4/9/2009

Course 2 Unit 4
Introduction to anaerobic treatment
technologies
[Part C only ]
Part C Examples and case studies (in
this file)
Lecturer: Mariska Ronteltap
m.ronteltap@unesco-ihe.org

Course 2 Unit 4

Course 2 Unit 4

Part C: Examples
p
and case studies

4/9/2009

List of examples for Part C

Example 1: India public toilets (Navsarjan Trust, GTZ pilot
project)
Example 2: China household and agricultural waste digesters
(CAAE (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering)
Example 3: Lesotho household biogas plants (NGO TED,
now supported by BORDA, Germany)
Example 4: Durban household biogas plant, South Africa
(pilot project)
Example 5: Rwanda prisons
Example 6: Germany, Waldmichelbacher Hof (restaurant and
farm
Example 7: Lbeck, Germany (residential area)
Example 8: Blackwater treatment in Sneek, the Netherlands

There are many, many more examples, world-wide!

You may be able to send me project descriptions, files, powerpoint
presentations from your own experiences?

Example 1: India public toilets

The following slides were provided by Christine Werner (GTZ),

who gave a presentation about ecosan in India at the Advanced
Sanitation Conference in Aachen, Germany (12-13 March 2007)
Her complete presentation is provided under Assigned
Reading (pdf file of the paper) and Extra Materials
(powerpoint presentation in two parts)

4/9/2009

Navsarjan Trust ecosan pilot project

Dalit Shakti Kendra (DSK)

source: Martin Wafler

location:
Nani Devti,
Devti Ahmedabad District,
District Gujarat State
State, India
implementation period:
2005/2006

vocational training institute Dalit Shakti Kendra (DSK)

Course 2 Unit 4

proposed system for the DSK

Campus

dung

http://www.a
alisontoon.co
m<

Navsarjan Trust ecosan pilot project

source
separating
toilet
greywater (pre-treated)

Biogas
plant
ornamental garden
www.beefgonzo.de

urine
i storage
t

biogas

sludge drying
beds

compost

vegetable garden

4/9/2009

sourc
ce: esf

sourc
ce: esf

toilet block with biogas plant

sourrce: esf

Navsarjan Trust ecosan pilot project DSK

UDD as emergency toilets

ladies urinal

Sketch map of the night-soil based biogas plant

22 toilet cabins arranged in 2 semi-circles supplie a
biogas reactor locatet in the center
1: mixing chamber for buffalo dung
2: inlet chamber toilet water
(source: http://www.ruralsanitation.com/)

3: outlet chamber

pour-flush squatting

pan with P-trap

2

infiltration/evapotranspiration
of wash-water in flowerbed

biogas
plant

towards
greywater garden
f reuse off water
for
t

towards
greywater
garden for
reuse of water

towards sludge
drying beds

4/9/2009

so
ource: esf

source: see
econ

Construction of the night-soil based biogas plant

inletchamber for
toilet water

source: esf

esf
source: e

beginnig of construction

biogasreactor in the center

of the building
almost finished toilet center Feb. 2007

Course 2 Unit 4

Example 2: China household and agricultural

waste digesters

Th slides
The
lid ffor this
hi example
l were provided
id d b
by Heinz-Peter
H i P
M
Mang (h
(he
is with CAAE (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering))

I got them from him at the UNESCO-IHE Refresher Course in

Nanjing, China (October 2005) I have asked him for an update, but
have not received an answer yet

4/9/2009

Course 2 Unit 4

China: Northern Four-in-One

Comprehensive utilization

kitchen
Pig-pen, toilet

Green house

food

manure
biogas

fertilizer

China: Southern Pig-Biogas-Fruit

Comprehensive utilization

biogas
Pig manure and
toilet waste

Liquid
sludge

Biogas
digester

4/9/2009

China: Northwest Five-Matches

Comprehensive utilization
cooking

Water
heater

Course 2 Unit 4

Warm
house

lighting

orchard

Sand
sedimentation

W t
Water
storage

Biogas
digester

Household biogas digester plants in China during 1973

2005 (total number, in 10,000)
16,000,000
16 million biogas plants

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75
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77
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79
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81
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83
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85
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87
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89
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91
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93
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95
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97
19
99
20
01
20
03
20
05

1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0

Year
How many are there in your country?

4/9/2009

Course 2 Unit 4

Example 3: Lesotho household biogas plants

I got these slides from Mantopi Lebofa who works for the
NGO TED, which is now also supported by BORDA,
Germany
A more detailed presentation for this example is provided
under Extra Materials

Biogas system

Feeding
material.
G ttaken
Gas
k to
t the
th house
h

Methane producing
organisms produce
gas
Root Treatment System
Water flowing into
the expansion canal

Irrigation by
gravity

Storage for irrigation

water H20 could be
pumped or irrigate
gravitationally

Sketch of biodigester replacing a septic tank. Wastewater as well as kitchen and

garden waste enter the digester and are broken down to biogas and fertile water.
The advantages: No more emptying of septic tank. Reuse of all water in the
garden. Less cost on cooking energy.

