Processing of manure into biogas equipment. How to make money from manure. Calculation of necessary tools and materials

The topic of alternative fuels has been relevant for several decades. Biogas is a natural fuel source that you can produce and use yourself, especially if you have livestock.

What it is

The composition of biogas is similar to that produced on an industrial scale. Stages of biogas production:

1. A bioreactor is a container in which biological mass is processed by anaerobic bacteria in a vacuum.
2. After some time, a gas is released consisting of methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other gaseous substances.
3. This gas is purified and removed from the reactor.
4. Recycled biomass is an excellent fertilizer that is removed from the reactor to enrich fields.

Producing biogas with your own hands at home is possible provided that you live in a village and have access to animal waste. It is a good fuel option for livestock farms and agricultural enterprises.

The advantage of biogas is that it reduces methane emissions and provides an alternative energy source. As a result of biomass processing, fertilizer is formed for vegetable gardens and fields, which is an additional advantage.

To make your own biogas, you need to build a bioreactor to process manure, bird droppings and other organic waste. The raw materials used are:

• wastewater;
• straw;
• grass;
• river silt

It is important to prevent chemical impurities from entering the reactor, as they interfere with the processing process.

Use Cases

Processing manure into biogas makes it possible to obtain electrical, thermal and mechanical energy. This fuel is used on an industrial scale or in private homes. It is used for:

• heating;
• lighting;
• heating water;
• operation of internal combustion engines.

Using a bioreactor, you can create your own energy base to power your private home or agricultural production.

Thermal power plants using biogas are an alternative way to heat a private farm or small village. Organic waste can be converted into electricity, which is much cheaper than running it to the site and paying utility bills. Biogas can be used for cooking on gas stoves. The great advantage of biofuel is that it is an inexhaustible, renewable source of energy.

Biofuel efficiency

Biogas from litter and manure is colorless and odorless. It provides the same amount of heat as natural gas. One cubic meter of biogas provides the same amount of energy as 1.5 kg of coal.

Most often, farms do not dispose of waste from livestock, but store it in one area. As a result, methane is released into the atmosphere, and manure loses its properties as a fertilizer. Timely processed waste will bring much more benefits to the farm.

It is easy to calculate the efficiency of manure disposal in this way. The average cow produces 30-40 kg of manure per day. This mass produces 1.5 cubic meters of gas. From this amount, 3 kW/h of electricity is generated.

How to build a biomaterial reactor

Bioreactors are concrete containers with holes for the removal of raw materials. Before construction, you need to choose a location on the site. The size of the reactor depends on the amount of biomass you have daily. It should fill the container 2/3 full.

If there is little biomass, instead of a concrete container, you can take an iron barrel, for example, an ordinary barrel. But it must be strong, with high-quality welds.

The amount of gas produced directly depends on the volume of raw materials. In a small container you will get a little of it. To get 100 cubic meters of biogas, you need to process a ton of biological mass.

To increase the strength of the installation, it is usually buried in the ground. The reactor must have an inlet pipe for loading biomass and an outlet for removing waste material. There should be a hole at the top of the tank through which biogas is discharged. It is better to close it with a water seal.

For a correct reaction, the container must be hermetically sealed, without air access. The water seal will ensure timely removal of gases, which will prevent the system from exploding.

Reactor for a large farm

A simple bioreactor design is suitable for small farms with 1-2 animals. If you own a farm, it is best to install an industrial reactor that can handle large volumes of fuel. It is best to involve special companies involved in developing the project and installing the system.

Industrial complexes consist of:

• Interim storage tanks;
• Mixing installations;
• A small thermal power plant that provides energy for heating buildings and greenhouses, as well as electricity;
• Containers for fermented manure used as fertilizer.

The most effective option is to build one complex for several neighboring farms. The more biomaterial is processed, the more energy is produced as a result.

Before receiving biogas, industrial installations must be approved by the sanitary and epidemiological station, fire and gas inspection. They are documented; there are special standards for the location of all elements.

How to calculate reactor volume

The volume of the reactor depends on the amount of waste generated daily. Remember that the container only needs to be 2/3 full for effective fermentation. Also consider fermentation time, temperature and type of raw material.

It is best to dilute manure with water before sending it to the digester. It will take about 2 weeks to process manure at a temperature of 35-40 degrees. To calculate the volume, determine the initial volume of waste with water and add 25-30%. The volume of biomass should be the same every two weeks.

