1.

0 INTRODUCTION

Palm oil mills are one of the most important agro-industries in Indonesia as Indonesia is

one of the largest palm oil producers in the world. While processing palm oil, the mills discharge

highly polluting waste-water, known as Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME), which is generally

discarded in open disposal ponds. POME is an oily wastewater generated by palm oil processing

mills and consists of various suspended components. On average, for each ton of FFB (fresh fruit

bunches) processed, a standard palm oil mill generates about 1 tonnes of liquid waste with

biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) 27 kg, chemical oxygen demand (COD) 62 kg, suspended

solids (SS) 35 kg and oil and grease 6 kg. Since the POME is non-toxic by nature it is a good

source of nutrients for microorganisms therefore, production of methane is highly potential.

The POME in Indonesia is generally disposed in pounds at the mill premises in 3 stages.

The first POME which is discharged directly from the mill has more solid contents with lots of oil

and grease. Once it gets cold, it turns into sticky semi-solid material and does not easily mixed up

with water. If we use the first fresh POME for biogas, it has a high chance that it gets sediment

into the digester. Once POME comes to the first pound, it passes to a second pound through soil

filtration in which the amount of solid contents and greases will be less. The POME from second

pound further passes to third pound in the same process which has even less solid contents. The

picture below shows 3 types of POME collected from the pounds.

Looking into the large potential of biogas from POME, a pilot digester was installed in Muaro

Jambi of Sumatra at community centre to capture the methane from POME and convert into clean

energy and fertilizer. The main objective of the pilot was to see whether sufficient gas is produced

from the POME, whether community can manage the transportation of POME from the mills and

extend of market response for scalability. For this purpose, a 50 m3 digester was designed and

constructed. The distance from the biogas digester to the Palm Oil Mill is around 6 km and users

manage transportation and storage of POME for regular feeding. The 3 rd type of POME was

available from a government owned mill called PTPN and used in the pilot biogas digester. 9 local

masons were trained on biogas during the digester construction. About 5,500 USD was the cost

for constructing a digester and training to the masons.

2.0 BIOGAS FROM PALM OIL PRODUCTION

Biogas is formed naturally when palm oil mill effluent (POME) decomposes in the absence

of oxygen. Unharnessed, this gas is an unwanted, potentially hazardous contributor to global

climate change. Biogas is typically composed of 50–75% methane (CH4), 25–45% carbon dioxide
(CO2), and trace amounts of other gases. When POME collection is uncontrolled, CH4 is released

directly into the atmosphere. As a greenhouse gas (GHG), methane is 21 times more powerful than

CO2.

Biogas plant, on the other hand, takes advantage of this natural decomposition process to

generate electricity. Organic liquid wastes generated during palm oil production represent a major

untapped source of energy. So converting POME emissions to biogas for combustion can produce

energy, as well as significantly reduce the climate change impacts of palm oil production.

Assumptions: each ton of FFB produces 0.7 m3 of effluent, mill operates 20 hours per day, COD

concentration is 55,000 mg/l mills (POMs) in 2011. The large and rapidly growing palm oil

industry demands better agricultural, industrial and sustainability practices. Capturing and

converting biogas to energy offers one way for palm oil mills to reduce their environmental impact

and creating renewable energy at the same time.

The development of methane-capture installations like biogas plants were financially feasible

through carbon credit incentive from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Early biogascapture

projects flared off POME-based methane. Despite of the falling price of carbon credit since the

middle of 2011; the price has dropped from around 12 EUR to less than 0.5 EUR per ton of offset

CO2, CDM has significantly motivated palm oil companies to develop projects. By the end of

2012, there were 36 registered methane capture projects under the CDM, mostly for biogas flaring.

Amongst the projects, 10 have successfully obtained CERs and received the economic benefits

from carbon financing under the CDM (see Table 2).

In 2011, some palm oil companies started to look at the economic benefits of using the

methane in biogas for electricity generation as captive power replacing diesel oil consumption. In

2013, Ministerial Regulation number 04/2012 about feed-in-tariffs for renewable energy from
biomass and biogas increased interest in grid-connected power from POME-to-energy projects.

Under the regulation, biogas project owners can sell power through Power Purchase Agreements

(PPAs) or excess power through excess power agreement with Perusahaan Listrik Negara

(Persero). This government support makes the biogas project financially more viable and sound to

be implemented.

2.1 POME TO BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY

Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

Processing fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) from palm trees for palm oil production generates

several types of waste. Oil extraction, washing, and cleaning processes generate liquid waste we

call palm oil mill effluent (POME). In the oil extraction process, three major operations generate

the bulk of POME:

• Sterilizing fresh fruit bunches

• Clarifying extracted crude palm oil: pressing station, separation, clarification

• EFB pressing

For every ton of fresh fruit bunches processed, the mill discharges from 0.7–1 m3 of

POME. Fresh POME is hot (temperature 60–80°C), acidic (pH of 3.3–4.6), thick, brownish liquid

with high solids, oil and grease, COD, and Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) values.

