Biogas Magazine Edition 10

Edition 10 | 2019

BI GAS

Magazine

Biog as/ Biom etha ne Case Stud ies Spec ial Launch of IBA’s Southern India Regional Group : Pg 06 A prickly pear cactus provides biogas : Pg 26 Waste processing facility at Palava City, Mumbai : Pg 32

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Index IBA News Launch of IBA’s Southern India

06

Regional Group

Strengthening the industrial representation through participation in biogas

09

events

Case Study Self- Sustainable Gaushalas

12

Biogas Plant in President House

16

Closing the nutrient cycle through

18

Biogas Digesters in India

Extending green – A case study of Biogas upgration with BioCO2 recovery at PEDA Biogas Plant, Haibowal, Ludhiana

22

A prickly pear cactus provides biogas

26

in India

Waste processing facility at Palava City, Mumbai

32

Biogas to Electricty- A Case Study

36

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Foreword Dear Readers,

coming years as well.

Wish you a happy and prosperous new year!

To spread the awareness about biogas to mass and as an incentive towards capacity building, IBA commenced with the Online Biogas Training courses to provide basics training on biogas along with a specialized training module introduced on Paddy Straw. Over 150 participants have already been trained through these courses. IBA is also planning to augment the training program with introduction of modules on other specific topics like Bio-CNG, financial planning, a specialized course for entrepreneurs foraying into biogas, and so on.

With the advent of another year, we are excited to bring to you 10th edition of our quarterly biogas magazine. Gone by year 2019 was a phenomenal one for biogas with onset of many new schemes and revamp of older ones. The SATAT scheme launched in 2018 gave the necessary boost to the sector attracting many corporate houses and investors to the sector. PSUs came forward to guarantee the off-take of the Bio-CNG as per defined standards of BIS, produced by the biogas plants. Many Letter of Intent (LOIs, ~500 in numbers) were issued by different participating, PSUs and IBA is continuously providing its support and cooperation to the corporate players with its brown field activities towards setting up the projects.

IBA entered into the second phase of IBA-GBA partnership project (BIG-P) in the beginning of 2019. The partnership paved a path for the growth of IBA and strengthen it. The partnership in the former years worked to ensure the growth of the biogas sector and will continue to assist IBA to foster the development of the sector in

To showcase the Indian Biogas sector on an international platform, IBA organized the Biogas Kumbh 2019 at REI 2019. It comprises of a Joint Pavilion of Biogas and a Biogas Conference. The Pavilion witnessed participation of 14 companies and footfall of over 2000 trade visitors. The day-long conference was attended by over 200 participants, which brought over 20 eminent speakers on a single platform. IBA participated in IFAT, 2019, Mumbai with its experts organising a training workshop on “Anaerobic Digestion“. IBA represented THE Indian Biogas community in the Biogas Convention, 2019 held in Nurnbergy.

In Bengaluru, IBA launched its first regional group for Southern India to strengthen its regional institutional structure, which shall assist synchronous working of central, state, and local government bodies in framing correct policies toward the sector. A core speaker and three others state speakers were elected for smooth functioning of the regional group.

IBA submitted a position paper to recognize bio-slurry as an organic fertilizer in the FCO and provide it subsidy equivalent that is presently provided for city compost.

The recognition of bio-slurry will make biogas sector more viable, which will eventually result in attracting more investors.

In this edition of Biogas Magazine, we have collated some of the diverse and interesting case studies of the biogas plants to give you a glimpse of the tremendous potential of the biogas. We hope that you enjoy this special edition.

We’ll keep coming with more interesting informational content through our upcoming versions of magazines.

Wish you a new beginning in 2020!

Gaurav Kedia Chairman Indian Biogas Association

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Launch of IBA’s Southern India Regional Group

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id you know that IBA started its southern India regional working group? A regional group was established in southern India in November 2019. A meeting was organized on November 8, 2019, at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Energy and Development (MGRIED), Bengaluru in cooperation with Biogas Development and Training Centre (BDTC), Bengaluru and Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL) followed by a voting session, as built-up to the formation of the regional group.

Wondering why it was established? The answer is to spread the awareness of biogas.

You might have noticed that nowadays, everyone is talking about waste and its management because of obvious issues of increasing pollution level, decreasing ground level water quality, and pollution of freshwater sources.

But, still, a clear picture of the way forward to resolve all these problems is not available.

Biogas is a solution to all these problems but its potential hasn’t been harnessed properly because of the lack of awareness and skilled professionals. The regional group was founded to address the current situation, thus ensuring the growth of the waste management industry, which will create many job opportunities The goal of the working group is to discuss on crucial topics related to biogas like populating all possible mitigation options w.r.t. identified industry challenges, devise action plan towards execution of such a mitigation plan, representing and putting forth the challenges and feasible solution measures to relevant Ministry/Administration body at the appropriate level.

The regional group is supposed to be working towards promoting the biogas as befitting technology for scientific waste management along with promoting Bio-CNG as a versatile solution for efficient solid waste management. The group will work on increasing the awareness at local (district) level, and supporting the administration bodies in framing policies for waste management and its treatment through the biogas route. The group will also focus on market development, developing standards for plant and safety, bioCNG solution for smaller plants, establishing micro gas grids, and assistance for financial lending from the banks.

The success of the group also depends upon the group members. The speakers of the group are well-experienced and passionate to ensure the success of the sector. The IBA members elected Mr. S. R. Kumar, MD of Aruna Green Venture, having over 5 years of experience in Biogas and over 10 years of experience in the waste management sector as the core speaker. His fellow state speakers Mr. Sivakumar M., Mr. Mohammed Naufel, and Dr. S. Kamraj, each have over 5 years of experience in the relevant sector, and heading NIRT Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd, Bioenergy Solution, and Non-conventional Energy and Rural Development Society respectively.

The group is all set to work closely with IBA to support the central and state-level administration bodies to frame correct policies and put better frameworks in place. The group will have a dedicated “WhatsApp” group, monthly meetings to assure the smooth communication and flow of information. The group plans to submit few position papers to

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the central and state-level ministry and will make sure that supportive policies are floated for enabling a conductive ecosystem.

The success of the southern regional group will pave way for the success of the biogas in southern India and will strengthen the voice of biogas across the country.

S. R. Kumar

Mohammed Naufel

Dr. S. Kamaraj

Shiv Kumar

Core speaker

State level speaker

State level speaker

State level speaker

Waste Management Expo

BIOGAS -ENERGY OF FUTURE

WASTE MANAGEMENT EXPO 2020 12 & 13 March 2020 Bangalore, India Organised By,

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 9

Strengthening the industrial representation through participation in biogas events

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ndian Biogas Association perseveres to represent the Indian Biogas Industry and continuously increase the number of participants at events of relevance to biogas, organised directly or indirectly by it. IBA has begun to enter into strategic partnerships with confederations, other associations, academic institutes, and other relevant partners to achieve the goal to establish these events as outstanding specialist events in the biogas industry, where a visit is indispensable. Following is presented a glimpse of IBA’s participation in some of the events in the last quarter.