How to ensure biomass activity

For proper fermentation of biomass, it is best to heat the mixture. In the southern regions, the air temperature promotes the onset of fermentation. If you live in the north or in the middle zone, you can connect additional heating elements.

To start the process, a temperature of 38 degrees is required. There are several ways to ensure this:

• A coil under the reactor connected to the heating system;
• Heating elements inside the container;
• Direct heating of the container with electric heating devices.

The biological mass already contains bacteria that are needed to produce biogas. They wake up and begin activity when the air temperature rises.

It is best to heat them with automatic heating systems. They turn on when cold mass enters the reactor and automatically turn off when the temperature reaches the desired value. Such systems are installed in water heating boilers; they can be purchased at gas equipment stores.

If you provide heating to 30-40 degrees, then processing will take 12-30 days. It depends on the composition and volume of the mass. When heated to 50 degrees, bacterial activity increases, and processing takes 3-7 days. The disadvantage of such installations is the high cost of maintaining high temperatures. They are comparable to the amount of fuel received, so the system becomes ineffective.

Another way to activate anaerobic bacteria is by stirring the biomass. You can install the shafts in the boiler yourself and move the handle out to stir the mass if necessary. But it is much more convenient to design an automatic system that will mix the mass without your participation.

Correct gas removal

Biogas from the manure is removed through the top cover of the reactor. It must be tightly closed during the fermentation process. Typically a water seal is used. It controls the pressure in the system; when it increases, the lid rises and the release valve is activated. A weight is used as a counterweight. At the outlet, the gas is purified with water and flows further through the tubes. Purification with water is necessary to remove water vapor from the gas, otherwise it will not burn.

Before biogas can be processed into energy, it must be accumulated. It should be stored in a gas tank:

• It is made in the shape of a dome and installed at the outlet of the reactor.
• Most often it is made of iron and coated with several layers of paint to prevent corrosion.
• In industrial complexes, the gas tank is a separate tank.

Another option for making a gas holder: use a PVC bag. This elastic material stretches as the bag fills. If necessary, it can store large quantities of biogas.

Underground biofuel production plant

To save space, it is best to build underground installations. This is the easiest way to get biogas at home. To set up an underground bioreactor, you need to dig a hole and fill its walls and bottom with reinforced concrete.

Holes are made on both sides of the container for the inlet and outlet pipes. Moreover, the outlet pipe should be located at the base of the container for pumping out the waste mass. Its diameter is 7-10 cm. The entrance hole with a diameter of 25-30 cm is best located in the upper part.

The installation is covered with brickwork on top and a gas tank is installed to receive biogas. At the outlet of the container you need to make a valve to regulate the pressure.

A biogas plant can be buried in the yard of a private house and sewage and livestock waste can be connected to it. Recycling reactors can completely cover a family's electricity and heating needs. An additional benefit is getting fertilizer for your garden.

A DIY bioreactor is a way to get energy from pasture and make money from manure. It reduces farm energy costs and increases profitability. You can do it yourself or order installation. The price depends on the volume, starting from 7,000 rubles.

The other day I received another letter again. People are asking for new ideas for farming, some want to start their own business, but they can’t figure out which one. They write to me, as the author of many stories about new beginnings of farmers. This year I opened a free school for farmers on personal growth on my website, so you can study there, and then you’ll come up with ideas for yourself. But since you have already contacted me, then give me your input data about the state you are in...

One farmer writes to me: “As for cheap resources, there is a lot of manure from cattle. There are also sheep. There is nothing more." Poor information. But in fact, this is enough for reasoning. Because there is a cheap resource - manure!

What can you do with manure? Dry, disinfect, add to the soil, produce dry granules.... The most important thing is not this, but how much added value the future product will have and how you bring it to market. I no longer ask where you will get the financial resource.

