6 Biogas Analysis and Gas Quality Monitoring Equipment Suppliers EU

Biogas Equipment, a List of 6 Biogas Analysis and Gas Quality Monitoring Equipment Suppliers
Biogas analysis and maximizing the efficiency of anaerobic digestion plants is gaining more attention, as the anaerobic digestion industry matures.

The highest prices are only available for top quality biogas with a consistently high calorific value after upgrading (purification).

To do that operators need to pay close attention to the quality of the digester off-gas.

Thankfully, robust and low-cost biogas analysis sensors are available from a number of manufacturers, for controlling the various biogas quality upgrading processes.

Many devices combine the functions of biogas flow measurement with quality monitoring systems for a wide variety of needs.

We found the following list of suppliers of Gas Analyzers for landfills and the biogas plant sector:

1. GEOTECH Gas Analysers for Landfills and the Biogas Sector.
2. Cameron Instruments – Multitec Biocontrol.
3. Union Instruments – Inca Biogas Analyzers.
4. Wilexa Energy – CSM Continuous Siloxane Monitors for Landfill Biogas.
5. Progeco – Biogas Analysis Equipment.
6. Avensys Solutions – Awiflex Biogas Analyzer.

Conclusion:

The need to continuously measure methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
can be joined with a need for analysis of the much lower low percentages of CO, H2S, N2, O2,  which can also be found in the biogas composition.

Thankfully, monitoring equipment has been developed to do what is needed.

For the full article go to:.
https://anaerobic-digestion.com/biogas-analysis

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Sanitary Benefits of Installing an Anaerobic Digester System

The most obvious sanitary benefit of installing an anaerobic digester system is the improvements to toilet facilities in the households. Throughout China and other developing countries, where no sewer system is in place, toilet facilities are in simple shacks.

The toilet is generally a slot in the floor with either a pit underneath or alternatively a trough running to a storage pit behind the building.

In the case of a pit toilet, the slurry in the pit is often literally moving with insect larvae, and in all cases the toilets are smelly and fly infested. For these reasons, toilets are generally located as far away from the other household buildings as practical.

Watch our video below for a contrasting example of what one biogas plant supplier has achieved in sanitary improvement, using a biogas digester:

Biogas Digester Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool that can be used to compare the environmental impacts of different products throughout their entire life cycle (European Commission, 2010).

The LCA has been used to compare different biogas production technologies (Rehl and Muller, 2011; Poeschl et al., 2012a). Several studies have also focused on technologies for biogas production from manure and different co-substrates for manure (Hamelin et al., 2011; Rehl and Muller, 2011; De Vries et al., 2012; Poeschl et al., 2012a).

However, very few studies have focused on the vast number of small-scale biogas digesters being deployed in developing countries. Only one single study has been identified (Chen et al., 2012) and this study largely ignores the issues of CH4 leakage and release and nutrient recycling.

With the current UK calculating being done on the LCA impact of biogas production, it will soon become be easier to make comparisons with other fuels.

SimGas Biogas Systems

SimGas biogas systems are fully integrated farm solutions designed to reach millions of rural households in developing countries. Our systems enable rural households with livestock to use the manure from their livestock to generate clean fuel for cooking and organic fertiliser.

Digesters are arguably even better, though, when they're in poor or developing countries. According to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, small-scale anaerobic digesters like the one Porter and Mazur want to build on Everest are commonly used in rural communities to meet heating and cooking needs. China, for example, has an estimated 8 million anaerobic digesters. Nepal - where the one in question would be built - already has 50,000.

Toilet Facilities in the Households with Biogas Plants

The most obvious sanitary benefit of installing an anaerobic digester system is the improvements to toilet facilities in the households. Throughout China and other developing countries, where no sewer system is in place, toilet facilities are in simple shacks. The toilet is generally a slot in the floor with either a pit underneath or alternatively a trough running to a storage pit behind the building. In the case of a pit toilet, the slurry in the pit is often literally moving with insect larvae, and in all cases the toilets are smelly and fly infested. For these reasons, toilets are generally located as far away from the other household buildings as practical.

Reasons to Try Aquaponics

The world today uses epic amounts of non-renewable resources. as we grow old, our backs tend to give senior citizens trouble. Gardening is hard on the back. Aquaponic systems can be designed to ensure you never have to bend over to plant or harvest. lower cholesterol.

