Methane Explosion in China - Man Seriously Injured by Exploding Manhole Cover after Lighting Firecracker

A father was very seriously injured by an exploding manhole cover in a China street after lighting a firecracker. (Article by Graham Smith of the Daily Mail on 16th February 2012). This should act as a warning to all biogas plant owners. Methane explosions occur rarely, but when they do the consequesnces are seldom minor, and can be tragic.

The pictures show how the shocking moment took place when a man is blown off his feet after lighting a firecracker on a manhole cover. The CCTV footage shows the man being thrown ten metres through the air by the force of the explosion. We have included the much of the text from the article. Please follow the Daily Mail link at the bottom of the page:

The blast, which took place on January 29 in Hunan province in China, was so powerful that his jacket was torn off his back.

Reckless: Bending down over a manhole, a man in Hunan province in China prepares to ignite a firecracker with a lighter in his hand as two young boys look on

Explosion: The manhole cover suddenly blasts skywards, hitting the man, identified only as Mr Cai
Powerful: The blast sends the man flying across the street and tore the jacket from his back

The man, identified only as Mr Cai, was severely injured in the incident.

Surveillance footage shows him playing with his son and nephew in a snow-covered street.

Bending down over a manhole with a lighter in his hand, he prepares to ignite a firecracker as the two young boys look on.

An explosion suddenly occurs, sending him flying across the street and the manhole cover shooting as high as four storeys into the air.

The boys escaped uninjured and local residents rushed Mr Cai to hospital.

He suffered facial burns and an inhalation injury and remains in a critical condition.

The explosion was believed to be caused by highly-explosive highly explosive methane biogas that had accumulated inside the sewer. The gas is produced by the biological breakdown of organic waste in the absence of oxygen.
Alternate view: The manhole cover (circled) shot up as high as the fourth storey of a neighbouring building
Shocked: The boys escaped uninjured while local residents and authorities rush Mr Cai to hospital
The manhole cover now has a block of wood on it to warn motorists and passers-by that it is damaged

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Sawit Malaysia First Anaerobic Digestion Plant Successfully Reduces Estate Electricity Costs

Not long ago we wrote about the bog opportunity that palm oil plantation waste provides for renewable energy production, so we are pleased to be able to carry this article as Sawit announces the success its first biogas plant.

(The video below is about biogas from palm oil, but the company is not associated with the organisation described in the article.)

The Sawit Kinabalu Group on Thursday officially launched that itwill develop a biogas power plant at its Apas Balung estate refinery in Tawau, which has proven very effective in reducing the estate's electricity cost.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who officiated at the opening, is confident that the presence of the biogas plant will also help the Group's image as an environment-friendly organisation, apart from reducing its operational costs.

He said the State Government very much welcomed the initiative, in line with its policies and halatuju which emphasises on sustainable economic development.

"I would like to stress that the State Government is committed in developing this State without disregarding environmental conservation," he said.

He also hoped more oil palm companies would emulate the move by the Group by venturing into new fields like biogas power plant development, which not only contributes to protecting the environment but also boosts the development of renewable energy in the State.

The Group's Managing Director, Othman Walat, who was also present, said the biogas plant has helped in the Group's effort to increase its efficiency and profit to RM3.28 million per annum.

The biogas plant has helped the Apas Balung estate refinery in reducing its diesel utilisation cost by 85 per cent, he said, adding the percentage is equivalent to increasing the refinery's production income by RM1.14 million a year.

Othman said that apart from reducing the refinery's production cost, because of the diesel utilisation cost, the biogas plant was also built primarily to help reduce environmental pollution in the Balung area.

"I was informed by the surrounding residents that since the biogas plant began its operation, bad smell coming from the refinery has significantly reduced. The liquid waste discharge from the refinery also went down from 91-100ppm to 30-40ppm or equivalent to a 60 per cent reduction," he said.

He said the Group intends to continue with this effort to boost further its production income through its "turning waste into wealth" project, that is making use of the oil palm waste for various purposes.

Among its plans are to build a livestock feed production mill based on palm waste at the estate as well as seven more biogas plants for its other refineries within the next five years, he said.

This is in line with the Group's mission to create sustainable wealth by running environment-friendly business, he said, adding all these are part of fulfilling the organisation's corporate obligation.

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Holton: Bernard Matthews plans £4m biogas plant - East Anglian Daily Times

Rob Mears, UK managing director of Bernard Matthews Foods

Friday, November 11, 2011 - 6:00 AM

TURKEY giant Bernard Matthews has unveiled a £4million project to convert waste into biogas at its Suffolk factory which it hopes will save energy and reduce the number of lorries going into the facility.

The firm has teamed up with Glendale Power for a renewable power project at the site in Holton, near Halesworth, which it hopes will supply 13% of its electricity and 10% of its heat.

A planning application is expected to be submitted to Waveney District Council in the coming weeks, and if approved the firm hopes the facility, which will be funded by venture capital, will be up and running by April 2013 with work likely to start next year.

The proposal would see the construction of an anaerobic digestion facility which would treat 28,000 tonnes of liquid waste including blood fluids and fat and see it converted into gas which can be turned into electricity.

The digester will be connected, by pipeline, to the existing on site effluent treatment system, and the liquid waste will then be converted into a methane rich gas, which will be piped back into the factory to power an engine connected to a generator.

Electricity produced will be fed into the factory power grid and heat recovered from the cooling system and exhaust will be used to heat water.

Spent “fuel”, which will be largely water, will be returned to the on site effluent treatment system to be cleaned up and discharged.

