Economic Feasibility Study of a Small-scale Biogas Plant Using a Two-stage Process and a Fixed Bio-film Reactor for a Cost-efficient Production
Energy Procedia 2016
Roberto Renda, Emanuele Gigli, Andrea Cappelli, Silvano Simoni, Elisa Guerriero, Francesco Romagnoli

European and Italian incentive schemes promote small-scale biogas plant distribution using different types of biological and agricultural wastes as feedstock. A feed in tariff system is used in most of the European Union countries, and the incentive is paid on top of the market price capped at a maximum amount sold. The proposed study explores the feasibility of two-stage biogas plants for small-scale CHP, based on a two-phase bio-film process partially tested during the Biowalk4Biofuels (B4B) FP7 project implementing an Anaerobic Digestion (AD) based on a rotating biological contactor thus able to combine significant yields and reduced volume. The project developed a small pre-industrial biogas plant implementing a recovered 45 kWel CHP unit with 95 kWth thermal power. In the two-stage process, a high-temperature hydrolysis phase was followed by a continuously stirred methanogenesis bioreactor equipped with a rotating biological contactor. Main process performances were related to Organic Load Rate (OLR) up to 15 kg VS/m3; the overall reactor volume was 70 m3 for expected biogas production of 25 Nm3/h. Specifically, the aim of the present article is to address the use of the results and outcomes from some laboratory tests verified by the B4B system to model an overall feasibility evaluation. This allows to explore theoretical and economic feasibility of two ideal plants characterized by a 50 and 150 Nm3/h biogas production based on the overall system performances implementing a fixed biofilm for enhancing methanogenesis process. The feasibility study for the 50 Nm3/h biogas plants (equivalent to 100 kWel) shows profitable results, as well as evaluation of the 150 Nm3/h plants (300 kWe), that represent the biggest size for Italian incentives aimed at “small size” biogas plants.


Keywords
RBC; biofilm; anaerobic digestion; hydrolisys; small scale plants; biogas; CHP; feed in tariff
DOI
10.1016/j.egypro.2016.09.042
Hyperlink
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610216306816

Renda, R., Gigli, E., Cappelli, A., Simoni, S., Guerriero, E., Romagnoli, F. Economic Feasibility Study of a Small-scale Biogas Plant Using a Two-stage Process and a Fixed Bio-film Reactor for a Cost-efficient Production. Energy Procedia, 2016, Vol.95, pp.385-392. ISSN 1876-6102. Available from: doi:10.1016/j.egypro.2016.09.042

Publication language
English (en)
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