Biogas Kumbh, REI, Greater Noida, 2019 The Biogas Kumbh, an initiative of Indian Biogas Association (IBA), commenced from September 18, 2019, at the REI-2019, India Expo Mart, Greater Noida. The Kumbh comprised of Joint Pavilion of Biogas, Biogas Conference, and the third General Assembly of IBA. Over the course of the event, i.e. 18th - 20th September, the “Kumbh� featured around 15 exhibitors spanning the entire spectrum of biogas industry disseminating comprehensive information about the biogas industry, thus promoting biogas as the sustainable and

fuel of choice for India. On 20th Sept 2018, i.e. the final day of the event, a biogas conference was organized, which was followed by the third General Assembly (the annual event for the members of IBA). The biogas conference included panel discussions and presentations by national and international experts from across the biogas industry.

The exhibitors at the Joint Pavilion attracted over 2000 trade visitors and witnessed over 250 business meetings across the 3 days. On the final day, 20 eminent speakers addressed the conference and it had the participation of over 200 participants. The Biogas Kumbh catered the different industry players, aspiring entrepreneurs, environmental enthusiasts, research scholars, academics associates, and NGOs, associated with renewables, especially biogas domain. The conference proved to be an ideal platform for biogas and Waste to Energy industry to congregate, discuss industry challenges, deep-dive into possible solutions.

IBA is looking forward to organise the next version of the Kumbh in 2020 alongside REI at Greater Noida, which will be manifold bigger as compared to the one in 2019. As per

the inputs received from a survey floated by IBA, several companies have shown overwhelming interest to participate in the upcoming version of the “Biogas Kumbh”. IBA is also collaborating with ICESN, the Asian biogas forum, to rope in large number of Asian companies in the event. Several companies from Germany, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and France have already shown its interest to participate in the Biogas Kumbh, 2020.

IFAT, Mumbai 2019 IFAT India, an environmental technology fair for the water, sewage, waste and recycling segments was organised from 16th Oct18th Oct, 2019 at Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. On the second day of the event, Indian Biogas Association (IBA) conducted the training cum workshop on “Comprehending fundamentals of Anaerobic Digestion”.

The workshop was conducted by two experts from IBA. The session highlighted the way bio-waste is perceived and managed in India, including a presentation featuring topics such as biogas-analogy with nature, composition and usages of biogas, typical feedstocks, Reaction pathway, Yield, Digestate as fertilizer, typical process parameters, process stability requirements, upgradation technique, biogas potential in India, glimpse of policy incentives, etc. The workshop was attended by over 50 participants, most be-

ing from industrial and entrepreneurial background. The workshop was highly interactive and appreciated by the International partners of IFAT. For the participants, it proved to be an eye opener as IBA discussed upon current challenges faced by the biogas Industry and its possible mitigation means.

Biogas Convention, Nurnberg 2019 From 10th to 12th December 2019, the annual conference of the German Biogas Association, the BIOGAS Convention & Trade Fair took place in Nuremberg, Germany. In the trade fair, the stakeholders of the biogas industry met among themselves, national and international visitors. Participants in the trade fair focused on current topics, information and news.

With around 250 exhibitors, the Biogas Convention in Nuremberg offered opportunity to get connected to wide spectrum of global players of the biogas sector. New technical developments or modern services were presented directly to various target group. IBA participated in the trade fair by putting up an exhibition stall adjacent to German Biogas Association’s booth. During the course of event, several attendees to IBA stall were apprised of the prevailing scenario in Indian biogas industry. Many of the visitors to the convention have shown their willingness to work together with Indian companies and chalk out a futuristic roadmap.

Indian Biogas Association

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SelfSustainable Gaushalas

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t present, India is constantly trying to figure out the self-sufficient poultry and the dairy farming industries including Gaushalas – from technical, financial and social sustainability perspective.

The Problem Although a number of poultry, dairy farms and Gaushalas are flourishing across the country, their sustainability remains an issue to be considered. Particularly, Gaushalas, which may consist of milking and non-milking cattle, require large amounts of cattle feed, meal supplements, sometimes antibiotic drugs and other inputs. The Gaushalas along with the dairy farming industry in India have grown massively in the last few decades creating large livestock population in the country. After witnessing steady success in milk and livestock production over the years, this industry is now facing several challenges.

A chronic shortage of cattle feed coupled with the poor quality of fodder has become the major constraint. In the current system of intensive livestock production, there is a high emphasis on concentrate feeding, which has increased the cost of milk production and has substantially decreased the profits for owners/farmers.

The Solution Sustainable dairy farming in India is a new concept that emphasizes the proper and efficient usage of the resources, without being exploitative. While this modern dairy farming method may look sophisticated in its approach, most of its key elements are derived from traditional farming methods. The key aspects of sustainable dairy farming revolve around three main elements: Livestock attention Choosing the right breed of animal is the first aspect to be addressed in dairy farming and Gaushalas. Most farmers choose animal breeds purely on milk yield without considering their suitability to the local climate, soil, feed availability, resistance to diseases & pests and environmental conditions. Indigenous breeds such as Murrah Buffalo or Sindhi or Desi cows would be more appropriate for the sub-tropical climate like India.

Ecosystem attention The present day high yielding cattle types need a stable supply of quality fodder. While most cattle feeds for conventional dairy farming are bought from the market, sustainable dairy feed needs to be grown by Gaushala itself or bought locally in the village. For example, dry fodder can be bought locally,

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green fodder needs to be grown inside the farm. High yielding Bajra Napier hybrids can be grown in fertile and well irrigated land, while Guinea grass can be grown in barren rain-fed land.

Apart from growing organic fodder, it is important to ensure the manure, urine and other waste are disposed in a compost pit. Untreated sewage sludge should not be applied to crop land; only composted organic matter must be used for fertilization. Having a biogas unit will not only solve the problem of waste disposal, but also provide ready manure for fertilizing crops.

Energy attention Although dairy farming is not an energy-intensive activity (not considering the milk processing part), there is a need for electric power and heating. Instead of relying on the highly unreliable grid power from the electricity boards, farmers utilize diesel generators, which are costly to run. It would be sensible to utilize biogas since the fuel input is readily available. In fact, the biogas produced from one cow can fuel the cooking need of one person. Furthermore, biogas can be used for milk heating and chilling purposes as well.

This way, sustainable dairy farming can not only be viable to small farmers, but also be eco-friendly by reducing carbon emissions and increasing organic fertility.

Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 13 As per estimate of The Animal Welfare Board of India, there are more than 4000 Gaushalas, with around 1000 Gaushalas having more than 200 cattle heads. In recent times, government is promoting biogas generation programs in Gaushalas and looking forward to provide all the needful support to developers of biogas projects in Gaushalas. The National Biogas and Manure Management Program (NBMMP) and the Biogas Power (off-grid) Program (BPP) are the existing flagship programs of MNRE in this regard, which continue to evolve according to the contemporary requirements. As a matter of fact, despite such programs being in place for several years, biogas projects in Gaushalas are definitely lagging behind their true potential. Apart from government policies there is need for a repertoire of success stories, which would create the needful impetus for project developers to take up more such projects.

One Gaushala based biogas plant has recently been installed at Shree Lalji Maharaj Gaushala in Gujarat. The installation generates biogas from cattle dung and converts it into bioCNG plant with indigenous technology.

The Gaushala has around 250 livestock. Another Gaushala with a similar number of livestock in the vicinity also provides feedstock supply. Around 200-250 m3 of biogas is being produced, which generates around 100 kg Bio-CNG, also known as CBG (Compressed Biogas). CBG is a price-competitive renewable energy, and in the case mentioned above it is presently used for cooking in the nearby Shree Lalji Maharaj temple for about

www.biogas-india.com 1000 devotee per day on average. The compression facility for filling the gas into cascades was designed including the possibility for using the CBG as vehicular fuel as well.

