Biogas Production Mass. DEPThe use of sludge from wastewater treatment operations to generate energy is common throughout the United States. Subjecting sludge to anaerobic bacteria in a closed vessel digester produces a biogas consisting of approximately 6. Biogas from wastewater treatment plants WWTPs has been successfully used to provide both heat and electricity. Wastewater treatment plants that dont anaerobically treat sludge on site must transport their dewatered wastewater sludge to a facility for incineration or composting. There are significant energy costs associated with transporting and incinerating wastewater sludge offsite. In 2. 00. 8, the Water Environment Research Foundation estimated wastewater treatment plants consumed approximately 2. Up to 3. 0 of the financial cost of operating a WWTP was attributed to handling WWTP solids. Historically, the main incentive for using digesters to treat wastewater sludge was to reduce the volume of sludge, thereby reducing the cost of transporting and treating the sludge. The recognition that the methane produced by the digesters could be a significant source of useful energy is more recent. According to a study referenced in the EPA publication The Benefits of Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste at Waste Water Treatment Facilities PDF, there has also been movement towards adding post consumer food waste to anaerobic digesters already in place at wastewater treatment facilities. Food waste has up to three times as much energy potential as biosolids. Vol. 7, no. 2, february 2012 issn 18196608. THE OIL PALM AND ITS SUSTAINABILITY INTRODUCTION The oil palm in Malaysia is over a century old. Introduced as an ornamental in 1871, the oil palm. Biogas Plant Construction Manual Fixeddome Digester 4 to 20 Cubic Meters United States Forces Afghanistan, Joint Engineer Directorate Kabul, Afghanistan. Anaerobic digestion is a collection of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for. Commercial and industrial food wastes are seen as ideal for anaerobic digestion due to the high volume produced and the ability to get a clean, homogenous waste stream. Anaerobic Sludge Digestion in Massachusetts. Currently only five of the 1. Technical Challenges of Producing and Using Biogas. Successfully capturing and using biogas as a fuel source from wastewater sludge has been described as an art as. The biogas is a renewable energy that can be used for heating, electricity, and many other operations that use a reciprocating internal combustion engine, such as GE. Computer Aided Chemical Engineering Volume 40, Pages 12996 2017 27 European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering. Biogas Production Process Pdf' title='Biogas Production Process Pdf' />WWTPs in Massachusetts use anaerobic digestion in treating wastewater sludge. These include Boston MWRADeer Island WWTP, Greater Lawrence Sanitary District, Clinton WWTP, Pittsfield WWTP, and the Rockland WWTP. Sango Fighter 2 Pc Game. With the exception of the Greater Lawrence Sanitary District, which installed digester tanks 7 years ago, the digesters used at the other Massachusetts WWTPs are approximately 2. The primary and secondary digesters at the Pittsfield WWTP, originally built in 1. More recently, with funding assistance from the Massachusetts Green Infrastructure SRF program, the Fairhaven Water Pollution Control Facility is undertaking a new biogas to energy project adding an anaerobic digestion system with combined heat and power capability to its activated sludge facility. This new Combined Heat and Power CHP system is expected to provide approximately 1. W of on site electric power and heat recovery to the treatment plant. The estimated total cost of this system is 7. At each of the plants, the methane produced during the digestion process is used to keep the digesters heated at the appropriate temperature. Four of the five Massachusetts facilities that use digesters currently flare excess methane, particularly during the summer months. The Boston Deer Island facility, operated by the MWRA, does not flare methane and has a co generation system where excess methane is used to heat buildings and generate electricity via steam turbine generators. This saves the MWRA approximately 1. In addition, MWRAs methane generated electricity for the New England grid qualifies as green under the Renewable Portfolio Standard program administered by DOER, and therefore results in renewable energy credits RECs for MWRA. Other electricity suppliers that do not generate sufficient RECs to meet their obligations under this program can purchase certificates for other generators. MWRAs Deer Island Plant is the only currently qualified anaerobic digestion facility participating in this program, and in fiscal year 2. RECs. DOERs website has information on annual RPS reports and requirements. MWRAs website also provides information on its anaerobic digesters. The Pittsfield WWTP, which generates 8. Both the Clinton and Rockland WWTPs had previously considered installing a co generation system but the costbenefit analysis conducted at the time did not support co generation. The Rockland WWTP, which has a wastewater flow of 2. MGD does not have adequate space for additional digesters. The Greater Lawrence Sanitary District, with a flow capacity of 5. MGD and an actual flow of 3. MGD, generates approximately 1. Although it presently does not have a co generation system and flares roughly 1. GLSD facility uses digester gas to heat digesters and dry its dewatered sludge. This process is the largest consumer of the digester gas produced in the anaerobic digesters. The GLSD sludge drying facility, operational since 2. Wastewater Biogas Facilities in Massachusetts. Facility. Actual Flow. Use of biogas. Age. Savings. BostonMWRA3. MGDHeat to maintain digester temperatures generating electricity with steam turbine 2. CHP modifications are planned to save 5. FY 2. 00. 8 from Renewable Energy Certificate sales2Pittsfield. MGD 2. 00. 8Heat to maintain digester temps. Flare excess originally built in 1. Rockland. 2. 5 MGDHeat to maintain digester temps. Flare excess 2. 0 yrs Greater Lawrence Sanitary District. MGDHeat to maintain digester temps. Flare excess. Tanks installed 2. Cost savings through sludge treatmentdigestion 6. Clinton. 2 4 MGDHeat to maintain digester temps. Flare excess 2. 0 yrs Fairhaven Water Pollution Control Facility. Gerber Omega Composer'>Gerber Omega Composer. MGDHeat recovery for digesting operation electric power generation. New installation 2. Anticipated energy cost sludge disposal savings of approximately 3. Technical Challenges of Producing and Using Biogas. Successfully capturing and using biogas as a fuel source from wastewater sludge has been described as an art as much as a science. Maintaining the bacteria population in the digesters that is needed to breakdown wastewater solids is challenging due to the sensitivity of the bacteria to a number of factors, especially temperature and alkalinity. Variability in the type of sludge, amount of sludge, moisture content, temperature, and other factors can cause a massive die off of the bacteria and subsequent cessation of methane production. In such cases, the resulting gas emissions will frequently consist of carbon dioxide and odorous hydrogen sulfide. Operator skill and detailed knowledge of the plant are critical factors in successful operations. Types of Electric Generators. The three main technologies used to produce electricity from biogas are microturbines, fuel cells, and internal combustion engines. The appropriate technology is largely determined by the size of the wastewater treatment plant. Microturbine technology is usually more appropriate for WWTPs treating small volumes of flow minimum flow usually lt 6. MGD. Minimum flow required for fuel cells and internal combustion technologies are 1. MGD and 4. 1. 4 MGD respectively. In 2. 00. 7 EPA estimated the typical costs of installing a CHP system using a 1. W microturbine was 5. W of 4,4. 84. Installing a CHP system using 3. W fuel cells costs approximately 2,2. W. A CHP system using a 1. W internal combustion engine costs approximately 2,1. W of 2,0. 39. These cost estimates do not include the expense of purchasing, installing, and operating the sludge digesters3. Potential for Increasing the ProductionUse of Biogas in Massachusetts. As noted above, only five of the 1.