Anaerobic Digestion

(Large-Scale)

Compiled by:
Dorothee Spuhler (seecon international gmbh)

Executive Summary
Large-scale anaerobic biogas digesters are reactors used for the
conversion of the organic fraction of large volumes of slurries
and sludge into biogas byanaerobic digestion. Biogas is recovered
and used either directly for heating the reactors or transformed
into combined power and heat and fed into the grid. It can also be
upgraded to natural gas quality. Typical substrates are
excess sludge from wastewater treatment plants or waste slurries
from agriculture (manure) or (diary) industry. Energy crops may
also be added in order to increase the gas yield. Large-scale
anaerobic digesters have been mainly developed in industrialised
countries and many different designs and types are available - most
of them are rather high-tech and require expert
construction, operation and maintenance skills. Biogas is a
green energyand has the potential to reduce greenhouse
gas emission. Due to increasing fuel prices and climate
change, biogas generation from wastes and energycorps at large-scale is
gaining interest also in developing countries.

In Out

Blackwater, Faecal
Sludge, Brownwater,Faeces, Excreta, Organic Solid Biogas, Compost/Biosolids
Waste
Large-scale biogas reactors are designed for the conversion of the organic fraction
of large volumes of slurries and sludge into biogas. Typical substrates are
excess sludge from large-scale wastewater treatment plants, agricultural and food
industry wastes (e.g. manure, from stock framing, sugar refining, starch
production, coffee processing, alcohol generation, slaughterhouses etc.) or
industrial wastes (e.g. from paper manufacturing, biotechnological industries,
etc.) (WERNER et al. 1989).

Biogas production form agriculture and food industry waste slurry.Products are

electricity, clean fuel, carbon credits and liquid and solid fertiliser. Source: BIOPACT
(n.y.)

Energy crops are sometimes also added in order to increase biogas yields. The

produced biogas can be recovered and generally transformed into heat in agas
turbine or into combined heat and power (CHP) incogeneration plants and fed into
the public grid (MES et al. 2003; JENSSEN et al. 2004; WRAPAI 2009) (see
also conversion of biogas to electricity at large scale). It can also be upgraded to
natural gas quality, compressed and used to power motor vehicles. Thesludge that
remains after digestion is rich in nutrientsand can be used as a soil amendment in
agriculture, generally after anaerobic composting as final treatment step.
 
The generation of combined heat and power as well as natural gas from
agricultural products. Overall scheme. Source: unknown

To date, such large-scalebiogas digesters have been mainly applied and developed

in industrialised countries resulting in plants with sophisticated equipment and
operational techniques (e.g. wet and dry digestionprocesses, heated and
unheated reactors, batch and continuous reactors etc.). They vary in design and
complexity but have all in common to require expert planning, design and staff
foroperation and maintenance. Given increasing electricity and fuel prices, the
dissemination of large-scale biogas plants also gains in interest in less
industrialised countries (BRUYN 2006).

Treatment Process and Design Principals

A typical egg-shaped biogas reactor in Germany (left) and an agricultural fixed-

dome biogas reactor. Sources: MIKLED (n.y.) and KLIMA SUCHT SCHUTZ (n.y.)

Vertical continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR, left) and horizontal plug-flow

reactor (PFR, right) — two examples for large-scale agricultural biogas digesters in
Europe. Source: BRUYN (2006)

As small-scale digesters (see also biogas digester small scale), large-scale

anaerobic digesters treating slurries are generally designed according to the wet
digestion process with 10 to 20 % of total solids (TS) (see alsoanaerobic treatment
of waste and wastewater). The volumes of the reactors are ranging from several
hundred to several thousand m3. Due to the size of plant, the respective
objectives and special requirements concerning operation and substrates,
the anaerobictreatment of waste materials and wastewater at large-scale requires
a different set of planning mechanisms, plant types and implementation factors
(WERNER et al. 1989). The designer must know that he cannot ‘simply’ enlarge the
plants for a small-scale plant to any degree (SASSE 1988). When a low-tech
solution is required, it is possible to construct several low-
tech small and decentralised biogas plantsinstead of one single larger digester in
order to facilitate operation and maintenance (ICRC 2009).
The most common forms of large-scale digesters are batch reactors and
continuous-flow, plug-flow and continuously stirred tank reactor (PFR and CSTR).
Fed-batch reactors (accumulation systems) are sometimes also applied (MES et al.
2003). Completely mixed and batch systems are generally built vertically, plug-
flow reactors are generally horizontal reactors. Horizontalreactors are often
constructed similar to floating or expandable plastic dome plants (see biogas
digester small scale) but much larger. Fixed dome are also used, but require large
volumes of retention tanks for sludge expansion.
 

Sustainable sanitation concept (energy recovery and nutrientrecycling) of the city of

Braunschweig, Germany: The wastewater treatment plants covers its energy needs with
the production ofbiogas from excess sludge combined with biogas recovered
fromlandfills and green waste digestion. Agricultural plants, digestingenergy crops (corn)
produce biogas, which is transformed tocombined heat and power which is fed into the
grid of Braunschweig. Source: VEOLIA WATER (2010)

The anaerobic digestion is either carried out in themesophilic (20 to 35 °C) or

the thermophilic range (50 to 60 °C). Thermophilicprocesses produce
morebiogas in shorter time. However, mesophilicprocesses are often preferred as
high temperatures require higher input energy to obtain
operation temperatures and the production of ammonia, which is toxic for
theanaerobic microorganismproducing the biogas, is higher at
highertemperatures (ISAT & GTZ1999)  (see also anaerobic treatment of waste and
wastewater).
One way to optimise large-scale anaerobic digesters is to use multi-stage digestion,
which allows to more accurately control pH andtemperature, the main process
factors influencing the performance of the digestion bacteria. In such systems, the
four stages of anaerobic
digestion (hydrolysis and acidogenesis fromacetogenesis and methanogenesis) are
separated in different consecutive compartments (MES et al. 2003). Consequently,
the optimum conditions for each type of bacteria must be maintained in a smaller
volume (e.g. high temperatures for methanogenesis), resulting in a simplified
maintenance and in energy savings.