Many organizations and countries around the world are seeking to find new sustainable ways to produce food due to the world food crisis. Hydroponic and aquaponic systems have plenty of benefits for developing countries and make use of he output from digestion, known as digestate.

Unfortunately, the digested may still contain some diseases, especially when the digestate has been output after the source has been recognized as including some animal by-products.

The control of pests and diseases of plants grown in aquaponic systems is a problem since pesticide use is clearly limited by the high sensitivity of water pollution which may be caused by it.

In general, published data indicate that a digestion time of 14 days at 35 C is effective in killing (99.9 per cent die-off rate) the enteric bacterial pathogens and the enteric group of viruses. However, the die-off rate for roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) and hookworm (Ancylostoma) is only 90 per cent, which is still high. In this context, biogas production would provide a public health benefit beyond that of any other treatment in managing the rural health environment of developing countries.

Energy Shortages in Developed Countries

Energy shortages in developed countries turned out to have an impact on developing countries such as Indonesia (Simamora, 2006). The declining of the reserve natural energy and the increasing of human needs for living force them to always make effort and innovate to solve their problem.

A Substitute for Fossil Fuel Based Household Energy

Any effort for a renewable substitute for fossil fuel based household energy is by developing biogas that have raw material from cattle manure. The biggest parts of Indonesia are rural area which have source income in form of integrated agriculture product, one of them is cattle, so the developing of Biogas is really potential. So far, Productivity and Socialization of Biogas energy in the countryside have not conferred maximal product outcomes.

Many developing countries, such as Colombia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Vietnam, Cambodia, have promoted the low-cost biodigester technology aiming at reducing the production cost by using local materials and simplifying installation and operation (Botero and Preston 1987; Solarte 1995; Chater 1986; Sarwatt et al 1995; Soeurn 1994; Khan 1996).

The model used was a continuous-flow flexible tube biodigester based on the "red mud PVC" (Taiwan) bag design as described by Pound et al (1981) and later simplified by Preston and co-workers first in Ethiopia (Preston unpubl.), Colombia (Botero and Preston 1987) and later in Vietnam (Bui Xuan An et al 1994).

More than 7000 polyethylene biodigesters have been installed in Vietnam, mainly paid for by farmers (Bui Xuan An and Preston 1995).

Conclusion

Developing countries have struggled to supply stable forms of energy to many of their inhabitants.
According to the World Energy Outlook, approximately 80 percent of people without electricity live in rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia.

With no other alternative for energy, many people already rely on biogas and struggle to efficiently transport and store it. The technology is therefore in a good position to be developed and extended.

Biogas in India in 2019

Introduction to Biogas Plants and Production in India

While technically biogas in India can be produced from any kind of natural product, the majority of times, biogas is produced from natural waste.

This waste might make up farming and crop waste, human waste and animal waste (cow dung for example). With a calorific worth of about 5000 KCal/ m3, biogas is an exceptional fuel for heating functions along with for producing electrical power.

Biogas production has actually been quite dominant in India at home and community levels (especially in rural backwoods) than on big scales.

In towns especially, lots of little biogas crops utilize the livestock waste (especially cow dung) and offer biogas utilized for house heating and cooking. It is approximated that over 2 million such biogas plants have actually been put into use, all through India.

When organic matters like cow dung, agricultural wastes, human excreta etc. subjected to bacterial decomposition in presence of water in absence of air, a mixture of CH4, C02, H2, H2S etc. is produced. These gases together is known as biogas. The residue left after the removal of biogas is a good source of manure and biogas is used as a good source of non-polluting fuel.

A one-cubic-meter digester, primed with cow dung to provide bacteria, can convert the waste generated by a four-person family into enough gas to cook all its meals and provide sludge for fertilizer.

A model this size costs about $425 but will pay for itself in energy savings in less than two years. That's still a high price for most Indians, even though the government recently agreed to subsidize about a third of the cost for these family-sized units.

If a biogas plant is taken care off well, it can be used for up to 25 years.

" Dr Aggarwal set up the plant at his home 4-5 years back. Describing how it functions, he shares, "Everyday, 10 kg cow dung, along with 15 litres of water, is put in the mixing tank.