In my opinion, it needs to be disinfected. Without further argument, I’ll say right away: the optimal way for us is to disinfect with acid: a mixture of nitric, phosphoric and sulfuric, so that the operation gives an immediate effect, the manure then turns into nutritious compost with a good content of macro and microelements, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur appear there. After we have disinfected the raw materials, we must remove the acidity of the product. There are several options, you can take potash (potassium carbonate), or lime. Mix again and get disinfected compost for growing mushrooms; potassium also appears in the compost. We sow it with mycelium and grow mushrooms. But the trouble is, after growing mushrooms, waste remains again - these are mushroom blocks, compost with mycelium grown into it, it is simply riddled with white mushroom hyphae. Let's look at the use of such a product: mycofeed, fertilizers. And then we choose based on cost and convenience of the market where we will sell. It's better not to sell at all. Then to your own farm, to feed the sheep. But to do this, you need to add ground hay and grain and pass the ETR into the extruder. In fact, it turns out to be a whole line of equipment, but it will buy itself in six months. As a result, we produce high-quality feed for our sheep.

For those who are not familiar with the digestion of a sheep, I will say that in a sheep we do not feed the sheep, but the microflora of the sheep’s gastrointestinal tract; the sheep consumes its microflora and its waste products. It is easier to call it not a herbivore, but a bacterivore. Our feed, processed in an ETP extruder, is a disinfected, excellent feed for the microflora of the sheep’s gastrointestinal tract.

I am sometimes reproached for giving ideas using the ETR extruder: but this is so far the only extruder that can process hay, straw, husks and grain. Therefore, for now we have to write with the brand name so that there is no confusion in the minds of farmers.

Homework. Take sheep droppings as a resource and find a product that you can sell. If it doesn’t work out, there is a School of Farmers, or you can write to me, I will answer and give you a solution. There is a clue in the story “How the Sheep Fed the Pigs.”

To launch such a project, you can find a partner from the city who will not only give money for a joint project, but also help with the sale of mushrooms, as well as with the next product.

More information about the ETR extruder - .

Vyacheslav Kostin

In the world.

"Usually, when people see a pile of manure, they only see a pile of manure. "We see it as an opportunity for farmers, for utilities, for all of California," said David Elbers, co-owner of the 5,000-cow Vintage Dairy farm near Fresno, which calls its new development the Vintage Dairy Biogas project.

As cow manure decomposes, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is more harmful than carbon dioxide. Scientists say controlling methane emissions from cows and other livestock will play a huge role in preventing climate change.

Methane can be captured and used to produce renewable gas, which can be used instead of coal to generate electricity: one cow's excrement can produce 100 watts of energy.

Although other California farms already extract natural gas from cow manure, this is the first time the gas produced this way has been transported through a pipeline to utility PGE.

The pipeline will allow PGE to supply electricity to 1,200 homes daily in a rural area of ​​California." - .

Today, 44% of the world's number of anaerobic digestion plants is concentrated in Europe, and 14% in North America. Industrial biogas plants operating in EU countries can be divided into several groups based on the origin of the waste used. The main three are: agri-food group (67.5%), non-food industry group (15%) and non-industrial group (9.6%).

In Denmark, as of October 1999, there were 20 centralized biogas plants, commissioned between 1984 and 1998.

The concept of centralized biogas plants (plants) provides for the transportation of biomass from several suppliers - surrounding farms, as well as partially from municipal and industrial enterprises. Such a plant provides for centralized storage of manure and digested sludge. The digested sludge is collected by farmers in the spring and fall to be used as fertilizer. Of the 20 factories, only 4 are operating at a loss: two are due to an unsuccessful design, which does not allow them to operate sustainably and entails high operating costs, the rest are due to large payments on loans taken for reconstruction. It should be noted that the Danish government approves and financially supports the construction of such plants (government subsidies on average amount to approximately 20% of the construction budget). In addition to centralized biogas plants, since 1994 the concept of building small-scale farm installations with a digester volume of 150-200 m3 has been developing.

In 1997, there were 20 farm installations in Denmark that generated both heat and electricity.

In Italy, since the late 80s, a new generation of biogas plants began to be introduced, aimed at processing waste from pig farms. As of 1998, 5 centralized biogas plants and about 50 farm plants were built. In order to reduce capital costs, existing concrete tanks are used as the body of digesters, which are covered with a plastic dome. As a rule, the volume of such a digester is about 600 m3; the resulting biogas is used in cogeneration plants to generate about 50 kW/h of electricity and 120 kW/h of heat. In Italy there is currently no government program for the development of biogas plants, but the Italian electricity company is obliged to buy electricity generated from biogas at a price 80% higher than the price for consumers.