Richard Smithgate, group procurement director at Bernard Matthews Foods, said the facility would consist of three towers which would be integrated into the existing factory.

“This ensures that we treat our own waste rather than have it treated by a third party,” he said. “We want to become more self-sufficient and all energy will be used on the site and none of it will be exported.”

Around 60% of the factories traffic is linked associated with waste and Mr Smithgate said the proposal would removed more than 1,200 lorry trips in and out of the site.

He also said the process involved would not be open to the air and that would mean no odours would be emitted from the facility.

“It will be like a soup,” he added. “It will sit in the cylinders for about 35 days and that process will generate the gas to produce the electricity.

“We hope to get a positive reaction because we are taking 1,200 vehicles off the road and we hope that will enhance the community.

Rob Mears, UK managing director at Bernard Matthews Foods, said: “This is an important development for Bernard Matthews and the local community.

“It will not only reduce our carbon footprint and help create a sustainable, constant, environmentally-friendly source of power for the factory, but it will also provide significant environmental benefits to the local community and help strengthen our long term competitive position for the site.”

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Proposed biogas plant at West Lexham could create 30 jobs - Norfolk Eastern Daily Press

The company behind plans for a new biogas plant at West Lexham, near Swaffham, says it will reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

By DAISY WALLAGE Thursday, October 27, 2011 

A proposed biogas energy plant near Swaffham could create up to 30 jobs.

West Lexham Biogas Limited will begin consulting on its plans to build a waste recycling plant and anaerobic digester (AD) at a disused quarry near the village later this month.

The plant will generate green electricity using waste from the food and drinks industry, reducing the amount of rubbish going to land fill and also producing organic fertiliser.

Residents and local councils are being invited to an exhibition about the project in Castle Acre on November 10 and a planning application is expected to be submitted in December.

The company is being driven by Teun Smits, who has experience in developing and operating AD plants in Holland, and by Qualiflex Biproduct Solutions Limited (qbs), a Bury St Edmunds-based company specialising in the sustainable transfer of waste products.

A spokesman said: “As a country we landfill thousands of tonnes of waste food and drink. This project should be the first of a number of these units we will develop to process this waste across the country and we are delighted to have found a site which meets our East Anglian needs.

“The site has a good road network and is in a hidden part of the landscape away from residential properties. This plant should produce approximately 30 new jobs for the area and the construction work will also provide employment opportunities.”

Gases produced during the digestion of waste are pumped into gas engines to create electricity while the resulting “digestate” will be made available to local farms for use as an organic fertilizer.

Landowner, Niels Olesen, added: “As someone who is passionate about alternative energy production, I am delighted to be working with such a knowledgeable company. “The infrastructure is here and the former gravel working is a logical brownfield site for a use such as this. We hope to gain local support for this exciting project”.

The exhibition will be held at Castle Acre Village Hall, in Pye’s Lane, from 4pm to 7pm on November 10 and there will be the chance to answer questions.

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Turning biomass into biogas - Chatham Daily News

The Daily News - Organic waste is the new black gold at the University of Guelph's Ridgetown Campus.

The campus unveiled a $2.6 million FedDev Ontario-funded anaerobic bio-digester that converts agricultural and food industry biomass to biogas.

(We could not find a video by PlanEt Biogas so we have incuded the one above.)

"This is one of the ways we can produce renewable electricity in our community. It's unique in that . . . this can run 24-7 so we can produce hydro at the same level all the time," said Art Schaafsma, director of the Ridgetown Campus.

Schaafsma said the farm scale unit, built by PlanET Biogas Solutions, works much like a cows stomach, utilizing bacteria to break down the ingredients to produce gas which fuels an engine to create energy through a generator.

The unit produces 250-kilowatt hours of electricity and has the capacity to produce the same amount of heat energy as well.

"You go to some farms and they're taking those fans and they're collecting the air and blowing it over a trailer of wood and they're drying wood. Other guys in Eastern Ontario are drying grain," said Matt Lensink, application manager for PlanET Biogas Solutions.

"We can heat about five acres of greenhouse with the heat that comes from this facility," Schaafsma said. "We can recapture nutrients as well, which can go back on the farmers fields.

"We've kind of replaced the cow and made a great big cow," he added.

Lensink said a farmer in the Niagara area has been applying the nutrients captured from a biogas facility on his land for two years and is now able to get a fourth cut of hay off his fields.

He added not only did the farmer say that was unheard of before, but also that the quality of the hay is good.

Dave Van Kesteren, MP for Chatham-Kent Essex, is excited about the possibilities the new biogas facility opens up to Chatham-Kent.

"This it really cool stuff, its got possibilities, huge possibilities," said Van Kesteren. "If we can create the technology, sell the goods but also sell the technology abroad, now we've added another component."

The MP said the big challenge in research is to get the results to the market place and create a new revenue source for local farmers and an opportunity to create new jobs.

"We want to start training (operators) here so we get the great people, because those great people will go into the greenhouses, they'll come up with this innovation, these great ideas and next thing you know we'll be exporting," Van Kesteren said. "We're just getting it going and a guy like Art is going to help make that a possibility."

Ridgetown campus is investing in the bio economy not just for the future of the school and area farmers, but also for the community at large.

"It takes a community to make a campus . . .we feel like we're obligated to . . . help lead and create opportunity so that we have some development in the rural sector," said Schaafsma. "We have to pitch in to make these things happen. All our kids are leaving and we need to provide opportunities so they can stay, many of them want to stay and they can't."

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