Large scale biogas plants

Bigadan is a Danish company with more than 25 years of international experience within practical use of biogas technology, with emphasis on large scale biogas plants.

Bigadans biogas plant receives all kinds of organic waste - typically livestock manure and organic industrial waste (Photo: Istockphoto)

Bigadans biogas plant receives all kinds of organic waste - typically livestock manure and organic industrial waste (Photo: Istockphoto)

 

Having built more than 30 biogas facilities in 11 different countries, Bigadan is an experienced supplier of turn-key plants, engineering, process equipment and maintenance as well as operation of biogas plants. 

Bigadan technology

Bigadan has developed a standardized design for plants sized 100 - 750 t/d, which includes:

  • reception with equipment for cutting and pre-sorting
  • pasteurization unit

At the centralized biogas plant the organic waste is transformed into ferilizer and CO2 neutral biogas. Often the biogas is burnt in the gas engine for production of electricity and district heat.

How it works

Biogas is produced from organic waste (carbon) which biodegrades by means of bacteria in an anaerobic environment. This process is expedited at a process temperature of 38°C (mesophilic) or 52°C (thermophilic) in the plant's digester.

The biogas plant receives all kinds of organic waste - typically livestock manure and organic industrial waste. Among other things the dry solid in livestock manure contains carbon. In the biogas process this carbon is transformed into biogas, which is a compound of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Biogas plants often receive livestock manure as well as industrial waste. Manure and waste is mixed in the plant's receiving tank before it is heated to 38-52°C and pumped into the digester in which the biogas is produced. The biomass stays in the digester for 2-3 weeks and the fermented slurry can subsequently be used as crop fertilizer.

Typically the biogas is utilized to generate electricity and district heat in the plant's gas engine. The electricity is sent into the electrical power grid and the heat is used by local consumers.

Further reading

Bigadan website

Article produced by Eilif Ursin Reed 31.08.2010

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