Notes
Slide Show
Outline
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MSC Anaerobic Digester Operation
  • Dr. Walid H. Shayya
  • School of Agriculture & Natural Resources
  • Morrisville State College

  • Last Updated on October 17, 2009
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Overview
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Overview
  • The process of filling the north side of the digester was started on the 29th of November and completed in mid December, 2006.
    • During the process, half of the collected manure was fed to the north side of the digester with the remaining half fed to the south side of the digester that had already produced biogas for at least four weeks.
    • The effluent from the south side of the digester was also pumped into the north side of the digester to provide the inoculant to startup the anaerobic digestion process as well as fill up the north side of the digester as quickly as possible.
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Overview (continued…)
  • Production of biogas started soon after the two sides of the digester were filled with effluent from the dairy complex.
  • Biogas production became consistent starting from December 17, 2006.
  • Flaring the biogas started on December 20, 2006, and went on until the internal combustion engine(ICE)/generator set was tested on January 9, 2007.
  • Flaring the biogas continued until the interconnect with the power grid was approved and the combined heat and power generation (CHP) system was authorized to start on February 27, 2007.
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Overview (continued…)
  • The system was in operation and consistently generating electrical power until December 17, 2008.
    • Due to a leak in the main heat exchanger located in the grit chamber of the south side of the digester, hot water was turned off to the south side of the digester in early December 2008.
    • System produced very little power between in December 2008 and the engine was finally shut down on December 17.
    • Fixing the leak could not take place immediately due to several factors including the location of the leak, the time of year, and the observed build-up of solids.
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Overview (continued…)
  • The leak was fixed by an outside contractor in early April 2009.
  • After extensive mixing of solids and liquid in both sides of the digester, the process of loading the digester with influent started in late May, 2009.
  • The engine was finally started on Jun 13, 2009.
  • Biogas production and electricity generation reached pre-leak levels on June 22, 2009.
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Summary Parameters
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Table 1.  Summary parameters of MSC digester operation during the period of 28 February 2007 to 16 October 2009 (note that the system generated no power between 17 December 2008 and 15 June 2009 since it was shut down for repair).
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Animal Numbers
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Figure 1.
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Figure 2.
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Digester Temperature Readings
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Figure 3.
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Figure 4.
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Figure 5.
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Figure 6.
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Biogas Production
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Figure 7.
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Figure 8.
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Figure 9.
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Figure 10.
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Figure 11.
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Electrical Power Output
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Figure 12.
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Figure 13.
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Electrical Power Generation
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Figure 14.
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Figure 15.
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Figure 16.
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Figure 17.
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Biogas Production and Electrical Power Generation Relationships
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Figure 18.
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Figure 19.
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Energy Conversion
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Figure 20.
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Figure 21.
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Figure 22.
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DIGESTER OPERATION:
Generator Runtime
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Figure 23.
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Figure 24.
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Figure 25.
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Figure 26.