ThyssenKrupp Nirosta Discusses Stainless Steel Tanks for Anaerobic Digestion Plants

I for one think of stainess steel as a premium cost material and have not considered it likely to be a cost-effective material for a large commerical biogas tank, and yet in the article that follows it is clear that this material is being used for biogas plants, and reportedly, very successfully. We have included much of the article below, but please also visit the original website.

In Szeged, around an hour south of Budapest, Weltec Biopower is currently building an ultramodern biogas plant with stainless steel from ThyssenKrupp Nirosta. The 1-megawatt facility, comprising two combined heat and power plants with an output of 600 kW/h each, will go into operation at the end of 2011. The organic waste substrate will be supplied by local farmers, who in return will use the digestate left over from the anaerobic digestion /biogasproduction process as fertilizer on their fields. The generated heat will be used to heat offices in Szeged.

At the heart of the plant are two stainless steel digesters. In addition, an external stainless steel gas storage tank with a capacity of 650 cubic meters will be installed on the site. The aim is to take advantage of electricity prices, which are twice as high during the daytime. The biogas will therefore be collected in the digester tank and the external gas tank at night and the two CHP modules will run under full load in the day time.

The two 3,000 cubic meter digesters are sealed with a double membrane roof, which means that each digester also has an additional gas buffer capacity of 1,016 cubic meters. Animal waste and energy crops are used as a substrate, with special bacteria being used for the fermenting process. During biogas production, waste products such as sulfur and ammonia are also formed. "These substances are very corrosive, placing high demands on the material for the digesters. That's why we use stainless steel exclusively for our plants," says Hajo Schierhold, head of sales and marketing at Weltec Biopower, whose sole supplier of stainless steel is ThyssenKrupp Nirosta.

In the past ten years ThyssenKrupp Nirosta has supplied around 1,500 tons of material for various projects carried out by the Vechta-based plant builder. Depending on the loading, different stainless steel grades are used, e.g. for the tank walls in contact with the liquid or gas. "The majority of our deliveries have been our standard sheet steel Nirosta 4301 specially optimized for these applications," says Martin Stöckl from the ThyssenKrupp Nirosta sales team.

"What's particularly important for us is the cold-worked condition, 2H. This means thinner steel can be used to build the digesters without any loss of stability. It also means a significant cost saving". Another advantage is the extremely smooth surface. "The dense surface of Nirosta 4301 2H gives aggressive substances no opportunity to attack the material," says Weltec Biopower sales chief Schierhold. "Bacteria have no chance to take hold, so corrosion is nipped in the bud, which is an important factor for longevity and efficiency."

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Biogas Plant Approved Near Diss Norfolk But Local Objections Remain

Campaigners have vowed to launch a judicial review after controversial plans to build a biogas renewable energy plant near their homes were approved. In this article from Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production Magazine, it is not clear why the local continue to object. Is this Nymby-ism at play or do they have a specific objection? I suspect that Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production Magazine must think not, or the article would contain that information?

(The video is not linked with the article, but we hope you find it interesting.)

Stephen Gordon, chairman of Kenninghall Parish Council, announced that objectors would not give up their 18-month fight following the decision by Breckland Council's planning committee yesterday.

About 30 residents from the south Norfolk village, near Diss, attended the meeting with placards and protest banners.

Greenshoots Energy Ltd had applied to build an anaerobic digestion unit on land off Garboldisham Road, which would be fuelled with locally grown maize, poultry litter and cattle slurry. The electricity created would be transferred to the National Grid. The plant would be linked to a combined heat and power (CHP) plant just over half a mile away at Crown Milling, off Heath Road, which would use the waste heat generated by the energy plant.

Both applications had been recommended for approval despite opposition from the parish council, North Lopham Parish Council and about 500 residents who had signed a petition.

James Alston, who runs Greenshoots Energy with fellow farmer Robert Gooderham, said creating anaerobic digestors helped farmers maintain the viability of their industry.

Copyright 2011 Archant Regional Limited
All Rights Reserved

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Northern Ireland Opens New biogas CHP plant - Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production Magazine

A farm near Ardstraw in Northern Ireland is converting organic matter into biogas to provide sustainable heat and power on-site, as well as for local homes and businesses.

The 700-acre Greenhill farm biogas plant plant is only the second such plant in Northern Ireland. It works by ‘cooking’ animal waste from 600 cows at 40°C to produce methane gas.

The gas is then piped into two engines that drive generators to produce electricity. Hot water is also produced and is used to dry the plant’s residual, as well to pasteurise milk.

According to Alfagy, which supplied the biogas CHP, it has an energy efficiency of 86%, and represents a significant step toward in achieving an energy sustainable Northern Ireland.

The plant produces 430 kWh of power, which is sufficient to supply around 430 homes.

After the process of extracting methane from the manure and vegetation, farmers use the residual waste as a fertiliser to grow animal feed.

Alfagy says the project faced challenges in attracting funding from banks during the financial crisis.

“It is astonishing that more financial support isn’t directed at biogas power plants as they create eight times more value than other renewable technologies such as wind turbines,” says Peter Kindt, Alfagy’s chairman.

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Dong targets biomass-fired CHP in the UK - Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production Magazine

Denmark's largest power producer says it is looking at the UK as a potential location for power plants that convert household waste to energy.

The UK government has said it wants to see an expansion in waste-to-energy and anaerobic digestion plants and has recently increased incentives for on-farm biogas technologies.

But so far the industry has been taking a wait-and-see approach until the government reveals further details on the future structure of renewable energy subsidies before it commits to new waste-to-energy plants.

