Monitoring & metering
Protecting your investment: Why gas analysis is crucial to anaerobic digestion performance
tonnes of organic material that is suitable for treatment by AD either from agricultural by- products like manure and slurry, through to food waste and sewage sludge. There truly is money to be made from waste. However, with an AD system costing
T
anywhere between £750,000 and £1,000,000 to put in place, the initial investment is steep. It is therefore hugely important that plants monitor their output, not only to ensure maximum efficiency but also in order to maximise AD plant uptime. Why is measurement important and so often
overlooked? One of the most common gases to be produced by an AD plant is hydrogen
sulphide or H2S, which is poisonous, corrosive and highly flammable. For example, regularly
monitoring H2S can reduce the frequency of costly Biogas engine oil changes – as H2S is known to contaminate engine oil – and
therefore lead to a reduction in maintenance and protecting the initial investment. Gas measurement data is a key part of
the digester efficiency picture. CH4, CO2 and O2 gases can first be monitored in the digester stage and H2S and other gas levels can be checked before and after the desulphurization process.
With CH4 monitoring, specifically the volume of biogas and methane concentration, the amount of energy and efficiency of biogas conversion can
be calculated. Correct CH4 concentrations are vital in protecting a CHP engine. With O2 monitoring, any increase can cause
sudden and serious damage to CHP engines that
here are now more than 650 operational AD facilities in the UK with many more in the early stages of development. According to the NNFCC the UK produces over 100 million
With anaerobic digestion (AD) plants increasing across the UK much is being made of AD’s ability to provide a source of renewable energy and an alternative source of income for operators. However, Dean Kavanagh, managing director at QED Environmental Systems, says that the best ROI from AD can only be achieved by implementing a robust gas monitoring and measuring system...
50
November 2022 Instrumentation Monthly
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82
