Utilization of Food and Agricultural Residues for a Flexible Biogas Production: Process Stability and Effects on Needed Biogas Storage Capacities

Ervin Saracevic, Susanne Frühauf, Angela Miltner, Kwankao Karnpakdee, Bernhard Munk, Michael Lebuhn, Bernhard Wlcek, Jonas Leber, Javier Lizasoain, Anton Friedl, Andreas Gronauer and Alexander Bauer
Additional contact information
Ervin Saracevic: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Susanne Frühauf: Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Angela Miltner: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Kwankao Karnpakdee: Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Bernhard Munk: Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, Central Department for Quality Assurance and Analytics, 85354 Freising, Germany
Michael Lebuhn: Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, Central Department for Quality Assurance and Analytics, 85354 Freising, Germany
Bernhard Wlcek: Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Jonas Leber: Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Javier Lizasoain: Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Anton Friedl: Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Andreas Gronauer: Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Alexander Bauer: Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, 1190 Vienna, Austria

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 14, 1-23

Abstract: Biogas plants can contribute to future energy systems’ stability through flexible power generation. To provide power flexibly, a demand-oriented biogas supply is necessary, which may be ensured by applying flexible feeding strategies. In this study, the impacts of applying three different feeding strategies (1x, 3x and 9x feeding per day) on the biogas and methane production and process stability parameters were determined for a biogas plant with a focus on waste treatment. Two feedstocks that differed in (1) high fat and (2) higher carbohydrate content were investigated during semi-continuous fermentation tests. Measurements of the short chain fatty acids concentration, pH value, TVA/TIC ratio and total ammonium and ammonia content along with a molecular biology analysis were conducted to assess the effects on process stability. The results show that flexible biogas production can be obtained without negative impacts on the process performance and that production peaks in biogas and methane can be significantly shifted to another time by changing feeding intervals. Implementing the fermentation tests’ results into a biogas plant simulation model and an assessment of power generation scenarios focusing on peak-time power generation revealed a considerable reduction potential for the needed biogas storage capacity of up to 73.7%.

Keywords: Semi-continuous fermentation; Anaerobic digestion; Food waste; Biogas; Process simulation; Biogas storage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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