"The cow dung is brought from the cowsheds from nearby areas, where the owners want to dispose it anyway. This mixture is fermented inside the fermentation tank by the anaerobic bacteria. The mixture is then converted into slurry through which methane gas and carbon dioxide gas are released," 

he shares. via dnaindia.com

The bio-gas is obtained from plant, animal and human waste, is also called as gobar gas in India. The main source of biogas is wet cow dung.

The other sources of biogas are sewage, crop residue, vegetable wastes, waste wood, dry leaves of the plants, broken branches of trees, garbage, waste paper, poultry droppings, pig manure, algae, ocean kelp etc.

These plants are commonly known as Gobar gas plants because the usual raw material is cow dung (Gobar). The methodology involves in the process is to prepare a slurry of cow dung with water. Water is also be added to the slurry.

Biogas in India - Conclusion

Home biogas plants produce biogas from cow dung and certain organic household waste. This allows families to cook without any worries. There is no smoke any more, and the tedious chore of collecting wood is also dispensed with. Many women and children were busy collecting firewood one day a week; now they have more time to work and play.

The systems used in the production of biogas today are not efficient. There are no new technologies yet to simplify the process and make it abundant and low cost. 

This means large scale production to satisfy a large population is still not possible. Although the biogas plants available today are able to meet some energy needs, most individuals and governments are not willing to heavily invest in the sector. This aspect has led many people to put up biomass systems in their homes, which are short on capacity.

The Pdf version available of our main biogas article (not this one) is at: anaerobic-digestion.com

UK FiT Fade Out - 5 Anaerobic Digestion Advantages UK Tory Ministers Ignored

ADBA PRESS STATEMENT, Posted on 20 July, 2018: 

Anaerobic digestion industry response to Feed-In Tariff consultation

Responding to the government's new Feed-In Tariff (FIT) consultation, Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive of the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA), said:

With the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) confirmed to close in just nine months’ time, this was an opportunity for the government to prove that it is committed to providing the investment that is absolutely critical to supporting small-scale renewables, which make a vital contribution to decarbonising and meeting increased demand for electricity in the UK. 

Unfortunately, this is an opportunity that has been well and truly missed. As well as providing renewable baseload power, anaerobic digestion (AD) combined heat and power (CHP) under the FIT has been vital in helping to decarbonise the farming sector. 

With the government no longer providing direct for support for the generation of renewable electricity, on-farm AD will struggle to deliver its numerous non-energy benefits, which include reducing emissions from wastes, improving air quality and resource management, and restoring soils through the production of nutrient-rich biofertiliser. 

This also puts at severe risk the more than 300 AD CHP plants currently in the planning pipeline. It’s therefore vital that the government rethinks its baffling decision to have no new low-carbon electricity levies until 2025, which risks creating a valley of death that small-scale technologies such as AD could easily fall into.

So, how did we arrive at this point?

UK FiT (Feed-in-Tariff) Fade-Out Starts on 31 March 2019

The story so far on the UK government closure of the Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) which was introduced in the 2000s to encourage the adoption of renewable energy technology in the UK.

31 March 2019, marks the date after which no more new schemes will be considered for the subsidy. 

Existing schemes will be honoured. They will still be paid-out-on over the original individual durations of scheme agreements.

Nobody would seek to suggest that overall the FiT has not been successful, given that the UK is currently not only complying with its targets for renewable energy, but exceeding them.

However, many in the UK biogas industry would argue that the FiT or a replacement scheme for biogas, should have been introduced.

This is given the youthfulness of the technology (younger in development than wind and solar technologies), and the additional benefits of anaerobic digestion, which are unique.

These are benefits which will assist the government to comply with targets for climate change abatement, air quality, and agricultural emissions for example.

In the following excerpts, we have endeavoured to tell the story of the FiT wind-down which was started by the UK government started in the summer of 2018.

UK's Feed-In Tariff fade out confirmed

July 24, 2018: The UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has set out a proposal to close the country’s Feed-In-Tariffs (FITs) scheme.
In the proposal, the scheme would be closed to new applications after 31 March 2019. Feed-In-Tariffs are the UK government’s subsidy scheme for the generation of renewable electricity from small-scale low-carbon installations. Both anaerobic digestion and combined heat and power (CHP) agricultural installations have been greatly supported by the Scheme.

