/2012
3
Biogas Utilization
Example Calculations for 100 kWh/day requirement
1. Biogas needed (m
3
/day)
2. Quantity of animal manure needed
3. Digester volume and dimensions (assume a cube)
4. Gas holder volume and dimensions
- 40 m
3
/day (or roughly half the volume of gas produced)
5. Weight of slurry withdrawn each day
day m x x
MJ
m
x
kWh
MJ
x
day
kWh
day
m
/ 80
80 . 0
1
25 . 0
1
4 . 22
6 . 3 100 3
3 3
= =
) 000 , 1 ( 63
27 . 1
) 000 , 1 ( 80
#
3
3
lb cows dairy
m
lb dairy day
x
day
m
cows =

=
] 75 . 4 [ 106 2 21
04 . 0
63 ) (
3
3
3
side each m m days
day
m
cows m Volume = =
day kg
day cow
kg
cows kg Weight / 196 , 4 9 . 0 2
37
63 ) ( =

=
Biogas Utilization
Example. Calculations for 341,500 Btu/day (100 kWh/day )
requirement
1. Biogas needed (ft
3
/day)
2. Quantity of animal manure needed
3. Digester volume and dimensions
4. Gas holder volume and dimensions
- 1,423 ft
3
/day (or roughly half the volume of gas produced)
5. Weight of slurry withdrawn per day
day ft x x
Btu
ft
x
day
Btu
day
ft
/ 845 , 2
80 . 0
1
25 . 0
1
600
500 , 341
3
3 3
= =
) 000 , 1 ( 63
82 . 44
) 000 , 1 ( 845 , 2
#
3
3
lb cows
ft
lb cow day
x
day
ft
cows =

=
3
3
3
731 , 3 2 21
41 . 1
63 ) ( ft days
day
ft
cows ft Volume = =
day lbs
day cow
lbs
cows lbs Weight / 231 , 9 9 . 0 2
4 . 81
63 ) ( =

=
H
2
S Scrubbing
Mix ferric oxide with wood shavings
1.24 ft
3
of iron sponge (one bushel) will remove
8.2 lbs of sulfur (0.0352 m
3
/3.7 kg)
Normal H
2
S concentration is 0.2%. One bushel
can treat 87,000 ft
3
of biogas with 0.2% H
2
S
before being regenerated
Scrubbing reaction
Regeneration
Other alternatives: Zinc oxide (more expensive)
Fe
O H S Fe S H O Fe
2 3 2 2 3 2
3 3 + +
2 3 2 2 3 2
3 3 2 S O Fe O S Fe + +
Anaerobic Filters
Fixed Film Reactors
Methanosarcina
Biogas Plant Design
High Rate Biogas Reactors
9/17/2012
4
Bench-scale anaerobic contact system Bench-scale plug-flow reactor
High Rate Biogas Reactors and Biogas Burner
Biogas-fired industrial burner
Kinetics of Biogas Digestion
Monod (1950) studied fermentation of grape sugars to alcohol
Assumptions:
a. The growth rate of the micro-organisms was found to be proportional to the
rate of substrate (sugars. Glucose, etc.) utilization
b. The decay rate of micro-organisms can be expressed by a first order
equation
Where
X = microorganism concentration (mg VSS/L)
S = substrate concentration (mg COD/L)
= specific growth rate of microorganisms (per day) = relative increase in
mass /time

m
= maximum specific growth rate (per day)
b = death rate constant (per day)
K
s
= Monod (half saturation) constant (mg COD/L)
Indexes g, u and d stands for growth, utilization and decay, respectively.
S K
S
X X
dt
dS
Y
dt
dX
s
m
u g
+
= = |
.
|

\
|
= |
.
|

\
|

Xb
dt
dX
d
= |
.
|

\
|
S K
S
s
m
+
=
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
C
e
ll C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
io
n