The produced bio-fertilizer goes back to nearby farm fields in tankers, where cotton, wheat, rice, oilseeds, and vegetables are cultivated.

Salient features of the plant • Single Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) based modular digester with Fibre Reinforced Plastics (FRP) walls • Operation at mesophilic temperatures with heating arrangement • A proper proprietary mixing mechanism • Digester is equipped with gas capturing system which is double membrane type • Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) issues are handle, e.g., digesters fitted with a safety valve, flare unit for gas burning during breakdown, and so on • Gas Cleaning system for H2S, moisture and CO2 removal • Minimum manual intervention is needed as the plant is automated • Online analysers are provided to measure the biogas composition

Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 14 Cost Economics The economics of installing such plants depend very much on the local requirements.

According to Atmos Power Pvt. Ltd., the specific capital cost for the mentioned plant involved was approx. 14,000 (INR/m3) without the gas-upgradation system and 25,000 (INR/m3) with the gas-upgradation system.

Usually, the specific costs would further reduce with economy of scale and vice-versa.

Conclusion This aforementioned biogas plant serves as an example, where waste from the livestock sector become a resource for meeting cooking needs. There also lies a possibility to use the produced CBG for vehicle transportation.

Such biogas plants may prove to be the key to utilize the immense potential trapped in abundant quantities of waste feedstock (primarily in form of animal manure) in the rural parts of India!

Abhijeet Mukherjee Program Head Indian Biogas Association

(Empowering RURAL COMMUNITIES to be Self-sufficient & Self-sustainable for their Electricity Needs)

     

Plot No.7,8 & 9, Sector-30B, IMT Rothak, Rohtak (Haryana), India Contact: Rejeesh, Mob: +91-7082828250 // E-Mail: rejeesh.k@aisin-ahl.co.in // https://aisinindia.com Demo Site, Bangalore : https://goo.gl/maps/3RitBBfu9M12

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Published in Biogas Magazine | Edition 08 | Jun 2019

Biogas Plant in President House

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ustainable economic and environmental concerns have resulted in a great number of research work on renewable sources of biomass and bioenergy to treat organic waste scientifically in the past decades.

Decentralized biogas technology is one of the most potential technologies of biomass and bioenergy using organic waste materials (e.g., animal manure, grass cuttings and kitchen waste) in immediate vicinity as feedstocks.

In this article, Indian Biogas Association is concentrating on the state-of-the-art biogas plant recently installed and commissioned at Rashtrapati Bhawan (President house - which is an imposing edifice located at the west end of the Rajpath in New Delhi with the India Gate at the opposite end). Our team visited the site on April 9, 2019. The biogas site location is near the stables of president’s bodyguards.

The two tonnes per day organic waste processing biogas plant mainly takes horse manure, cattle dung, and kitchen waste. The horse dung was earlier a problem mainly due to absence of any waste processing mechanism before the decentralized biogas plant was installed. Now, horse manure is being treated in the plant along with cow dung

and kitchen residual to generate biogas and bio-slurry.

One of the local officer at Rashtrapati Bhawan said that such a project is not only good from energy production and waste management perspective but also avoids contamination of surface and ground waters and emissions of odors and greenhouse gases.

One of the operation team’s member at the site told us that the horse manure and cow dung is collected in a separate pit, where recycled slurry (output from digester) is mixed with it and then fed into the digester with the help of a feeding pump. The food waste is being separately collected and brought to the plant by the local staff. It is then segregated by the plant operation team, crushed and fed into the digester.

The cylindrical shaped horizontal digester is then heated with the help of heating rods to maintain the temperature inside the digester. The retention time of the waste is typically 20-25 days in the digester. The biogas generated out of the digester is stored in the biogas balloon from where its supplied to the canteen to partially fulfill their cooking gas need. The total biogas storage capacity of

www.biogas-india.com the balloon and the digester tank is 150 cubic meters. The digested slurry gets collected in an underground tank.

It is thereafter mainly used in the president house gardens.

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Biogas Baloon

The plant is commissioned and operated by the Arun Green Ventures Pvt Ltd.; a Bangalore based company.

The foundation of the biogas plant was laid in December 2018 and it started operating from January 2019. “The plant is successfully running for over three months.

It’s priviledge for the biogas industry to get a place in the President House of India�, said Mr. S. R. Kumar, Director of Aruna Green Ventures Pvt. Ltd. Summarizing, this decentralized containerized biogas plant encompassing the in-house waste generation, biogas production, and bio-slurry utilization can set a benchmark and be a way forward, particularly as the way around various challenges of setting a decentralized facility have been identified. The model showcases several beneficial synergies of setting a decentralized biogas production in industrial regions/resorts responsible for food processing and waste management.

Indian Biogas Association

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 18

Closing the nutrient cycle through Biogas Digesters in India

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ndia supports 18% of the world’s human population and 15% of the world’s livestock population but, possesses just 2.4% of the world’s land area. According to the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, in India 264.5 Mha of land is being used for agriculture, forestry, pasture and other biomass production. Of this around 146.8 Mha is degraded because of physical, chemical and biological limitations; almost two-third owing to soil erosion and around 22 Mha attributable to soil salinity, alkalinity and acidification. This is indeed a grave concern, but avoidable to certain extent with prudent soil management practices.

Organic carbon in soil is an important constituent for ascertaining soil’s various attributes such as its structure, electrical conductivity, nutrient usage efficiency, water holding capacity, and providing congenial ecosystem for several beneficial microorganisms. One possible way to ensure adequacy of organic carbon in soil is through usage of organic manure prepared from bio-degradable organic waste from various plants and other sources of biomass.

Anaerobic digestion is nature’s magic wand that turns the organic wastes into two ex-

tremely useful and most environment friendly products namely biogas and organic manure or bio slurry. Bio Slurry from organic waste is excellent manure for plants as well as for improving overall soil health, which is deteriorating rapidly today. This is bolstered by the survey report cited above along with thoughtless application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. FAO Environment and Natural Resources Management working paper No 55 dated September 12, 2013 calls bio slurry as Brown Gold. By popularizing bio slurry and its value-added derivatives as manure, food quality would potentially see quantum jump.

Consequently, the human, crop plantation and cattle health would improve rapidly.

Bio slurry, the byproduct of anaerobic digestion captures the Organic Carbon (OC) from organic wastes neatly. The most abundant locally available feedstock for Anaerobic Digestion include Cow dung (having 8-10% of OC), food and vegetable waste (about 12 % OC), Poultry droppings (about 17-20% OC), and so on. With Organic Carbon being recognized as the most important indicator of soil health due to the factors as listed above, it only becomes prudent to efficiently utilize the immense possibility on offer from these organic sources.

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Published in Biogas Magazine | Edition 03 | Dec 2017

Upon interacting with Dr. D. K. Shahi, Chief Scientist cum Head of the Department of Soil Science, Birsa Agricultural University (BAU), Ranchi, Jharkhand, he cited that an appropriate pricing for the produced bio-slurry from a given biogas plants in such a manner that it offsets farmer’s present incurrence of cost on fertilizer, should assure offtake of the produced bio-slurry. He reinstated the importance of Integrated Nutrient Management Program and emphasized about the ascending nature of the crop yield curve under various scenarios of control, N rich, NP, NPK, and a mix of farmyard with NPK application in fields.