The government is hosting a consultation until 13 September 2019 on the proposed changes. An impact assessment has been released to accompany the consultation.

According to the consultation, the FIT scheme was introduced to support the widespread adoption of small scale (up to 5MW) low-carbon electricity generating technologies, intending to give the wider public a stake in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Original 2010 deployment projections, ‘both in terms of numbers of installations and installed capacity’, have been exceeded, the government reporting over 800,000 installations confirmed on the Central FIT Register as of March 2018. via Bioenergy Insight

Meanwhile, other Nations have been Introducing Feed-in-Tariffs, and even increasing them, as in the following examples:

New Irish Feed-in Tariff Promotes Biogas Potential

In the course of 2017, Ireland intends to initiate the energy reform with a new feed-in tariff for renewable energies. The government plans to increase the amount of green electricity from the current figure of about 23 percent to 40 percent by 2020. 

Watch on YouTube here.

The tariff system is to establish a favourable environment for biogas plant operation. In view of the extensive agricultural and waste resource potential available in Ireland, WELTEC BIOPOWER UK will showcase its AD plant technologies at the Energy Now Expo Ireland, which will be held in the end of October in The Hub in Kilkenny.

In early September, the Irish Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment (DCCAE) announced the adoption of a new subsidy regime to promote renewable energies, to be known as the Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS). 

So far, Ireland has been the only European country without an incentive scheme for heat from renewable sources. 

However, the green island has to meet EU requirements by 2020. This means that 16 per cent of Ireland‘s total energy needs for power, heat and traffic must be provided from renewable energies. This is to be achieved by making use of all green energy sources available in the country. Biogas is to play a key role especially in meeting the individual goals for the heat and transport sector. via Ireland Promotes Biogas

France increases biogas tariffs

July 31, 2015: France is set to increase its feed-in tariffs for biogas installations and small photovoltaic (PV) systems, says the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.

The feed-in tariff for electricity produced by cogeneration installations running on biogas will be raised for both new and existing installations.

On a project basis, depending on individual size and feedstock used, the increase will be between 10 and 20%.

A 300 kW anaerobic digestion unit that uses cow manure from approximately 200 cows, for example, will increase its annual income by between €40,000 and €50,000.

France recently also adopted a law to set an ambitious target of sourcing 32% of its energy demand from renewable sources by 2030. via BioenergyInsightMagaz

Feed-in tariffs in Australia - Solar Only

Feed-in tariffs in Australia are the feed-in tariffs (FITs) paid under various State schemes to non-commercial producers of electricity generated by solar photovoltaic (PV) systems using solar panels. 

They are a way of subsidising and encouraging uptake of renewable energy and in Australia have been enacted at the State level, in conjunction with a federal mandatory renewable energy target.

Australian FIT schemes tend to focus on providing support to solar PV particularly in the residential context, and project limits on installed capacity (such as 10 kW in NSW) mean effectively that FITs do not support large scale projects such as wind farms or solar thermal power stations. via Wikipedia

FiT in Japan

Since its enforcement in 2012, purchase prices of FiT have been re-examined every year. As a result, that for solar PV has been lowered and some new categories have been created for wind, hydro and biomass.

On April 2017, the FIT scheme was partially amended. This amendment introduces a new approval system for renewable power generation projects that require grid connection agreement with the utility beforehand. via Solar PV auction

No FiT Schemes Exist in the US - Only Renewable Portfolio Standards

A state renewable portfolio standard (RPS) encourages or requires utilities to use or buy renewable energy or renewable energy certificates (RECs) to account for a certain portion of their retail electricity sales by a certain date. A REC is a tradable certificate documenting that 1 megawatt-hour of renewable electricity was generated at a specific facility. The goal of an RPS is to stimulate market and technology development so that renewable energy can become more competitive with conventional forms of electric power. A state RPS helps create market demand for renewable energy.

Generally, electricity suppliers can meet the RPS targets by:
Owning a renewable energy facility and its output generation.
Purchasing RECs.
Purchasing electricity from a renewable facility.

Biogas from anaerobic digesters often qualifies as renewable energy under the biomass category of state RPS systems. via AgSTAR

Read our 5 Anaerobic Digestion Advantages article here.

Attribution of Images in Video:

This video presentation (top of page) contains images that were used under a Creative Commons License. Click here to see the full list of images and attributions.