Example of Application: Anaerobic Digestion of Excess

Sludge from Lager-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plants
Sewage or municipal wastewater can be treated by anaerobic digestion, but due to
the liquid nature of such wastes, the process requires high-rate anaerobic
digestion reactors (e.g. upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors).
However, when sewage is treated in a conventional large-scale wastewater
treatment plant (e.g. in an activated sludge system, see factsheet activated
sludge), the anaerobic treatment of the excess sludge is often integrated into the
overall process (TBW 2001). In activated sludge systems, sludge means the total
solid material that results from sedimentation and bacterial activity and growth
during the aerobic wastewater treatment. During the process, much of
the sludge is recirculated (see picture below), while the excess sludge is treated
together with the sludge from primary sedimentation in an anaerobic digester.
 
Overall scheme of a high-tech activated sludge wastewater treatment plant combined
with sludge digestion and biogasproduction. Source: WIKIPEDIA (2010)

Typical excess sludgedigesters work often inmesophilic,

sometimesthermophilic conditions. Thesludge retention time is about one month
(TBW 2001). To generate appropriate reactortemperatures, a heating system is
required. Thebiogas plant’s energyrequirements for heating and other uses can
partly, sometimes fully, be covered by utilising the produced gas (transformation
in a CHP). Excess heat and power is fed in the local heat and power grid. The
excess gas can also be compressed and sold as natural gas (e.g. for vehicles).
The remaining sludge is post-treated most often by aerobic composting. In Central
Europe, where the digestion of excess sludge from wastewater treatment plant is
common (TBW 2001), the use of the remaining sludge in agriculture is often
restricted due to the risk of over-fertilisation (eutrophication) and the high
content of heavy metals and other pollutants which can be introduced into the soil
and water by applying the sludge on the fields. Therefore, the remaining slurry is
generally dewatered and disposed of in landfills or incinerators. To recover
the nutrients contained in the remaining sludge (mainly P and N but also some
other trace minerals) high-tech solutions (e.g. ASH DEC) are being developed and
more and more frequently used (see also advanced nutrient recovery). Though this
process serves the purpose of recycling, it is highly energy and cost intensive and
requires high-tech solutions.

At a Glance

High-strength slurries from wastewater
treatment plants, agriculture or industry are fed in
an airtight reactor where the organicfraction is
transformed into biogas byanaerobic
Working Principle
digestion. Biogas is transformed into heat and
power and used as greenenergy source. The
remaining sludge is rich in nutrients and could be
used in agriculture.

Large-scale anaerobic digesters are complex in

design, planning and operation and are therefore
Capacity/Adequacy
only adapted at a large scale, involving the
collaboration of various experts.

High volume reduction of wastes; Relatively

Performance
high pathogen removal; Nutrients remain in
 the sludge; SRT of some weeks

Costs High capital costs, high operation costs.

Self-help Compatibility High-tech expert design is required.

Operation and maintenance requires a strict

O&M organisation and the continuous involvement of
experts.

Resistant to shock loading. Reliable if operated and

Reliability
maintained well.

High volume reduction of municipal, agricultural

Main strength and industrial wastes; Generation of green energy;
Potential forgreenhouse gas reduction.

Expert design is required; high-tech and cost

Main weakness
intensive.

Applicability
Large-scale anaerobic digesters are designed for the treatment of large-volumes
of high-strength waste slurries form agriculture and industry (e.g. manure,
slaughterhouses, paper manufacturing) or to treat the excess sludge from large-
scale wastewater treatment plants (activated sludge systems). The different
plants vary strongly in design and complexities, but all require expert planning,
design and staff for operation and maintenance.
They are either fed-batch, batch, or continuous reactors, which are run within
the mesophilicrange. The operation temperature is normally achieved by heating.
Generated biogas often gives enough power and heat to run the plant. Excess
power (and heat) is fed into the public grid if possible.
In Europe, energy crops (e.g. maize and grass) are sometimes fed into
the reactors to enhancebiogas yields. However, the cultivation of energy-rich
plants specifically for the production of bio-fuels is often not sustainable, due to
the high inputs (water, nutrients, land); furthermore, their production competes
with the production of food crops.
 

Advantages
 Combined treatment of different organic waste and wastewaters
  High reduction of the volume of waste
 Generation of a renewable energy (biogas)
 Potential for greenhouse gas emission reduction (collection of methane;
green energy production)
 Remaining sludge could be used as fertiliser
 Low space requirements

Disadvantages
 Experts are required for the design, construction, operation and
maintenance
 High technical and organisational complexity (complexity normally rises
with scale)
 Reuse of produced energy (e.g. transformation into, fire/light, heat and
power) needs to be established
 High sensitivity of methanogenic bacteria to a large number of chemical
compounds
 Requires seeding (start-up can be long due to the low growth yield of
anaerobic bacteria)

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