Now, let’s take a look into two practical onfield biogas plants installations in India bolstering the case of effective management and utilization of digestate: A. Installation at Capgemini, Pune, Maharashtra One such installation of Anaerobic Digestion technology to produce high quality organic manure and biogas has been designed by Aruna Green Ventures Private Limited, which is a high-tech horizontal biogas plant put up at Capgemini, Pune, Maharashtra. The plant is designed to run at 1000 kgs of daily input of food and vegetable waste, producing 100

m3 of raw biogas per day, and 2000 litres of rich bio slurry with 4-5% of total solid content. The separated solid from the slurry is a high-quality organic manure far superior to FCO grade urban compost. The samples of bio slurry form this plant has been tested by NABL certified lab and the results reinstate its superiority as an organic manure. If manure of such quality is used in agricultural fields, it has the potential to revive and make the Indian soil healthier, claims Mr. Kumar, MD, Aruna Green Ventures Pvt. Ltd. B. Bharat Biogas Limited, Vadodara, Gujarat Located around 70 kms. from the Ahmedabad airport, situated at, Umreth, Anand, Bharat Biogas Energy Limited uses dung, press mud and vegetable waste (especially potato waste) as its feedstock. At full capacity, the plant generates about 14000 NCum of biogas. The produced biogas is purified, and upgraded into Bio-CNG and then filled into the cylinders (cascades) at 200 bar pressures. This Bio-CNG is sold to nearby industries to meet its fuel requirements.

The standout feature of this plant that draws noteworthy attention is its adopted method to process the bio-slurry and the business model it adopts to market the upgraded di-

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 07 | 20 However, it must be noted that like any other fertilizer, bio slurry or, the separated fractions must be applied during the growing season of crop in order to ensure the optimum uptake of the plant nutrients and to avoid pollution of ground water. Bio-slurry must be integrated in the fertilization plan of the agricultural farm/lawn in the same way as mineral fertilizers; the fact being as is also reinstated by Prof D. K. Shahi from BAU. Further, it must be applied at accurate rate, with equipment that ensures even applications throughout the fertilized area.

gestate. The bio-slurry is separated into solid and liquid phase upon passing through multi-layered porous bed. Liquid collected has high nitrogen content and is as well an extremely potent fertilizer. While the liquid fraction is majorly recirculated to the digester thus reducing the requirement of fresh makeup water, the solid portion is further dried in dryers followed by systematic spreading of piles into nearby fields for vermi-composting process. Thereafter, make-up nutrients as per requirement is added to the composted product and packed in the bags. The company sell this as high-grade fertilizer, with defined nutrition value within India and exports it as well.

Upon speaking to Mr. Gulab bhai Patel, an entrepreneur, also working on several community development projects in around Vadodara region; he cited about usage of the upgraded manure from the plant in some of his organic farms. It could be figured from the interaction that amongst the local farmers, vermi-composted manures possess an elevated perception of being highly effective as soil conditioner when compared to unprocessed manure or simply digested manure. Further, upon interacting with the care taker of one of his farms, it was figured out that all vegetables harvested in the aforementioned farms are solely based on the organic manure from this local plant. The caretaker also added that the vermi-composted material has high nutrition content and has very good impact on the in increasing the productivity of the grown vegetables in the farm.

Despite its tremendous potential, utilization of bio slurry as bio fertilizer is limited to few parts of India due to lack of information about its qualities and fear of potential risks related to its use. Introduction of Quality Management in bio slurry production can be the savior, as it not only guarantees that bio slurry is safe for use, but also contributes to the perception of bio slurry as an apt substitute for synthetic fertilizer.

Eventually, the enhanced utilization and marketability of bio slurry as organic fertilizer leads to the further development of biogas technologies, which not only provide renewable energy and CO2 neutral fuel, but also environmentally sound and veterinary safe treatment options for organic wastes.

Dr. A. R. Shukla Ex- Advisor MNRE

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 22

Published in Biogas Magazine | Edition 03 | Dec 2017

Extending green – A case study of Biogas upgration with BioCO2 recovery at PEDA Biogas Plant, Haibowal, Ludhiana

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iogas upgrading to IS 16087:2013 standard along with recovery of high-purity CO2 (Food grade) with the help of Pressure Swing Adsorption and Cryogenic separation respectively has been installed & commissioned at PEDA High Rate Bio-Methanation Power Plant (1 MWel equivalent). This State-of-the-art system within biogas cleaning and upgrading is removal of CO2 and impurities from the biogas. This makes the gas suitable for distribution and sell in cylinders/ cascades or to put in the existing natural gas grid as biomethane.

Today from almost all the existing biogas upgradation facilities, the relatively high-purity CO2 is normally emitted as a waste product into the atmosphere. Instead of emitting the CO2, the PEDA plant converts it into a valuable green product, BioCO2, which can be sold as an additional commercial product by the biogas producer. The quality of the BioCO2 is suitable for food, biofuel, and medicine production, and welding purposes; as its 99.99% pure & is in liquid state.

Another aim in the project was to reduce the energy consumption of the cryogenic system, and make the system flexible from output perspective by utilizing Low Pressure Swing Adsorption based biogas upgradation system, which gives upto 95% CO2 in the off gas. This integration also contributes towards improving the financial viability of biogas

production.

During the project, comparison of the data from existing similar biogas upgrading plants was done to benchmark the installed technology from an energy and cost point of view, thus creating a viable business case for biogas producers. At present, the capability of the “additive-improved partial pressure reduction technology” to produce both biomethane and high-purity BioCO2 is also being tested.

Background The PEDA high rate Bio methanation Facility based on cow-waste is spread over 2.4 acres and commissioned in year 2004 with the help of UNDP by Government of Punjab’s Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) at Haibowal, Ludhiana.

Site Development PEDA, GoP & MNRE has developed it as a shining star of renewable energy endeavor.

This project at Haibowal was set up as the first project to demonstrate large-scale power generation from cattle manure. The project has proven the technical feasibility of developing such projects for energy recovery as well as producing large quantities of enriched organic fertilizer and reducing GHG emissions.

Despite being a 13 years old facility, still the

www.biogas-india.com plant is in good operating condition and is running at about 70% PLF with the potential to achieve 95% with short Turn around Time (TAT). It is envisaged that the current plant is to operate at 125% design capacity with modern technology interventions involving high yield organic waste materials, which are available in the close vicinity; within a year’s time.

The lab trials are going on in this regard.

Current Status To diversify the renewable energy outputs and improve its commercial performance, biogas upgradation was established for producing Compressed Bio Gas (CBG/ BioCNG) and recovery of CO2 at a cost of Rs 65 million (Rs 6.5 crores). The objective was to reduce the dependence of the unit on power sales and instead open a new stream of revenue through sale of compressed CBG / BioCNG and also a pure stream of by-product CO2 as a sustainability effort. The CBG + CO2 plant is now fully ready and has been commissioned as per design capacities. For the first time BioCO2 is being extracted from this kind of feedstock & of higher quality with 99.99% purity.

External Perspective and other Positional Benefits • The Plant is an excellent example of scientific treatment of cattle waste & recovering value in the form of Green Power, fuels like CBG/BioCNG, improving sustainability by recovering BioCO2, GHG reduction, proper management of manure through reduced risk of run-off and leaching of nutrients; ensuring nutrients from recycle, upon its usage as a natural fertilizer.

