subject: Sewage Treatment Works And Anaerobic Digestion [print this page] Anaerobic Digestion (or AD) is a natural process used by numerous British farmers, other rural business owners, and water utility companies to create renewable energy. It requires both heating and cooling; therefore, boiler hire companies (that also offer chiller hire) often play a key role in AD, supplying rentable mobile units and providing expertise where required to help ensure AD processing is successful.
AD is already playing its part in helping Britain reduce its overall carbon footprint, by lessening:
Fossil fuel use
Greenhouse gas emissions from landfill, and
Methane emissions to the atmosphere from manures and slurries
AD produces:
Biogas usable as a renewable energy source, for heat and power
Biomethane usable as a transport fuel, or it can be injected into the national gas grid, and
Carbon dioxide usable in fire extinguisher systems, aerosol cans, soft drinks, food production in greenhouses, coffee decaffeination, and for numerous other purposes.
The Actual AD Process (and its Benefits to Business Owners)
With Anaerobic Digestion, organic matter is broken down by bacteria, in the absence of oxygen, inside a sealed digester tank at a dedicated location called an AD batching plant.
There are two basic AD processes:
Mesophilic digestion, which occurs between a temperature range of 20-40C, and can take a month or two to complete
And:
Thermophilic digestion, which occurs between 50-65C and is faster, but the bacteria are more sensitive
Both these processes allow some AD-practising business owners to:
Cut their energy bills
Reduce their environmental footprint, and
Increase their income the sale of surplus energy and digestate offers a potential additional revenue stream
The first application for heating is required to sustain the temperature in the large sludge tanks for the purpose of maintaining the activated bacteria process for treatment. And so this is where a boiler hire specialist comes in.
Helping Britain to Remain on Target
With the 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive setting a target for Britain to achieve 15 per cent of its energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020, Anaerobic Digestion is already playing its part in helping the country to achieve that aim.
The option to utilise the services and expertise of boiler and chiller hire specialists with vast
experience in this particular type of application continues to prove a very welcome one for AD
batching plant managers renting equipment when and where necessary is a by far more cost-effective alternative to permanently investing in boilers and chiller units that may not be required all-year-round.