Dong has a history in the biomass market and currently produces heat and electricity at three waste-fired CHP plants in Jutland, Denmark.

Dong has also established a consortium to investigate the potential of bioenergy technologies and which is also tasked with converting an existing biomass-fired CHP plant to allow it to handle waste products from a bioethanol plant.

(Video is not reated to the article.)

The company is also looking at the possibility of constructing a waste treatment plant that will use enzymes to separate waste fractions for use in biogas production.

For more biomas news click here

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EBRD Lends 5.0 Mln Euro to Croatia's Agrokor for Biogas Power Plant - Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production Magazine

ZAGREB (Croatia), September 15 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Thursday it is providing a 5.0 million euro ($6.9 million) loan to Croatian concern Agrokor to support the construction of a combined heat and power generation plant that will use biogas as primary fuel.

The proceeds of the EBRD loan will be used to purchase and install the biogas power plant, and sterilisation and water purification equipment, the EBRD said in a press release.

The project is expected to be completed by September 2012 and will be in full compliance with EU environmental regulations.

Located in Gradec, 40 kilometres outside the capital Zagreb, the plant will be fuelled by organic waste, by-products of Agrokor's food production process. It will have a generation capacity of 1.0 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which will be supplied to Croatia's power grid, and also a 1.0 MW of heat capacity.

The construction of the biogas facility in Gradec is the first step in Agrokor's strategic plans to develop similar projects, with a total generation capacity of up to 30 MW, the statement said.

The EBRD has a long-standing cooperation with the privately-held Agrokor, having previously supported a variety of the company's investments in Croatia and neighbouring countries. The biogas facility in Gradec is financed under the bank's Agribusiness Sustainable Investment Facility.

Since the beginning of its operations in Croatia, the bank has committed over 2.5 billion euro to the country's economy. The EBRD funds mobilised additional investment of 4.0 billion euro in various sectors of the Croatian economy.

($ = 0.7246 euro)

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ENERGY: Regulators reduce wind, biogas subsidies for on-site generators - North County Times

Residents and businesses looking to install wind power, fuel cells or other alternative electricity generators - but not solar power - will get lower subsidies after a decision made this week by the California Public Utilities Commission.

The new rules apply to the Self-Generation Incentive Program, which provides subsidies to businesses and residents who install power generators on their own property. The new rules require new generation projects to reduce to the net production of global warming-causing gases such as carbon dioxide in order to be eligible for the subsidy. They also reduce the subsidies by as much as half, depending on the technology in question.

"Today's decision represents a team effort between the California Air Resources Board and the CPUC as we strive to reach goals of achieving 33 percent renewable energy by 2020 and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020," said commission president Michael Peevey in a written statement issued Thursday. 

A 2006 state law established a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. 

Under the rules for the program, applicants must show that proposed generation reduces the amount of net greenhouse gases produced compared with the amount of greenhouse gases produced from normal electricity generation. The exact amount of reduction was left open for a future decision after the commissioners disagreed with staff's method of calculation.

The commission also ruled that some technologies had become popular enough that subsidies could be reduced. Wind turbines will now be eligible for $1.25 per watt, down from $1.50 per watt; fuel cells, which produce electricity from natural gas without burning it, will be eligible for $1.25 per watt, half the previous subsidy; and biogas generators, which are fueled by methane from sewage and landfills, will see no reduction in a $2 per watt subsidy, but companies must buy it on a 10-year contract, twice as long as before.

The new rules require businesses applying to undergo an energy audit, which will highlight areas where the applicants could make better use of their electricity, before they receive a subsidy.

Call staff writer Eric Wolff at 760-303-1927 or follow him on Twitter at NCTRealEstate.

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German Weltec Biopower completes fifth biogas project in Czech Republic - Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production Magazine

(SeeNews Renewables) - Sep 16, 2011 - German green energy solutions developer Weltec Biopower has finished its fifth biogas power plant in the Czech Republic, after four months of construction and approval by the responsible authorities.

The foundation was laid in March, followed by the installation of the 2,500 cu m stainless steel fermenter, the cogenerator and the 35 cu m vertical batcher. The biogas processing equipment came in May and the test operations started in June, when the plant also received regulatory approval.

The plant's 366 kW gas engine feeds electricity into the grid. The facility runs on agricultural substrates and manure from the nearby farms. The investors received financial support from the EU fund for both environmental issues and rural and agricultural development.

The Czech government sets top priority on green energy production and by 2015 biomass should provide the bigger share of it. This moves players from the country and abroad to invest in the sector. [ http://anaerobic-digestion.com ]

Copyright 2011 SeeNews.
All Rights Reserved.
www.seenews.com | www.world.seenews.com; e-mail: editor@seenews.com.

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Hungarian biogas CHP plant opens - Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production Magazine

Hungary’s largest biogas power plant was officially opened on 13 September in the city of Szarvas, where it will provide 4.2 MW of electricity and an equal amount of heat, supporting onsite operations and feeding the local grid.

(It is not clear whether this video is for the same power plant as in the article.)

German company r.e Bioenergie built the combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) plant, which features three Jenbacher J416 engines supplied by GE.

The plant is being run in close co-operation with the poultry processing plant operator Gallicoop Pulykafeldolgozó, which provides much of the raw biomass that is converted into biogas to power the Jenbacher engines.

The anaerobic digestion facility is about 4 km east of the poultry processing plant. To optimize the efficiency of the thermal energy, a special pipeline delivers the biogas from the digester facility to the Jenbacher engines at the processing plant.

The CCHP system’s thermal power is then used to supply on-site heating and cooling. Any excess electricity is fed into the local grid.

For more biomass news click here

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