Weber Entec - Biogas Plants
From Biogas Plants
INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF YOUR BIOGAS PLANT. No other mechanical form of energy is as efficient in working on the cell structure of the biomass. Regardless of whether more biogas is to be generated or whether feed substrate is to be saved while performance remains constant – with the turnkey and almost maintenance-free ultrasonic disintegration machines from Weber Entec, you can significantly increase the efficiency of your biogas plant, and do so within a payback period of typically less than 3 years (and often much less than that!).
Products Details
Profits from biogas plants are reduced by increasing substrate and operating costs, while feed-in tariffs at best stay the same – and this can frequently threaten the operator’s existence. In the medium term, almost every biogas plant will have to perform substrate preparation of some description. In this case, the ultrasonic disintegration machine technology from Weber Entec is recommended as a particularly cost and performance effective repowering measure.
Opening up the cell structure accelerates the biology significantly. This is equivalent to a “virtual increase in digester size”. The logical consequence is optimised substrate exploitation which results in a significant substrate saving for the same biogas yield. In addition, the methane content of the biogas increases by typically one to three percentage points.
The physical working principle of ultrasound is the cavitation effect. You will find a detailed description of the process here:
with ultrasound disintegration
Another effect of the ultrasonic disintegration is to improve the viscosity of the substrate.
In this video, the direct comparison of flow properties between untreated and treated substrate is shown after the initial startup of the ultrasound disintegration plant. Both samples are identical (substrate, temperature, etc). The only difference is the sonication.
Find out about the options for increasing efficiency by using ultrasound to suit your individual requirements, and get a calculation of an efficiency balance by entering some key data for your biogas plant.
Our Service- System analysis for determining the potential for reducing operating costs associated with biomass
- Planning, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of a customised disintegration system
- Measurement and process technologic support while transition into continuous operation
- Process optimisation
- Analysis calculations
- Quotation and implementation as a turnkey solution – no hidden costs
- Leasing models available
- Personal, competent and non-binding advice at any time
Benefits
- Increased gas yield / substrate savings
- Significantly increased degree of degradation
- Stabilisation of biology
- Improved flow properties
- Avoidance of floating layers
- Reduced agitator wear
- Reduced energy requirement for pumps and agitators
- Use of substrates that are difficult to process but often cheaper can be increased
- Operational reliability of the biogas plant is increased
Plant Technology
The term “DesiUS” stands for “disintegration ultrasound system”. The disintegration process which forms the basis of DesiUS was developed by Weber Ultrasonics in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute, and was optimised by Weber Entec through the use of the BioPush reactor.
DesiUS (Disintegration Ultrasound System) represents energy-efficient and process-robust cell opening technology combined with exceptionally high efficiency. The robust and completely maintenance-free construction of the BioPush reactor allows a simple and uncomplicated structure. The ultrasonic reactors of the turnkey constructed plant are charged via a screw pump. The substrate is routed through the sound field at a specific speed in such a manner that the specific energy input required for treating the substrate is ideally achieved. A macerator protects the machine from foreign objects and provides coarse homogenization upstream, in order to achieve optimal coupling of the ultrasound. A PLC-supported control system enables robust and trouble-free operation. In addition, the machine is equipped with sensors that monitor temperature, pressure and volumetric flow.
A PLC-supported control system enables robust and trouble-free operation.
The drawing shows the simple and therefore error-free structure of DesiUS. The plant consists of a macerator, a screw pump, in this case two ultrasonic reactors, flow quantity measurement devices, and pressure and temperature sensors (two each). The control cabinet with the PLC control system may be installed in a remote location, or directly on the plant.
LONG LIFETIME, ZERO MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONAL RELIABILITY
The BioPush Ultrasound reactor solves the problems of the other disintegration systems. Because biomasses with a typical solids content between 8% and max. 13% have a relatively high viscosity, more effort is usually required in traditional plants in order to ensure an effective coupling of the ultrasound to the medium. Because the cavitation performance of the ultrasound becomes more damped as the viscosity of the medium increases, the medium must therefore be passed as close as possible to the sonotrode. Although this could be achieved constructionally by means of a sufficiently small pipework cross-section, it is not possible to implement it in this way, because the sonotrodes tend to become affected by blocking and “tressing” from fibrous components, both in substrates from biogas plants using renewable raw materials and also in sewage sludges. The results are a high level of sound damping, and therefore reduced energy efficiency.
