Bite-size anaerobic digestion for SMEs
10 Feb 2012
London – While anaerobic digestion (AD) offers a way of reducing carbon emission, providing energy security and employment, exploiting its potential has to date been the reserve of large organisations, However, a new project now aims to change this by bringing advanced AD technologies to rural and smaller scale businesses.
The Small Scale Anaerobic Digestion Technology (SSAD-TECH) platform provides underpinning process technology for the development of a series of commercial products for the local treatment of organic waste to produce energy (either as biogas, heat or electricity) and digestate, which can be considered as a non-fossil fuel derived fertiliser.
A five-strong consortium is led by The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and comprises CNG Services Ltd, Lyvennet Renewable Energy, Wardell Armstrong LLP and Field Science Limited.
With grant funding from the government-backed Technology Strategy Board, the project works with a total budget of £880,000 and will run over two years.
A part of the government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, CPI is home to existing AD development facilities and is ideally placed to co-ordinate, direct and deliver another successful project.
Anaerobic digestion will play an important role in achieving a low carbon future, and the SSAD-TECH project makes the technology an achievable goal for smaller scale or rural businesses,” said Dr Chris Dowle. CPI director of sustainable processing and advanced manufacturing,
The small scale AD system will be designed to generate income and power for farms and food manufacturers, and also resolve the issue of biomass waste disposal.
The project’s aim is to reduce capital costs of a small AD plant, while delivering a process capable of accepting biomass feed streams, saving significant land fill tariffs and generating power, and/or revenue from the sale of power, for the end user.
Studies have highlighted that there is an unmet market need for commercially viable AD plants at the 250kWe scale and below. The SSAD-TECH project will address these needs by looking at how various feedstocks behave in AD reactors. The aim is to accelerate the development of new technologies.