(
m
g
/L
)
Time in hrs
Growth Kinetics
Microbial Growth Rate Plots
The stages of microbial growth in a biogas reactor is shown below
Lag phase
Acceleration
Exponential
Deceleration
Maximum population
death/cell lysis
lag
acceleration
exponential
deceleration
maximum population
death/lysis
Kinetics of Biogas Digestion Example
In a simple anaerobic digestion of potato wastes, a completely stirred tank reactor was
used (CSTR) at 55
o
C. The maximum methane gas yield,
max
, was found to be 0.88 L/g
[14.13 ft
3
/lb]. The Monod constant, K
s
, was found to be 0.089/day. Plot the Monod kinetics
from concentration of substrate between 0-1.2 g (VSS)/L [0.1 lb (VSS)/gal]. Also,
determine the maximum methane gas production in ft
3
/ton of volatile solids.
Solution
a. The constants are substituted in classical Monod equation and plotted
b.
Source: Linke, B.. 2006. Kinetic study of thermophilic anaerobic digestion of solid
wastes from potato processing. Elsevier Publications 2006.
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 B
io
g
a
s
p
r
o
d
u
c
t
io
n

(
L
/g
)
Substrate concentration (g/L)
Monod Kinetics
ton
ft
ton
lbs
x
lb
ft
ton ft CH
3 3
3
4
260 , 28
2000
13 . 14 ) / ( = =
9/17/2012
5
Enzyme Kinetics
Michaelis-Menten Kinetics one of the simplest and best-known models of
enzyme kinetics (observe the similarities with Monod Kinetics).
The model describes the rate of enzymatic reaction by relating reaction rate, V to
[S], the substrate concentration S as shown below
Where
Vmax = maximum rate achieved by the system at maximum (saturating)
substrate concentration
S = substrate concentration
K
m
= Michaelis-Menten constant, is the substrate concentration at which the
reaction rate is half of Vmax
or
S K
S V
v
m
] [
] [
max
+
=
] [
] [
max
S K
S
V v
m
+
=
Digester Heating Requirements and Heat Losses
Mesophilic: [35
o
C or 95
o
F] or Thermophilic [55
o
C or 130
o
F]
1. Basic Equation for heating the digester
Where
Q
1
= heat required, J/day (Btu/day)
W
f
= feed sludge weight, kg/day (lb/day)
C
p
= specific heat of sludge (assumed water), 4,200 J/kg
o
C (1 Btu/lb
o
F)
T
2
= design operating temperature of digester
T
1
= temperature of feed sludge
2. Basic equation for digester heat loss
Where
Q
2
= heat required, J/s (Btu/hr)
U = heat transfer coefficient, J/m
2
-s-
o
C (Btu/hr-ft
2
-
o
F)
A = surface area of digester through which heat losses occur, m
2
(ft
2
)
T
2
= temperature of sludge in digester
T
1
= temperature outside the digester
Fe
) (
1 2 1
T T C W Q
p f
=
) (
3 2 2
T T UA Q =
Digester Heating Requirements and Het Losses
Example. The feed sludge input per day was 9,231 lbs from an initial temperature of 55
o
F
to a thermophilic temperature of 95
o
F. Determine the energy required to raise the
sludge temperature to the reaction temperature. Determine also the heat loss given
the following parameters: the overall heat loss value (plain concrete with thick
insulation) is equal to 0.14 Btu/hr-ft
2
-
o
F, the total area of digester subjected to heat
losses is equal to 1,500 ft
2
and the temperature of the environment was 25
o
F.
Solution
1. Heating requirement of the digester to the desired temperature
2. Digester heat loss using given data
3. This is equal to 352,800 Btu/day, also a significant energy requirement.
day Btu F x
lbF
Btu
x
day
lbs
T T C W Q
p f
/ 240 , 369 ) 55 95 (
1 231 , 9
) (
1 2 1
= = =
hr Btu F x
ft
x
F ft hr
Btu
T T UA Q / 700 , 14 ) 25 95 (
500 , 1 14 . 0
) (
2
2
3 2 2
=

