Viable use of biogas for energy production
Anaerobic digestion is a biological process that exploits organic waste, such as livestock manure and food processing products and generates biogas, principally composed by methane and carbon dioxide. Occurring either naturally or under controlled environment, organic waste is introduced in a container (digester), where decomposition of plant or animal matter takes place. Once the organic material is broken down into usable-sized material, they are converted into organic acids, from which methane gas is produced. Nowadays, anaerobic digestion technologies are widely used with agricultural wastes and have been found viable for producing biogas fuels. However, during usage of biogas in fuel cells for electricity and heat generation, trace gases are produced that may be harmful for the fuel cells. Therefore, cost-efficient use of biogas in fuel cells for energy production is subject to fail if detrimental trace gases are not avoided, eliminated or reduced. Urged by this the AMONCO project conducted comprehensive and detailed biogas analyses for specifying harmful trace gases. Researchers developed advanced techniques for controlling the anaerobic process and cost-effective biogas cleaning for utilisation in fuel cells. Additionally, a developed knowledge-based decision support tool is expected to offer users increased capabilities to predict trace gases in relation to the fermented substrates. A decisive factor for the accurate prediction of trace gases is determination of biogas composition. Thereby, an extensive analysis of the substrates introduced in the digester has been performed. These involved bovine and pork intestines and contents, as well as, other animal organs that were combined in different proportions resulting in various mixtures. For each substrate and mixture parameters, such as total nitrogen, dried matter, organic fraction, fats volatile fatty acids were thoroughly determined. A joint venture agreement is sought with potential biogas/fuel cell operators, financial institutions to finance possible projects and/or energy service companies.