• CBG is an excellent alternative clean fuel (renewable). In addition, Compressed Biogas (CBG/BioCNG) is known to be a substitute for imported CNG & LPG. • The plant has visibility on both national & international front and has the potential to reduce 21900 CO2 tons equivalent of annualy carbon foot print (Internal study).

• The plant is a robust solution to prevent pollution & health hazards from waste lying in open, flowing to drains, canals and harness value out of it.

Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 23 • Operational expertise of site team has ensured optimal running of plant and established the credentials for Good Operations & Management.

• The new commissioned CBG/BioCNG plant, can be used to gather experience in developing the market for CBG/BioCNG in Transport Sector. Inclination alignment is already on to convert Diesel public transport to much cleaner BioCNG fuel with least tail pipe emissions.

• The highly pure BioCO2 has a great potential for its usage in beverage industry & for other use like fire extinguishers, textile & welding industry.

• The plant is a motivational example for budding Bio energy entrepreneurs to replicate the story.

Credits The project was conceptualized by Arka BRENStech, which later also installed and commissioned the plant. It was funded by the DSM India Pvt. Ltd. (DSM Innovation Center), who were executing the Operations & Management (O&M) of this plant from Jan. 2012 till Oct. 2016. Since then its been under O&M execution by Technical Head, Mr. DS Mahal (Ex-DSM Innovation Center) who is Director & CEO of JAP INNOGY Pvt. Ltd. and governed

by Punjab Genco Limited (PEDA-Nodal agency of MNRE & Government of Punjab). Currently, JAP Innogy is actively pursuing various R&D endeavors along with Arka BRENSTech in this plant.

Chetan Singh Author

www.biogas-india.com

Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 25

Published in Biogas Magazine | Edition 05 | July 2018

A prickly pear cactus provides biogas

M

exico has a great deal of potential for biogas. By 2024, the country wants to achieve an energy mix with 35 percent renewables. Currently, the proportion is a good 18 percent, consisting mostly of water and wind power. At 0.3 percent, energy from biomass hardly plays any role at all. But within this period, this amount is still supposed to increase to 3 percent. There is no feed-in compensation for electricity from renewable energies, however.

Barren mountains, dried up bushes, scrub brush and yellow grass at the foot of bizarre cliff formations. You can’t get more Mexican than that. Then is it any surprise that Juan Manuel Castañeda Muñoz and the other members of his cooperative are operating their biogas plant with cacti? “Cacti grow very quickly”. The farmer points to the planted fields of the cooperative near Cavillo in the state of Aguascalientes.

The knee-high Nopal – a prickly pear cactus – stand there row on row like an army. Between the rows are wooden crates waiting to be filled. About fifty workers earn their pay here doing harvest and maintenance tasks.

“Since we’ve been operating the biogas plant, we have employed twelve more people”, explains Castañeda. That’s important in a region from which many people emigrate to the USA looking for work – as long as they still can.

Juan Manuel Castañeda Muñoz is a member of the Comite Estatal Sistema Producto Nopal. This cooperative of 50 farmers cultivate Nopal on a total of 560 hectares. 70 hectares of prickly pear cacti are grown for the biogas plant. In principle. The tasty and healthy cactus is also valued as a vegetable in Mexico. But the prices fluctuate a great deal. “Between November and February, the prices are very high; then the plant runs at just one third of its total capacity because we prefer to sell the cacti”.

Cacti can be used for 20 years During this season, other regions of Mexico do not produce as much cactus. Here, however, in the middle of northern Mexico, this undemanding plant grows well the whole year long. So it makes more sense to ferment the farm’s cacti during the months when there’s a large supply across the country. One cactus plant can be harvested for up to twenty years. For use as a food, the leaves grow for about 30 days or, to use the plant for energy, for up to four months. “But no longer than that; otherwise, the methane yield decreases”. Castañeda breaks a lightgreen leaf off of a plant. Contrary to expectations, the spines are soft; later, they even fall right out.

The methane yield of the prickly pear cactus is 860 cubic metres per tonne of dry matter, which is equivalent to 10 tonnes fresh weight.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 26

This means that with respect to its weight, this prickly fellow does not have an especially high yield. But in terms of the yield per hectare it does. “In three harvests we get a total of 600 tonnes of fresh weight per year and hectare”. Moreover, cactus is only in the biogas plant for 16 hours, a very short period.

A look at the plant near the farm, though, makes it clear: a great deal of mass has to be moved in order for it to operate. The cactus leaves are chopped and are placed in the digester. No water is added. Just 1 percent cow dung is added to the mixture. Nopal is fermented in four large containers of 1,000 cubic metres each. The containers are four metres tall and are made simply of foil, iron lattice and some concrete, stones and soil.

“All of the components can be bought locally and the work was done by a Mexican company”, explains Miguel Angel Perales de la Cruz, who planned the design, financing and construction of the plant for the cooperative. These hybrid constructions of a lagoon digester and a reactor are not heated, however.

“When we’re at peak production, everything here is covered in cactus leaves”, continues Perales. The plant grounds cover an area as large as two to three football fields. And the light-coloured concrete gleams, demonstrating the involvement of project partner Cruz Azul. The large Mexican concrete manufacturer utilizes the electricity, more than seven million kilowatt hours, produced by the Caterpillar generator, which has a capacity of

Miguel Angel Perales de la Cruz, who planned the design, financing and construction of the plant for the cooperative

one megawatt. Cruz Azul also provided far more than half of the investment costs of two million euros (converted from pesos).

The rest came from the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). Room for expansion is planned, but it will probably not occur quickly. The plant, even at its current size, does not yet run at full capacity is also because the state-operated provider and network operator Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) allows feed-in only at certain times so that the grid is not overloaded.

Long approval phases Indeed, the Mexican government has ended the CFE monopoly by enacting an energy reform. However, the commission is still tenacious as ever with regard to some issues.

For example, two years passed between the approval for production of electricity and the approval for feed-in for the Nopal biogas plant. The production costs for electricity generated by cacti are about four euro cents per kilowatt hour. Cruz Azul pays the cooperative more than twice that much. The state supports so-called clean energies only through investment incentives, subsidy programmes and, starting in January 2018, with Clean Energy Certificates. However, these clean energies also include modern gas and nuclear power plants.

For this reason, the agreement with Cruz Azul is a good deal, at least during times when there is a great supply of Nopal. The

Alex Eaton, a U.S. citizen, Established Sistema Biobolsa seven years ago

Violeta Bravo de Sepulveda is from Mexico. She is working for a project of the Brandenburg University of technology(BTU) Cottbus- Senftenberg and the Center of research and Technological Development in Electrochemistry (CIDETEQ) in Queretaro, Mexico.

www.biogas-india.com plant, however, which has been providing electricity since September 2015, is supposed to make money primarily by producing solid and liquid fertilizer. It will be made in a hall built especially for this purpose. Laboratory experiments and field trials certify its effectiveness. What’s missing, however, is a sales market for the organic fertilizer. Now most of it is used on the cooperative’s own fields.

The plant concept of Sistema Biobolsa also focuses on fertilizer production and using its own power production. “Eighty percent of the area of this dairy farm is fertilized with the residue from their biogas plant”. Alex Eaton points to the seven lagoons with their sunbleached foil covers, inflated by the pressure of the methane gas. To regulate the pressure, old automobile tires are situated on the foil.