4/9/2009

Design details
Fixed Dome Bio Digester,
Size: z m3
Gas storage capacity: xy m3
All measurements in cm
Not to scale

Ventilation
Pipe

Principle
P
i i l off dry
d
toilet connection and
additional inlet
Note: digester outlet at
the bottom

Overflow

Gas Outlet
Manhole

Radiu
s

pipes of
1m length

Course 2 Unit 4

Example 4: Durban household biogas plant,

South Africa (pilot project)

I took the photos on the following slide during the field trip organised
as part of an international ecosan conference in Durban, South
Africa (May 2005)
This installation was just a single pilot installed provided by an NGO
(I cant remember the name of the NGO)

4/9/2009

Toilet &
shower

Kitchen

Household biogas plant in

rural Durban, South Africa
Digester receives toilet water,
greywater and collected manure
from 2-3 cows

Left: Toilet (flush), connected to

digester
Middle: Digester with floating
dome (biogas collection)
Right: biogas pipe to house

Storage and drying for digestate

(used as fertiliser)

Course 2 Unit 4

Example 5: Rwanda prisons

The information in the following slides was taken from the

paper by Butare and Kimaro (2002) this paper is also
provided under Extra Materials

10

4/9/2009

Biogas plant at Cyangugu

Prison in Rwanda
Biogas
g p
plant treats toilet waste from p
prisoners by
y using
g fixeddome anaerobic digesters
Generation of biogas was achieved to generate energy for
cooking - savings in kitchen fuel is around 80%
Sustainable solution for the treatment of waste from 6,000
prisoners

Source: Butare and Kimaro (2002)

Design details

Bioreactor is fed through two toilet-waste

flows: one comes from 4,500 prisoners and
the other from 1,500.
1 digester of V=150 m3 (divided in 2 shells to
improve performance); a storage capacity of
28 m3; 2 holding tanks to further stabilize
sludge.
Production of 75,000 CH4 L/day
30 m of gas line which feeds 4 stoves of
1200 L.
Plant life time 30 years
Effluent from biogas plant is reused as
fertilizer in crops inside prison (2 ha):
bananas, coffee, soy, tomato, etc.

Bioreactor split into 2

shells

11

4/9/2009

Course 2 Unit 4

Example 6: Germany, Waldmichelbacher Hof

(restaurant and farm)
The following slides are from a presentation I gave at the Durban
ecosan conference (May 2005)
More information:
Separate presentation and paper under Extra Reading
GTZ project datasheet: www.gtz.de/en/themen/umweltinfrastruktur/wasser/9399.htm

Course 2 Unit 4

Biogas plant with electricity generation at

farm and restaurant in Germany
Description:
Farm of 200 ha, with grazing land
and fodder crops
280 hornless cattle
Restaurant with 250 seats
(Waldmichelbacher Hof)
Slaughterhouse processing one
cattle per week
Four families live and work on/from
the farm & restaurant

System components:
Low flush toilets for all buildings
Manure collection, and mixing
h
l under
d th
the cattle
ttl shed
h d
channel
Heated, insulated and fully mixed
anaerobic digester with 280 m3
volume (40-44C)
Anaerobic storage digester with
1500 m3
Two combined heat and power
generator sets with 37 kW
(electricity) and 74 kW (thermal
energy / heat) each

This is an example to
show that conventional
flush toilets (non-UD) can
also be used in an ecosan
project!

12

4/9/2009

Key results
Annual savings in operating costs in
2004:
20,000
,
/year
y
for not needing
g to
purchase fertiliser
23,400 /year due to electricity
produced on-site (more than 50% of
the electricity demand covered)
Heat for all residential houses and
restaurant, and hot water
5,300 /year is the income from
selling excess electricity to the grid*
Valuable liquid fertiliser (digested
manure) produced
Sanitisation of sewage by mesophilic
digestion and long retention times

Gas bladder of anaerobic digester

no. 2 (not heated, not mixed;
floating cover)

* New German legislation forces

energy companies to buy back
such green energy from
decentralised production for a fair
price

Concept schematic of this closed-loop system

F

Farmland

Fodder

DM
((digested
di
d
manure)

Anaerobic
digester
(heated)

Cattle

Slaughterhouse

Horses

M
Meat

Fertiliser

DM

Barn and stable

(in winter)

OSW

Collection
channel:
Manure and
ww storage tank
effluent

BG

ww
storage
tank

Restaurant,
shop,
distillery
W

H+E

Households
Biogas
EcosanBiogas Plant

BG

Cogeneration
plant

H+E
E

Electricity
exported to
the grid

H: heat, E: electricity, F: fodder, DM: digested manure, BG: biogas, W: waste(water)

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4/9/2009

Design drawing
Floating cover

Digester

Gas withdrawal

Stable/
cattle
shed

Digested
manure
St
Storage
vessell
Combined heat and power plant
Heat to house

electricity

Course 2 Unit 4

Example 7: Lbeck, Germany (residential area)

Th
The iinformation
f
i on the
h ffollowing
ll i slides
lid was taken
k ffrom the
h
GTZ project datasheet on this project:
http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-ecosan-pds-004-germanyluebeck-flintenbreite-2005.pdf