= =
9/17/2012
6
Cost of Anaerobic Digester Systems
Example 1. Geerlings Hillside Farm and Phase 3 Renewables
Project Size = 550,000 gallon AD
Herd size = 8,000 head hog farm
Feedstock = 8 million gallon/yr hog or heifer manure
Project cost = $1M
Main digester tank = $350,000, liquid storage tank = $70,000,
construction cost = $75,000, electrical generation equipment =
$150,000, separation equipment = $55,000, (dissolved air flotation) DAF
= $100,000 and pellet mill = $50,000, interconnection cost = $75,000,
other costs = $125,000
Location = Allegan County, Michigan
Retention time = 24-25 days
EPA Data on Costs (upfront capital cost only excluding operational costs)
Covered lagoon = $150-400/AU (animal unit = 1,000 lb live weight)
Completely mixed or plug flow digester = $200-400/AU
Weight of other animals (e.g. cows)
Smaller breeds (Dexter, Jersey) = 600-1,00 lbs
Large continental breed (Charolais, Marchigiana, etc. = 1,400-2,000 lbs
British breed (Hereford, Angus, etc) = 1,000-2000 lbs (average = 1,600 lbs)
Bulls = 2,400 lbs
Cost of Anaerobic Digester Systems
Example 2. Morrisville State College Dairy Biogas Facility
Project Size = 725,000 gallon AD
Herd size = 400 dairy cows
Feedstock = 8 million gallon/yr hog or heifer manure
Project cost = $1,182,587
Main digester cost = $779,992, storage facilities = $246,600, Others =
$155,995
Location = New York
Hydraulic Retention Time = 25 days
Total loading arte = 10,000 gal/day
Volume of treatment = 249,000 gallons
Biogas = 60% methane, 40% CO
2
, H
2
S = 1,500 ppm
Biogas use = MAN Engine with 50kW generator running at 96.85% reliability
ICE Usage = 23,287 ft
3
biogas/day
Boiler usage for heating digester = 3000,000 Btu/hr (81 ft
3
/cow/day)
Electrical output = 341,885 kWhr/yr
Conversion Efficiency (chemical to electric) = 25.9%
Savings each year = $25,000 from selling power @ $0.10/kWh
If you divide the yearly savings from the initial capital cost the number will be 47.
Methane Yields of Various Woody Biomass
Common Name Scientific Name Methane Yield
L/kg ft
3
/lb
Cellulose powder 390 6.26
Pussy willow Salix eriocephala 291 4.66
Shining willow Salix lucida 270 4.33
Coyote willow Salix exigua 280 4.49
Common osier Salix viminalis 340 5.46
White willow Salix alba 301 4.82
Purple osier willow Salix purpurea (SP3) 230 3.69
Peach leaf willow Salix amygdaloides (SAM5) 210 3.37
Halberd willow Salix hastata (SH2) 230 3.69
Hybrid poplar Platanus nigra x P. maximowiczii 390 6.26
Hybrid poplar Platanus nigra x P. euramericana 410 6.58
Eastern cottonwood Platanue deltoids 301 4.82
American sycamore Platanus occidentalis 380 6.10
Black locust Robinia pseudoacacia 301 4.82
Sweet gum Liquidambar styraciflua 260 4.17
Source: Badger, P. and P. Pullammanappallil, 2011. Biomass Conversion to Energy and Fuels.
In: Wood to Energy: Using Southern Interface Fuels for Bioenergy, C. Staudhammer, A. L.
Hermansen-Baez, D. R. Carter and E. A. Macie (eds). USDA Forest Service General Technical
Report GTR-132, January, 2011
Future of Biogas Technology
Design of high rate (2
nd
generation) reactors
Use of biogas for drying, dehydration and steam
production
Use of biogas for power production
Use of biogas for liquid fuel production
Use of sludge for fertilizer and other fuels such as
biochar or activated carbons
Many landfill facilities in the US are now producing
electrical power as newer engines are being developed
for low BTU biogas
Use of biogas as fuel for fuel cell for electrical power
production
Applications in cogeneration (i.e., combined heat and
power generation)