The plant, 280 cubic metres in size, is located at Rancho Sinai near Zumpago de Ocampo, northeast of Mexico City. Eaton, a U.S. citizen, established Sistema Biobolsa seven years ago. He walks out onto one of the foil covers and starts to rock back and forth. If the lagoon gurgles, it means that only liquid is fermenting there thanks to a separator that separates the solids out.

Maintenance is lacking for small plants Eaton’s team constructed this plant with a motor available on the local market. This way, the total costs of the plant were just about 15,000 euros (converted from pesos). Sistema Biobolsa covered two-thirds of the costs with an interest-free loan. The Ministry of Agriculture contributed the other third. There are budgets for these sorts of investment support. However, experts complain that

Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 27 these monies are not always used in a meaningful way; too often a scattergun approach is applied. Many small biogas plants are not functioning because the manufacturers do not provide ongoing maintenance, among other problems.

But not Sistema Biobolsa. As a lender, the company has in interest in the plants’ longterm production of methane. Of course, the operators profit from this as well. “The farm recoups the investment quickly”, explains Alex Eaton. And in this way, they can also pay the loan back. Rancho Sinai would have to pay almost 290 euros per year and hectare just for industrial fertilizer. This is a significant item because the farm grows the feed for its 250 cows on an area of 100 hectares. In addition, there are energy cost savings of nearly 3,000 euros per year.

The farm uses biogas not only to heat the hot water for cleaning the milking equipment, but also to run the motor for the milking machine.

Sistema Biobolsa modified a Honda diesel motor so that it runs on methane. The motor uses a V-belt to operate the milking machine.

But the V-belt can also be transferred to a diesel motor if not enough biogas is generated in the lagoon or if the gas motor does not work for some other reason.

Alex Eaton established Sistema Biobolsa initially as a small NGO and then he converted it into a company with headquarters in Mexico City. Today, 45 people are employed at Sistema Biobolsa. There are small subsidiaries in Central American and soon in Kenya and India. Sistema Biobolsa has already installed more than 3,000 plants in Mexico. They range from 4 to 280 cubic metres in size.

As modules, they can be combined. For the most part, they consist of small household plants used by families for cooking.

In Mexico, small farmers also have a particularly difficult time with low

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 28

milk prices. Saving even just 30 euros for natural gas per month is a great help. Furthermore, small farmers can pasteurize their milk inexpensively with biogas, making it easier to market it directly. Sistema Biobolsa has built about 100 larger plants. The methane from these plants is used to heat piglet enclosures, in cheese factories and to run milk machines such as those at Rancho Sinai.

The early morning fog drifting over the fields dissipates slowly. You could almost believe you were in Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. This elevation of this area around Zumpango de Ocampo is just about 2,300 metres, which means low temperatures at night. For this reason, the plant’s methane yield fluctuates between 60 and 100 cubic metres per day, depending on the season and the weather. “Lagoons are inexpensive, but they are also like black boxes that are difficult to check”, says Violeta Bravo de Sepúlveda.

“Many function poorly or not at all and are not able to harvest the existing methane potential from the substrates”, she continues.

A scientist, Violeta Bravo de Sepúlveda is from Mexico; she completed studies in Germany and is working for a project of the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg and the Center of Research and Technologic Development in Electrochemistry (CIDETEQ) in Querétaro, Mexico, an important industrial location in the state of the same name.

For example, together with poultry producer Pilgrims Pride, she operated a pilot plant for treating wastewater. Pilgrims Pride processes 300,000 chickens per day. This generates 2,000 cubic metres of wastewater full of grease and blood. For twelve years now, the company has been fermenting the wastewater in lagoons with a total volume of 46,000 cubic metres. It produces 6,000 cubic metres of methane per day. This is enough to cover one-third of the process heat required by the food production facility. Five steam engines generate the heat. More is not possible because all of the wastewater is in use. “They need a more efficient biogas plant”.

Knowledge transfer from Cottbus For this reason, on company grounds, Violeta Bravo de Sepúlveda integrated and studied a 10 cubic metre pilot reactor in actual plant operation. In contrast to conventional biogas processes, the anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) used here offers significant savings for operators using the energy they produce as well as retention time in the digester specific to certain substance groups, which results in considerably higher yields. A similar plant for slaughtering waste was already tested at BTU Cottbus.

“We were able to demonstrate that Pilgrims Pride could cover its entire heat needs with a plant like this”, explains Bravo de Sepúlveda.

Now the company is making plans in this direction because this is probably the only way it will be able to meet the coming environmental requirements. But there is not a specific time and financing plan yet.

Violeta Bravo de Sepúlveda is already working on the next project. A biogas plant is supposed to be constructed with feed producer La Perla; at a capacity of 100 million kilowatt hours per year, it will more than cover the company’s entire heat needs. 185,000 tonnes of manure, nearly 4,000 tonne of vegetable waste from greenhouses, and large amounts of used grease and whey are supposed to be fermented. This should reduce methane emissions especially relevant to climate change by 5,300 tonnes.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 29

Among other issues, this project is investigating the development of suitable logistics for transporting the substrates as well as the technical challenges of fermenting them together.

Since January 2017, a biogas test plant has been running in the institute laboratory for this investigation.

Violeta Bravo de Sepúlveda knows that “used grease produces four times as much methane as manure”.

The Mexican government has made an obligation to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent, with respect to the level in 2000, by the year 2020, and by 50 percent by the year 2050. And the use of methane for energy generation comes into play here, also due to the drastic drop in the price of CO2 certificates.

A trip around the city of Querétaro gives an impressive look at the region’s potential: The Agropark’s sea of greenhouses gleams in the sun. Tomatoes and peppers are grown here for the entire country. Not far away, the legendary monolith Peña de Bernal sits at the horizon. Every year on 21 March, crowds of esoterics gather at the cliffs to take in their energy. But the true mountains of energy rise before the cliffs, at the manure collection spot.

Electricity from landfill gas for Nissan Since December 2011, two Caterpillar generators with a total capacity of 2.4 megawatts have been feeding electricity into the grid.

Now the methane from the landfill is only burned off if the generators are not working. 100 percent of the plant’s income comes from the sale of electricity. The Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan, which runs its production in Mexico in the Aguascalientes industrial park, purchases the 10 gigawatt hours produced per year. Rodolfo Montelongo is a not allowed to say how much Nissan pays per kilowatt hour. Only that they pay less than the price for the industrial operations of the main carrier: i.e. below about 5 euro cents per kilowatt hour.

Increasing food production and growing mountains of waste Long trucks tip their beds to unload what they have collected at the cattle ranches in the area. Front loaders shove and layer the brown mass into heaps as tall as houses. The majority of the beef consumed in Mexico is raised here in Ezequiel Montes. Currently, the collected manure is still being used, untreated, as fertilizer on avocado farms. Agriculture is a growing industry in Mexico. And along with it, the amounts of manure and organic wastes.

For example, there are already five million farms with about 18 million pigs. Both food production and the generation of wastewater and residential waste are also increasing.

82,000 litres of wastewater are generated in Mexico every second. And 100,000 tonnes of household garbage every day.

“Actually, this project should earn money by trading in CO2 certificates”. Rodolfo Montelongo points to three thick, black cylinders used to burn off methane in a controlled manner. They protrude into the blue sky over the landfill site of San Nicolas in the state of Aguascalientes. They were installed in 1998.

