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The technology employed by Biogas Energy has been installed in hundreds of projects around the world.
We built our first project in Ireland a decade ago to digest food waste and cow manure, and that project continues to provide heat, hot water and power to a small village.
Since then the technology has been installed in Europe and North America to treat a variety of feedstocks and produce significant renewable energy.
Today Biogas Energy is working with farms and businesses large and small to integrate anaerobic digestion into a variety of applications.
Let our team of experts help you implement the right biogas technology for your application!
View Inside Digester
Gas and substrate piping
Assembling the roofing system
Installing Insulation
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Farmers already have enough work, so our anaerobic digesters require minimal labor and maintenance without sacrificing efficiency of methane production. By continually improving techniques and equipment that have been built into hundreds of digesters around the world, Biogas Energy constructs the ideal anaerobic digestion technology for North America.
In a typical dairy digester installation, everything from collecting the manure to storing the solids and liquids coming out of the digesters is done without human interaction. Just half an hour a day is required to monitor the system. Biogas Energy digesters work day in and day out so farmers can concentrate on their core business.
Substrate feed
Manure is automatically pumped directly from a receiving or thickening tank into the digesters. To generate significantly more methane than manure alone, Biogas Energy digesters accept multiple substrates, from grease to corn silage to food waste. Manure has low energy content since cows have already digested the substrate, so adding high-energy value materials produces more methane. The complete & continuous mix action within the digesters sustains an optimal environment for bacteria to digest these high-energy materials.
A pump or screw conveyor feeds the raw materials into the digesters, and existing equipment is incorporated into the facility wherever possible. Automated feeding regulates input of material to ensure optimal digestion and reduces labor required for operating the system.
The digesters
A biogas facility typically has two or more cylindrical digesters with heating pipes integrated into the walls and floor. The walls are insulated and clad with weatherproof panels.
The digesters are built above ground to reduce costs and facilitate maintenance, and their cylindrical shape ensures maximum engineering and thermal soundness.
With two or more digesters, several crucial benefits are achieved over a single tank design:
Redundancy
If one digester is taken offline, the other continues to operate without interruption, so the farmer is not stuck with tons of manure to deal with.
Ease of expansion: To increase facility capacity by any amount, simply add a digester at any time.
Quick disaster prevention and recovery: If the bacteria in one digester get sick, healthy bugs from the other tanks can be added to bring it back online quickly.
Roofing system
Biogas Energy digesters are covered with double-membraned roofs that protect from the elements, allow easy access to the digester's contents, and contain built-in gas storage. The roof's outer membrane has withstood harsh Northern winter climates for over a decade, while the inner membrane expands and contracts as a built-in gas holder for up to 10 hours of biogas production. Between the two membranes an air pump maintains pressure to give the outer membrane its stability while applying pressure to the gas storage.
By including gas storage as standard equipment, we reduce costs and gain considerable energy production efficiencies. For example, when the CHP unit is turned off for routine maintenance, the gas can be stored until operations continue. That way, our customers don't lose a cubic foot of methane to flaring. Every minute of gas flared is money lost, so gas storage adds directly to the bottom line.
If an issue arises within the digester, the roof can be unhitched and folded back to give instant access; impossible with a steel or concrete roof. This ease of access means repairs take a few minutes, not days, so downtime is reduced to a minimum.
With the ability to store gas while also enabling quick, easy access to the insides of the digesters, the roofing system saves considerable money in the long run.
Mixing devices
The contents of each tank are mixed with 2-4 submerged agitators to foster optimal bacterial proliferation and ensure steady, reliable methane production. The agitators adjust automatically or manually and ensure a complete, pervasive mix of substrate for an optimized climate for bacterial proliferation and pathogen treatment. Agitators have an expected lifetime of 8-10 years since they only run for 5-20 minutes each hour. Should an agitator require repair or replacement, it's simply matter of folding back the roof, lifting out the unit, and replacing it in minutes. Unlike digesters with concrete roofs or central mixing devices, there is minimal downtime and no loss of operations.
Desulphurization
High levels of hydrogen sulphide reaching the Combined Heat and Power unit cause severe degradation of the machinery and lead to recurring mechanical failures. Biogas Energy builds proprietary desulphurization equipment into the digesters that can reduce hydrogen sulphide levels to 250PPM or lower, depending on substrates, and can add an additional equipment as needed. Compared to other digester vendors that produce biogas with more than 2000 PPM H2S, Biogas Energy's desulphurization is well within the acceptable range for CHP units. For those facilities that require further reduction of sulphur content, additional desulphurization treatment is available.
Combined heat and power unit
After desulphurization, the biogas is converted into electrical and thermal energy in a combined heat and power (CHP) unit, also called a cogeneration unit. All of the facility's equipment, including the digester heating, runs on power generated by the CHP unit. Surplus electricity (typically 95% of the amount generated) is fed into the public grid and sold to the local power utility.
Surplus heat can be used to heat homes or buildings as well as for agricultural and industrial processes that require significant heat.
Biogas Energy's digesters are not just energy self-sufficient; they produce ample surplus electricity and heat to generate recurring revenue as a renewable, clean, domestic energy source. |
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