In Germany there are about 400 agricultural biogas plants with a digester volume of 600-800 m3. From 1995 to 1998, 8 centralized biogas plants were built. At the beginning of 1998, the total capacity of all operating digesters was 190 thousand m3. According to experts, in Germany there is a need to build at least 220 thousand biogas plants, of which 86% should process manure. If these plans are implemented, the share of biogas could reach 11% of total gas consumption in Germany.

In Austria, until 1997, there were 46 predominantly farm-type biogas plants in operation. In 1997, 10 farm-type installations and 5 large ones were put into operation. It is planned to increase the number of biogas plants to 150.

In Austria there is no national program to support the construction of biogas plants, but their construction is supported by the Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment. Financial support is provided by federal agricultural organizations and banks.

Due to the energy crisis that has gripped California since the fall of 2000, local farmers have begun generating electricity from manure.

It should be taken into account that in the EEC countries significant funds are allocated annually to solve bioenergy issues, with up to 40% of the total amount spent on scientific research, and 30% on demonstration of developments.

Biogas technologies have been widely developed in China; they are being actively implemented in a number of countries in Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. In Western Europe, for example in Romania and Italy, more than 10 years ago they began to widely use small-sized biogas plants with a volume of processed raw materials of 6-12 cubic meters.

In India, Vietnam, Nepal and other countries, small (single-family) biogas plants are being built. The gas produced in them is used for cooking.

The largest number of small biogas plants are located in China - more than 10 million (at the end of the 1990s). They produce about 7 billion m3 of biogas per year, which provides fuel for approximately 60 million farmers. At the end of 2010, there were already about 40 million biogas plants operating in China. China's biogas industry employs 60 thousand people.

In India, 3.8 million small biogas plants were installed between 1981 and 2006.

In Nepal, there is a program to support the development of biogas energy, thanks to which 200 thousand small biogas plants were created in rural areas by the end of 2009.

In Russia.

Every year, Russian livestock and poultry farming generates about 150 million tons of organic waste. Until recently, these figures characterized exclusively the severity of environmental problems. According to environmental services, millions of tons of toxic waste may flow into the water bodies feeding the capital alone.

As a result, to make Moscow water drinkable, expensive and also not harmless chemical intervention is necessary.
The situation around other large and medium-sized cities in Russia is unlikely to be much better.

Back in the early 90s, it was calculated that the use of biogas technologies for processing organic matter can not only completely eliminate its environmental hazard, but also annually produce an additional 95 million tons of fuel equivalent (about 60 billion m3 of methane or, by burning biogas, - 190 billion kWh of electricity), as well as more than 140 million tons of highly efficient fertilizers, which would significantly reduce the extremely energy-intensive production of mineral fertilizers (about 30% of all electricity consumed by agriculture). ( )

The second product of the bio-plant is remarkable (at least economically) - liquid organic fertilizers. The technological regime is chosen so that they are completely environmentally friendly - without the slightest trace of nitrites and nitrates, pathogenic microflora and even weed seeds (compared to conventional manure).

And at first it was hard to believe the effectiveness of these fertilizers (1 ton is equivalent to 60 tons of manure, not counting the indicated advantages), shown in three-year tests on a wide variety of crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, carrots, currants, gooseberries, etc.) . Compared to conventional ones, they increase productivity by at least 2-4 times.

A scientific explanation for this was only given last year. In one of the reports at the International Symposium in St. Petersburg, the idea was expressed that in the reactor of the installation, under certain conditions, so-called auxins - substances that promote the accelerated development and growth of plants - can be synthesized. Further research into this mechanism, scientists believe, will open up opportunities for pre-programmed production of ultra-effective fertilizers. But one more pleasant fact remains unexplained: in biogas, it is unknown where (fortunately!) Hydrogen sulfide disappears - an indispensable companion to the decomposition of organic matter and the strongest accelerator of corrosion of metal structures.

Bio-installations, acting simultaneously as fertilizer factories, produce up to 70 tons of them per year. Moreover, one ton is quite enough to cultivate an entire hectare of land. Factories in Tula and the Kemerovo region have already produced the first 65 such units. Accordingly, in these regions, as well as in Altai and the Moscow region, a fertilizer market is beginning to take shape. Experience shows that the equipment pays for itself in full within six months.

According to marketing research, the need for biogas plants of this type, capable of operating in any climatic conditions, in Russia alone in the next 5 years will be about 50 thousand units.