Ten years later, his employer, the British concern Ylem Energy, decided to invest another five million U.S. dollars and use the methane to generate electricity.

“That is a challenge for us”, says Montelongo during a tour around the landfill. In the open section, waste collection trucks dump out their loads. Collectors search for usable items by hand. Black plastic tubes snake across the dried out soil of the closed section of the landfill. Up to now, 250 sources of gas in the mountain of waste have been tapped or bored into. “We are always hunting for methane”, explains José Luis Valadez Bustos, the technical director.

The various materials in the waste, the wash-

www.biogas-india.com ing out of organic substances due to rain, and temperature fluctuation make gas production unstable. In addition, there are unrepaired cracks through which oxygen enters or delays in sealing up individual sections of the landfill. In San Nicolas, the amount of waste and the capacity of the plant would allow for up to 19 gigawatt hours of electricity per year.

Nissan would purchase this power as well.

But this potential has not yet been able to be harvested yet.

Eight landfill gas plants in operation In Mexico, methane is used to generate electricity in eight landfills so far. With an installed capacity of 17 megawatts, the largest is in Monterrey. Starting at a daily volume of 500 tonnes, running a landfill gas plant is worthwhile. Because the trend in Mexico is toward larger landfills, more plants will certainly be established. Ylem Energy is currently building two new landfill gas plants. But wouldn’t it be better to work with biogas plants? Rodolfo Montelongo shakes his head. “That would, of course, be efficient and cost-effective, but there isn’t a functioning waste separation system in Mexico”.

Alvaro Zurita and Esteban Salinas, who are working on the project “Using municipal waste to generate energy” for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) affirm that the separation of organic waste is a hurdle that can be overcome.

The only biogas plant at a landfill so far has had technical problems due to waste that was insufficiently or unsuitably prepared. The Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico financed the plant in Atlacumulco in the state of Mexico.

In many communities in Mexico, waste disposal is organized by a complex, confusing web of public and private stakeholders. The garbage trucks and their drivers are provided by the communities. The crews on the trucks are private, self-employed people, who also sort out and sell the recyclable waste. Their jobs are in demand and are quietly assigned by the drivers. The drivers, however, are organized in strong unions.

Biogas Magazine | Edition 07 | 30 Many collectors who go door to door to homes and businesses on their own with sacks on their backs also make a living from recyclable items. One look at the surprisingly clean streets of Mexico City demonstrates that the system works somehow. However, the system is so influenced by individual interests that it is difficult to change anything. Moreover, the extremely low landfill fees hinder investment on the part of landfill operators.

Taking care of waste management in Xalapa In cooperation with the Secretariats of Energy and of Environment and Natural Resources, the GIZ is attempting to advance the use of waste to generate energy at various levels.

For example, Zurita and Salinas are currently consulting on a project in Xalapa in the state Veracruz, where the Inter-American Development Bank is financing a waste fermentation plant at a landfill. “Here, above all, we have to deal with waste management”, says Esteban Salinas A lot in Mexico is in flux; some things are moving in the right direction: the structuring of energy reform, for example, or various environmental requirements and national trading with CO2 certificates, which is currently still in the pilot phase. Some large projects appear regularly in the media without any real progress being made, such as the use of landfill gas at Bordo Poniente– once the largest landfill in the world, closed in 2012– for the new airport in Mexico City. Or the construction of the world’s largest biogas plant at the large market in the mega-metropolis to make use of the 2,000 tonnes of waste generated daily.

Eugenia Kolb from the German-Mexican Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Mexiko) still sees good opportunities for companies from Germany on the Mexican market for bioenergy. For this reason, the AHK Mexiko offers regular informational events and trips for industry stakeholders Author Klaus Sieg Freelance journalist Rothestr. 66 · 22765 Hamburg, Germany Picture Credits : Klaus Sieg

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 31

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 32

Published in Biogas Magazine | Edition 03 | Dec 2017

Waste processing facility at Palava City, Mumbai

A

ll human endeavours results in solid waste generation� - Thus, there is a need for integrated solid waste management approach for safe disposal of such wastes. Organic fraction of MSW is one of the most promising renewable energy sources which are utilizable to produce biogas through anaerobic digestion (AD), a feasible alternative for fossil fuel as well as organic solid waste disposal.

The major contributing sources for solid wastes are– Urban/semi-urban dwellings. Solid Waste Management (SWM) is one of the critical elements of any city and it affects the day-to-day living conditions as well as maintenance of the city. SWM if carried out in a planned manner, it can also augment the financial resources of the city through value addition.

Increase in generation of solid waste is seen due to rise in urbanization, industrialization, and population growth. Now it has transformed itself into a major public health and environmental concern.

Mailhem Ikos has Technology & Expertise to extract Renewable energy from these solid wastes in the form of electricity and even fuel gas. Mailhem Ikos at PALAVA CITY, Kalyan-Shilphata road, Dombivili, Mumbai have demonstrated the sustainability of the anaer-

obic digestion process as an efficient way of handling mixed waste to increase recovery, reuse, and recycling of the resources.

The design of this facility which produces biogas and saleable recyclable products is based on a thorough feasibility study. And special attention has been given to all aspects of the treatment process including waste Collection and transportation, pre-treatment processing (i.e., shredding and feed slurry conditioning), material handling, post-treatment safe disposal of process water.

Collection of various types of generated solid wastes is by designated collection centres and transported in a Closed, Odour and Drip free (COD) system to the Mailhem Ikos solid waste processing plant. Mini garbage vehicles with auto-bin lifting facility is used for this operation.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 33

The Processing plant receives and processes collected solid wastes. As the process chain envisages recycling of waste, adequate storage capacity for recyclable waste is included in the scheme. The entire plant is housed in an enclosure for protection against rains.

Once the mixed MSW is received at the processing section of the facility, bags are slit open. The mixed garbage is segregated into wet and dry fractions from mixed solid waste by mechanical means.

Once the organic fraction of mixed waste is separated from inerts and recyclables, it is then reduced to 15-25mm in size by primary shredder and then further reduced to 5-10mm in size to obtain pumpable slurry.

Organic feed slurry will be now treated in M-UASB (Modified Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket) Reactor specially designed by Mailhem Ikos to generate Biogas and manure.

Dry waste fraction will be further sorted into plastic, metal, rubber, glass, paper, cardboard, thermacole etc and sold to recyclers.

Horticultural waste received at Mailhem Ikos SWM facility will be treated by In-vessel composting system and further cured to produce Bio-fertilizer which will be bagged and used for gardening & plantation at PALAVA city, Kalyan-Shilphata road, Dombivili, Mumbai.

Non-convertible inert materials, E- waste & Bio-medical wastes disposal will be through tie up with relevant agencies.

The salient feature of this SWM separation and anaerobic process will help to • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, • Improve living environment, • Ensure national energy security, • Create new avenues for sustainable employment growth.

Biogas generation (M-UASB technology) Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a bacterial fermentation process that operates in the absence of oxygen and results in a biogas containing mostly methane and carbon dioxide.

Anaerobic Digestion of organic solid waste is done to 1) Reduce the amount of material being landfilled 2) Stabilize organic material before disposal in order to reduce future environmental impacts from air and water emissions 3) Recover energy Treatment Process The segregated organic waste requires pretreatment to prepare it for the anaerobic treatment process for the generation of biogas.