14

4/9/2009

Housing estate with biogas plant in LbeckFlintenbreite

(slide 1 of 2)

Integrated sanitation
system using vacuum
toilets and biogas plant =
production of energy +
saving of water
Foreseen for a community
of 350 inhabitants
Area of 3.5 ha which was
not connected to central
sewerage
Separate treatment of grey,
black and storm water
Digested anaerobic sludge
is reused in agriculture

Biogas
plant

Course 2 Unit 4

Process schematic
(slide 2 of 2)
vacuum
toilet

Kitchen,
shower

Storm
water

Blackwater

Greywater

(4.8 L/cap/d)

(56 L/cap/d)

Biogas
plant

Kitchen
residue
Biogas

wetlands
Effluent

infiltration

Effluent

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4/9/2009

Course 2 Unit 4

Example 8: Blackwater treatment in Sneek,

The Netherlands

The next slide is from myself and the remaining slides for this examples
are from Brendo Meulman, Landustrie, the project leader (provided in
Sept 2007)

Neighbourhood UASB-septic tank for blackwater in

Sneek, The Netherlands

The UASB-septic tank is located in this

garage, together with storage tanks and other
experimental process units
It treats the blackwater from 80 persons
(400 500 L/d; 5.6 L/cap/d; 1 L per flush)
Digester is heated to 20 or 30C with hot
water generated with biogas

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4/9/2009

General view of the housing area

How to get a concentrated organic

fraction?
Vacuum toilets are used, they flush with 1L water and 100L
of air. Reduction of 36 L/cap/d water, is 25% of total water
consumption

Vacuum toilet

Vacuum station (pump)

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4/9/2009

Course 2 Unit 4

References

Butare, A and Kimaro, A (2002) Anaerobic technology for toilet wastes

management: the case study of the Cyangugu pilot project, World
Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education, Vol.1, No.1.
http://www.eng.monash.edu.au/uicee/worldtransactions/WorldTransAbstra
ctsVol1No1/Microsoft%20Word%20-%2032
ctsVol1No1/Microsoft%20Word%20
%2032_Butare.pdf
Butare pdf *
Heeb, J., Jenssen, P., Gnanakan, K. & K. Conradin (2007): ecosan
curriculum 2.0. In cooperation with: Norwegian University of Life Sciences,
ACTS Bangalore, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation,
German Agency for Technical Cooperation and the International Ecological
Engineering Society. Partially available from www.seecon.ch and
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/oe44/ecosan/cb/en-m23-ecosan-humandignity-lecture-2006.ppt
Tchobanoglous, G., Burton, F.L., Stensel, H.D. (2003) Wastewater
Engineering, Treatment and Reuse, Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., McGraw-Hill, 4th
edition This is a good book on conventional wastewater treatment
edition.
Zhang Wudi et al. (2001): Comprehensive utilization of human and animal
wastes. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Ecological
Sanitation in Nanning 2001,EcoSanRes, China

* Also under Extra Materials on the I-LE

Other organisations and websites for

biogas plants

BORDA (Bremen Overseas Research and Development Association):

www.borda-net.org - extensive experience with decentralised anaerobic
wastewater treatment (mostly without source separation), e.g. Household
biogas plants all over the world. See also their website to view the
presentations at recent symposium
p
y p
Business Unusual Nov. 2006
Biogas for Better Life, An African Initiative (www.biogasafrica.org) New
initiative from May 2007, see next slide for more information
Agency for renewable resources: www.fnr.de (Fachagentur fr
nachwachsende Rohstoffe; in German and English)
Fachverband Biogas: www.biogas.org (in German only)
Internationales Biogas und Biomasse Kompetenzzentrum (IBBK)
(http://www.biogas-zentrum.de/ibbk/) in German only

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4/9/2009

Some more information about the Biogas for

Better Life Initiative

Pan African Biogas Initiative Launched : 31 May 2007

A large-scale biogas initiative has been launched to bring renewable
energy to 20 million households in some 25 African countries. The
initiative was approved at a conference entitled 'Biogas
Biogas for Better Life: An
African Initiative', held in Nairobi, Kenya on 22 May 2007. The initiative is
being supported by a consortium consisting of African countries (including
Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and
South Africa), implementing agencies, local NGOs and donors (including
Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the Shell Foundation).
Dutch partners in the initiative are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
development organisations SNV and Hivos.
The first national biogas programme in Rwanda has already begun.
Similar programmes in Ethiopia and Uganda will begin later this year.
These national programmes aim to construct
constr ct the initiatives
initiati es first 50
50,000
000
biogas plants. Biogas programmes are already operational in various
parts of the world. SNV has worked on several successful programmes in
Asia, especially in Nepal and Vietnam.
A simple biogas plant can be operated by any family with at least two
cows or four pigs. The family toilet can also often be connected to it. Such
a plant will generate enough gas to power a stove and a lamp.A biogas
plant costs from 300 to 400 euros (although in Africa it will initially cost
more). But the expense can be recouped within a few years through
savings on firewood. And the waste product can still be used as manure.

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