The BioPush reactor developed by Weber Entec specifically for the treatment of biomasses tackles this problem. The structure practically precludes blockages and tressing. The working life of the BioPush reactor is several times longer than with classical rod sonotrodes in the biomass area.
Technical Advantages
- Very high energy efficiency – 50 % saving compared to other disintegration systems
- Extremely low-maintenance plant technology
- High degree of operational reliability
- Long standing times
- Can be ideally adapted to the respective requirements
- Lower space requirement thanks to compact design, simple plug & play installation
- Quick pay back
About Ultrasound
What is behind this?
In ultrasonic disintegration, the electrical oscillations created by a generator are transformed by a converter (sonic transducer) into mechanical vibrations. These vibrations are transferred into the surrounding medium by means of a device known as a sonotrode. Following the rhythm of the ultrasonic frequency, they cause high alternating positive and negative pressure phases, depending on whether the oscillator is expanding or contracting at the time. During the negative pressure phase, microscopical cavities are formed in the liquid exposed to the ultrasonics; these then collapse in the subsequent positive pressure phase. This process is known as cavitation. From the implosion, which releases high pressures and temperatures, strong impact and shear forces occur in the area immediately around the cavities, and these cause the surrounding micro-organisms to disintegrate.
The core of the DesiUS is the ultrasonic technology from Weber Ultrasonics. The BioPush reactor developed specifically for the treatment of biogenic slurries fulfils the demanding requirements of the disintegration process, and in many aspects is significantly better suited than the usual rod transducers or sonotrode technology.
- Temperatures of up to 5.000 °C
- Pressures of up to 1.000 bar
- High accleration – high shear forces
What is so special?
Due to the cavitation effect on the surface of the transducer, it becomes more and more rough and causes dry matter content of the sludge to get stuck when passing the transducer. Especially fibre materials (e.g. hair) can cause significant problems.
Once material is stuck on the transducer, more and more material will add on and cause the transducer to become increasingly amortized, so that on the one hand side it is not performing any more and on the other hand side, when the transducer will not be able to dissipate its energy, it may overheat and get destroyed. In order to avoid this to happen, the reactor body in which the transducer is installed needs to be opened and cleaned frequently to avoid the issue mentioned before and to avoid clogging. Some applications even inject water occasionally, to avoid (or try to avoid) obstruction.
Through its high-performance surface transducer, the BioPush reactor generates a homogeneous cavitation field within the reactor. The reactor body is rectangular and hosts 6 ultrasound transducers on each side. The 24 ultrasound elements cause the entire body to “swing” with a frequency of around 22 kHz, which virtually quadruples the amplitude.
The effect of the sludge is at least as high as with the standard rod transducer technology but the entire reactor is 100 % maintenance free and has a durability of three years and more. Even problematic substrates such as highly thickened mixed sludges from waste water treatment plants or from agricultural fermentation plants are treated at maximum performance. In traditional ultrasonic reactors, there is usually direct contact between the sonotrode and the substrate, and this inevitably results in continual gradual wear of the sonotrodes. At the start, these plants often produce the same performance as the BioPush, but this rapidly falls off noticeably, because tressing builds up rapidly on the sonotrodes, which are inevitably damaged by cavitation, and this causes damping even to the extent of complete acoustic insulation.
To prove the homogenity, a metal structure wrapped with aluminium foil is placed into the with water filled reactor. After 15 s of ultrasound treatment, the structure will be taken out and the aluminium foil shows a homogenous destructions pattern on all four sides.
A REVIEWtraditional technology: rod transducers
In traditional systems, damping of the cavitation performance increases with the solids concentration. Frequently, therefore, biomass is treated only if it is in the immediate proximity of the ultrasound source.
Lasting time of rod transducers in sludge applications is between six month and two years, depending on the properties of the sludge. Additionally already after a short period of time, rod transducers require extensive maintenance.
Technical Characteristics
- Up to 25 % more biogas (proven many times over)
- 2,000 W ultrasound performance per ultrasonic reactor
- Treatment of substrates with up to 15 % solids content
- Mechanical pretreatment optional
- Easy adaption to dynamic flow rates
- Optimum energy input thanks to homogeneous, contact-free sound field
- Compact structure
- Can be cascaded as desired
- Plug & play
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