Besides encymes the mechanical decomposition of substrates is most widespread. We as biogas plant operators use mechanical decomposition of substrates as long as we operate plants. In case of liquid manure animals made the decomposition, the shredder at the harvest in case of silage. A decomposition beyond this requires considerable expense on energy and wear on the…
Many „new“ procedures to increase the biogas yield from the substrates are developed and propagated particularly in economically difficult times. The best known techniques at the market are
I have reviewed these techniques and also evaluated. Partly…
Micronutrients or trace elements (these are mostly heavy metals) are needed in all biogas plants. The micronutrients are the central atoms in the enzymes which must be produced by the methane bacteria in order to produce biogas. Without micronutrients there is also no biogas.
A part of the needed micronutrients is mostly delivered with the substrate. If with…
At the operation of biogas plants acidification of the digester is one of the most expensive problems. When the digester biology is acidotic, it can possibly last months, till the plant has its full performance again and the planned revenues flow again. Hence it is especially important to control the digester biology continually and to react at…
The introduction of „Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances 529 (TRGS 529)“ in Germany earlier this year lead to several new provisions for operators of biogas plants. Besides instructions in the technical field the handling of additives is addressed in detail. In the surroundings of additives the depth of regulations was rather low until now, so that legal…
The analysis of the micronutrient concentrations in the digester supplies no usable information about the level of supply of the digester biology. These costs can be saved. The use of individual mixtures makes no sense, as the level of supply cannot be sensefully detected. A safe micronutrient supply of the digester biology is only possible by the correct addition of a defined product adjusted to the growth of the bacteria population.
We develop and pursue the use of micronutrients or essential trace elements since over 25 years. The experience shows, that micronutrients as Acinor 1000 lead to an improvement of the process stability in all plant types, also with the use of liquid manure. High loading rates are only feasible with the addition of micronutrients.
When I started constructing and commissioning the first high-loaded biogas digesters (digester load 8-10 kg oDM/cbm/d) in 2005, an unexpected phenomenon appeared – the digesters warmed up by themselves in summer without activated heating. The real problem was the too fast increase of temperature, leading to a breakdown of the biology. In a few weeks the planned digester temperature of 39 °C increased to 43 °C, and the digester biology suddenly became unstable.
The still common understanding assumes the existence of a mesophilic (35 – 40 °C) as well as a thermophilic (50 – 55 °C) temperature range for the biogas production. More stable biological process conditions should be enabled by the mesophilic range, the thermophilic range is said to be faster and to produce more gas. 20 years ago…