Session: Research Posters

Paper Number: 119986

119986 - Batch Aerobic Digestion Bioprocessing Using Numerical Analysis and Simulation 

Renewable energy is a widely used form of powering and sustaining large communities and facilities such as Dairy farms, school campuses and residential neighborhoods. Different ways of obtaining renewable energy sources is a growing field and around the top of the list you will find a process known as Anaerobic Digestion.  In 2021 it was recorded that there are 207 anaerobic digesters currently installed and producing biogas in America. Anaerobic digestion is a commonly used method in the agriculture field with benefits such as producing methane, which is a source of renewable energy that can be used to generate electricity, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and what is left over from the process can be used for fertilizer, sold for profit, or reused as an additive to the following mixture to help boost methane production. Anaerobic digestion takes place in a bioreactor or usually some form of a bioreactor such as a man-made reserve covered by a tarp to minimize oxygen and utilizes farm and dairy waste such as cow manure. When a biomass substance, typically cow manure, is mixed with water, stirred, heated, deprived of oxygen, and has certain parameters monitored such as pH levels, a biochemical reaction occurs beginning with the biomass through a 4-stage process; hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis with the product being a biogas usually consisting of a 60:40 percent ratio of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) respectively with small amounts of trace gasses such as water vapor (H2O) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which is extremely toxic if inhaled. Methane burns very easily due to its simple molecular structure consisting of one single carbon atom surrounded by four hydrogen atoms and can be integrated into other natural gases to enable them to be more efficient. Anaerobic digestion can be expensive and maintenance costs can be difficult to manage for some smaller establishments so the need to increase efficiency while minimizing costs is essential. Various parameters such as C:N (carbon to nitrogen) ratios, pH levels, temperature, mixing agitation and retention time all play a key factor in the production of high quality biogas. The need to increase the efficiency of biogas production is ever growing and with biogas being one of the fastest growing fields for renewable energy, the objective of this report will focus on cross analyzing data retrieved from simulations via SuperPro Designer involving various sizes for vessels, to understand how the operating parameters differentiate with a change in volume.

Presenting Author: zachary dulany Tarleton State University

Presenting Author Biography: Engineering student at Tarleton State University.

Authors:

zachary dulany Tarleton State University
Hoe Gil Lee Tarleton State University