In the slurry tank, conditioning of the feed

Sameer Rege Chief Executive Officer Mailhem Ikos Environment Pvt. Ltd.

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Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 34

slurry takes place by mixing it with recycled anaerobic effluent by means of a recirculation step. Furthermore, the pH-value and temperature are regulated and nutrients are dosed if necessary to achieve optimal growth conditions for the anaerobic biomass in the M-UASB reactor.

• Highly settleable granular biomass

The conditioned feed slurry is then pumped at a constant, continuous flow to the M-UASB reactor. A special influent distribution system ensures that the influent is equally distributed over the entire reactor surface area. The influent thus passes a dense anaerobic granular biomass bed where the biological conversion process takes place transforming the COD load (Chemical Oxygen Demand) present in the organic waste into biogas.

Recyclables In addition to Power generation, other value-added product streams from AD systems could provide additional revenue to help improve the economic viability of organic waste treatment technologies.

UASB reactor’s indigenous design modifications by Mailhem Ikos has facilitated to allow longer contact time between bacteria and organic material.

This way, Mailhem-Ikos has been able to provide comprehensive waste management solution by scientifically processing the mixed un-segregated waste along with generating electricity, bio-fertilizer and recyclables with complete adherence to environmental laws and standard.

Mailhem’s propriety modules, internally installed at the top of the reactor, separate the treated slurry from the produced biogas. The biomass settles back to the reactor bottom while part of the treated effluent is recycled and returned to the slurry tank for dilution and Bio-fertilizer preparation.

Biogas is collected and piped to a biogas balloon. It is compressed and chemically scrubbed as a treatment procedure. Under controlled conditions is used as source of energy for capital consumption.

A specific advantage of biogas technology is in the utilisation of organic wastes and other organic by products for energy production, as opposed to disposal via un-scientific landfills, which inevitably leads to further emissions of greenhouse gases by the process of slow decomposition as well spreads foul odour and pests & rodent management.

M-UASB Features • High organic loading capacity (10-15 kg COD/m3/day) • Compact design

• Energy source from biogas • Easy operation & Maintenance • Proven reliable

The segregated dry recyclables such as glass, plastics, metals, cardboard, cloth and rubber are sold to generate additional revenue.

Processing facility – Mailhem Ikos,

PALAVA CITY

Total waste Processed

11 tons/day

Organic fraction of MSW

4-5 tons/day

Biogas generation

320 to 400 cum/ day

Power generation

384 to 480 kwh/ day

Bio-fertilizer generation

1.6 to 2 tons/day

Total recyclables

1 to 2 tons/day

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Figure 1: Biogas Power Generation System, Demo site at Bengaluru

Biogas to Electricty- A Case Study

A

isin Seiki, Japan (a Group company of Toyota) has planned to start a new business in India relating to Biogas Power Generation system for Grid & off-Grid applications.

Presently, Aisin Automotive Haryana Pvt Ltd – AHL (a subsidary company of Aisin Seiki, Japan) is planning to provide a complete solution for Biogas Power generation system. In future, it is possible to connect the system with food waste & agricultural waste as well. Two years back (Figure 1), AHL had established a demo site (with cow dung) at Bengaluru and the system is generating electricity continuously for the past 12,000 hours. Aisin Gas engine generator – COREMO can produce 1.5 KW of electricity per hour with 1 cubic meter of Biogas. Surplus Biogas can be used /sold for the cooking purpose.

Aisin Desulphurizer technology will remove H2S in the biogas to below detectable limit.

The CO2 from exhaust can be provisioned for photosynthesis inside green houses. The exhaust heat from the engine can be utilized for heating the digester in winter Salient Benefits of Aisin Biogas power generation system • Availability of power for 24x7 (1.5Kw per hour per engine) • Reduces pollution • Reduces time loss for collecting firewood for cooking

• Reduces reliance on fossil fuels • Save on the environment (Reduces deforestation) • Improves living standards in rural areas.

• Reduces global warming • Produces good quality enriched manure to improve soil fertility.

• Effective and convenient way for sanitary disposal of organic wastes (food, animals, plant,..etc) • Improving the hygienic conditions.

Demo site –Biogas Power Generation system at Bangalore This particular demo site (Figure 2), located in south-west of Bengaluru is a result of cohesive collaboration between Aisin Seiki-Japan and Aisin Automotive Haryana Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru. Spearheaded by Aisin Seiki’s Life and Energy (L&E) department, the Biogas power generation project is first of its kind in India to successfully demonstrate a fully functioning model of power generation from biogas using advanced and state-of-the art Aisin’s proprietary COREMO Gas engine generators.

While the functional know-how and technological expertise is imparted by Aisin’s team, the daily consumables and local support is extended by Sri Bhagyalakshmi Farms which owns more than 100 cows dairy farm within.

Everyday cow dung is collected and transported to the Mixing Chamber. After unloading into the mixing Chamber, the cow dung is

www.biogas-india.com mixed with equal quantity of water. To ensure efficient and high quality fermentation inside the bio-digester, the mixture is thoroughly mixed avoiding formation of lumps. Finally, unwanted elements such as hay straws are removed, before it is let into the inlet chamber.

The mixture of cow dung mixed with water flows from the inlet chamber into the bio digester where anaerobic fermentation occurs due to which biogas is released. The digester installed at demo site is a Floating dome type digester. The other side of the digester is the outlet chamber which holds the liquid slurry coming out of the digester after fermentation. The biogas held in the top dome of the digester flows through the blue colored pipes.

Any moisture accumulated in the biogas is removed periodically with the help of moisture trap. The biogas further flows into the main distribution header where two separate pipelines transport the biogas for electricity generation and cooking purpose respectively. The main pipeline carries the biogas for electrification purpose where it flows through desulfurizer for the removal of Hydrogen Sulphide in the form of sulphur before being fed into the Aisin Biogas engine Generators. The Aisin Biogas Generators, named COREMO,is built using Japanese Technology that can function 24 X 7, generating continuous electricity. The generated power is then supplied to a Central

Biogas Magazine | Edition 10 | 37 feeder from where the electricity is distributed for several Dairy Farms needs. The generated electricity is used in several areas such as dairy equipment, milking machines, control room and lighting for dairy farm. As part of thermal Application, the biogas is also supplied to the local residents for daily cooking and heating purposes. The output from the bio-digester gets collected in outlet chamber. This slurry is mainly in the liquid form, however, this liquid slurry is pumped into a Solid Liquid Separator (SLS) which separates the solid particles from liquid. And, this solid compost is bagged up and further to be used as organic fertilizer by the farmers. As part of the demonstration cum research project, a control room has been set up to monitor and assess various technical parameters that are critical for power generation.

Conclusion Aisin Biogas Power Generation system is well suited for dairy farms with cattle population of more than 60. Apart from continuous electricity, the users of Aisin’s system also benefit from Biogas for cooking and organic fertilizer for their crops. Aisin’s Biogas power generation system is Empowering RURAL COMMUNITIES to be Self-sufficient & Self-sustainable for their Electricity Needs as it provides a cleaner technology by reducing carbon emissions to the environment.

Dr. B. Vengatesan Figure 2 – Layout of Aisin Demo site (Sri Bhagyalakshmi Farms, Kolur, Ramohalli (PO), Bengaluru)

Senior General Manager (R&D) Aisin Automotive Haryana Pvt Ltd

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