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Drying Characteristics of Biogas Digestate in a Hybrid Waste-Heat/Solar Dryer

Author

Listed:
  • Claudia Maurer

    (Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Tropics and Subtropics Group (440e), University of Hohenheim, Garbenstraße 9, D-70599 Stuttgart, Germany
    Institute for Sanitary Engineering, Water Quality and Solid Waste Management, Chair of Waste Management and Emissions, University of Stuttgart, Bandtäle 2, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Joachim Müller

    (Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Tropics and Subtropics Group (440e), University of Hohenheim, Garbenstraße 9, D-70599 Stuttgart, Germany)

Abstract

The use of biogas plants has increased sharply in recent years. A typical biogas plant of 500 kW el produces approx. 10,000 t of digestate per year, with a moisture content of more than 90%. For the purpose of reducing the transport mass and increasing the nutrient concentration, the digestate has to be dried. Using renewable energy is a way to treat biogas digestate without any additional fossil energy requirement for drying. In this study a solar greenhouse dryer was modified to use additional waste-heat from the combined heat and power unit (variant S-CHP), as well as the exhaust gas from a micro turbine (variant S-CHP-MT). The hybrid waste-heat/solar dryer achieved a moisture content for the digestate of 10.9%, and 10.5%, after 13 d of drying for variant S-CHP-MT and S-CHP-MT, respectively. Due to the higher energy input by additional use of the micro turbine, the specific energy consumption is higher for the variant S-CHP-MT. In general, the results showed that the combination of solar energy and waste-heat from electricity generation of a biogas plant is a suitable way to reduce the moisture content of the digestate to a safe level for further handling and storage.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Maurer & Joachim Müller, 2019. "Drying Characteristics of Biogas Digestate in a Hybrid Waste-Heat/Solar Dryer," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-9, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:7:p:1294-:d:219948
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    Cited by:

    1. Katherine K. Porterfield & Robert Joblin & Deborah A. Neher & Michael Curtis & Steve Dvorak & Donna M. Rizzo & Joshua W. Faulkner & Eric D. Roy, 2020. "Upcycling Phosphorus Recovered from Anaerobically Digested Dairy Manure to Support Production of Vegetables and Flowers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-14, February.
    2. Tobias Zimmer & Andreas Rudi & Simon Glöser-Chahoud & Frank Schultmann, 2022. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Intermediate Pyrolysis with Solar Drying: A Chilean Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Meng, Xingyao & Wang, Qingping & Zhao, Xixi & Cai, Yafan & Ma, Xuguang & Fu, Jingyi & Wang, Pan & Wang, Yongjing & Liu, Wei & Ren, Lianhai, 2023. "A review of the technologies used for preserving anaerobic digestion inoculum," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).

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