In fact, any anthropogenic and man-made organic waste is suitable.

Vitamins-minerals

In addition to the energy conversion process, the bioconversion process allows us to solve two more problems. Firstly, fermented manure increases agricultural yields by 10-20% compared to conventional manure.

This is explained by the fact that during anaerobic processing, mineralization and nitrogen fixation occur. With traditional methods of preparing organic fertilizers (composting), nitrogen losses amount to 30-40%. Anaerobic processing of manure quadruples - compared to unfermented manure - increases the content of ammonia nitrogen (20-40% of nitrogen goes into ammonium form). The content of assimilable phosphorus doubles and makes up 50% of the total phosphorus.

In addition, during fermentation, weed seeds, which are always contained in manure, completely die, microbial associations and helminth eggs are destroyed, and the unpleasant odor is neutralized, i.e. the environmental effect that is relevant today is achieved. - " Vestnik KRSU "

The result is biologically active fertilizers.

Ecology

Biogas production helps prevent methane emissions into the atmosphere. Methane has a greenhouse effect 21 times greater than CO2 and remains in the atmosphere for 12 years. Capturing methane is the best short-term way to prevent global warming.

Processed manure, stillage and other waste are used as fertilizer in agriculture. This reduces the use of chemical fertilizers and reduces the load on groundwater.

The structure and quality of soils improves, and the cultivated bacteria, having antiseptic and bactericidal properties, protect the crop from damage by viruses, fungi and other diseases

Automobile transport

Volvo and Scania produce buses with biogas engines. Such buses are actively used in the cities of Switzerland: Bern, Basel, Geneva, Lucerne and Lausanne. According to forecasts of the Swiss Gas Industry Association, by 2010 10% of Swiss vehicles will run on biogas.

At the beginning of 2009, the Oslo Municipality switched 80 city buses to biogas. The cost of biogas is €0.4 - €0.5 per liter in gasoline equivalent. Upon successful completion of the tests, 400 buses will be converted to biogas.

Potential

Russia annually accumulates up to 300 million tons of dry equivalent organic waste: 250 million tons in agricultural production, 50 million tons in the form of household waste. These wastes can be used as raw materials for biogas production. The potential volume of biogas produced annually could be 90 billion m3.

There are approximately 8.5 million cows raised in the United States. The biogas produced from their manure will be enough to fuel 1 million cars.

The potential of the German biogas industry is estimated at 100 billion kWh of energy by 2030, which will account for about 10% of the country's energy consumption.

The yield of biogas depends on the dry matter content and the type of raw material used. A ton of cattle manure produces 50-65 m3 of biogas with a methane content of 60%, 150-500 m3 of biogas from various types of plants with a methane content of up to 70%. The maximum amount of biogas - 1300 m3 with a methane content of up to 87% - can be obtained from fat.

There are theoretical (physically possible) and technically feasible gas output. In the 1950-70s, the technically possible gas yield was only 20-30% of the theoretical one. Today, the use of enzymes, boosters for artificial degradation of raw materials (for example, ultrasonic or liquid cavitators) and other devices makes it possible to increase the biogas yield in the most common plant from 60% to 95%.

In biogas calculations, the concept of dry matter (DM or English TS) or dry residue (CO) is used. The water contained in biomass does not produce gas.

In practice, from 1 kg of dry matter, 300 to 500 liters of biogas are obtained.

To calculate the biogas yield from a specific raw material, it is necessary to conduct laboratory tests or look at reference data and determine the content of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. When determining the latter, it is important to find out the percentage of rapidly degradable (fructose, sugar, sucrose, starch) and difficult to decompose substances (for example, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin).

According to experts in the agro-industrial complex, pet food is only digested and utilized by 35–40%. The rest of this expensive plant matter goes into manure.

There are several ways to process manure:

• manure composting;
• microbiological method;
• processing using fly larvae and worms.
• separation of liquid and solid manure.

When composting, solid manure is used (when livestock is kept on bedding), liquid manure or the solid fraction of separated liquid manure (when livestock is kept without bedding). When composting, various additives such as peat or chopped straw are added to manure, all this is mixed with bulldozers on special sites and piled into piles. During the composting process, humus is formed, and an increase in the temperature of the pile leads to the destruction of helminth eggs and weed seeds in the manure. After this, the composts can be used as fertilizer for plants.