2.2 Land Application

Since POME contains a considerable amount of nitrogen, phosphate, potassium,

magnesium, and calcium, it can make a good fertilizer for palm oil plantations. Mill operators must

pre-treat POME before they can apply it to fields, though. Applying untreated POME directly to
land can kill vegetation on contact and water-log the soil. Environmental Ministerial Decree

number 28/2003 sets discharge limits for land application of POME.

2.3 DISCHARGE INTO WATER

Discharging POME directly into water is illegal given its adverse effects. Through

Environmental Ministerial Decree number 51/1995, the Indonesian government regulates the

levels of allowable contents in treated POME that mills may discharge into bodies of water.

The oil extraction process does not add chemicals, so POME is non-toxic, but it pollutes

aquatic environments by depleting dissolved oxygen. To meet regulatory standards, mill operators

must treat POME before discharging it into waterways. Box 1 outlines the role of dissolved oxygen

in aquatic ecosystems and explains how discharging untreated POME into bodies of water upsets

the ecology.

DISSOLVED OXYGEN AND IMPACTS OF POME DISCHARGED INTO WATER

Discharging POME into bodies of water adversely affects the aquatic ecology by depleting

dissolved oxygen.

Aquatic animals depend on dissolved oxygen (DO), the oxygen present in water, to live.

The amount of dissolved oxygen in streams depends on the temperature, amount of sediment,

amount of oxygen consumed by respiring and decaying organisms, and amount of oxygen

produced by plants, and aeration. DO is measured in milligrams per liter (mg/l) or parts per million

(ppm). For example, trout need DO levels of 8 mg/l, and most warm water fish need DO in excess

of 2 mg/l.
Bacteria break down the organic materials in POME in the natural systems, which consume some

amount of oxygen in the process. When the organic material level is too high, the oxygen may

diminish to level that are lethal for aquatic organism. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) is a

measure of the amount of oxygen that bacteria will consume while decomposing organic matter

under aerobic conditions. BOD is determined by incubating a sealed sample of water for five days

and measuring the loss of oxygen at certain temperature from the beginning to the end of the test.

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) covers both biologically available and inert organic matter, and

it is a measure of the total quantity of oxygen required to oxidize all organic material into carbon

dioxide and water. Hence, COD values are always greater than BOD values. COD measurements

can be completed in a few hours, and are preferred over BOD measurements.

Both BOD and COD values indicate the amount of organic matter that exists in POME and can be

accessible to produce biogas. The “Calculating Renewable Energy Potential” section discusses

further how to calculate how much biogas can be obtained based on the measured COD value.

Source:Watershed Protection Plan Development Guidebook, Brown and

Caldwell

2.4 POME TREATMENT

In Indonesia, almost all palm oil mills use open ponding systems to treat POME due to

their low costs and operational simplicity. In this effluent management process, POME flows

through a series of ponds and several treatment steps. The ponds may differ slightly from mill to

mill, but generally the systems consist of four types of ponds: a fat pit, cooling pond, anaerobic

pond, and aerobic pond. The fat pit collects remaining oil and grease in POME. Oil is the main

product of the mill, so mill operators typically recover oil from the fat pit and combine it with the
primary CPO product. The cooling pond decreases the temperature of POME, creating optimal

conditions for the decomposition of organic material in the anaerobic and aerobic ponds. After

treatment in these four ponds, the effluent is safe to discharge to waterways or use as a fertilizer.

Even though the ponding system is economical, it is land and time intensive, and it releases

a large amount of methane gas into the atmosphere primarily from the organic decomposition that

occurs in the anaerobic pond. The release of methane from the POME treatment system accounts

for up to 70% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in CPO production.

2.4.1 ANAEROBIC VS. AEROBIC DIGESTION

Both anaerobic and aerobic digestion effectively degrade organic materials. An anaerobic

process occurs in the absence of oxygen, while an aerobic process takes place in the presence of

oxygen. POME-to-energy applications typically use the anaerobic process.

The main reason for choosing the anaerobic process is its high yield of biogas. Rather than

converting materials to methane, an aerobic process produces large amounts of sludge along with

fully treated wastewater. The anaerobic process, on the other hand, produces methane and pre-

treated water rich in nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Palm oil plantation owners can use

this pre-treated water for fertilization. Figure 1.2 outlines the differences between anaerobic and

aerobic systems.

Source: Adapted from nachwaschender-rohstoffe.de

2.4.2 ACETOGENESIS

In the acetogenesis stage, hydrogen-producing acetogenic bacteria convert fatty acids and

ethanol/alcohol into acetate, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen. This intermediate conversion is crucial

for the successful production of biogas, since methanogens cannot use these compounds directly.

Acetogens grow slowly and depend on a low partial pressure of hydrogen for acetogenic

degradation to yield energy. Acetogens are sensitive to environmental changes; they require long

periods to adjust to new environmental conditions.

2.4.3 METHANOGENESIS

During the methanogenesis stage, methane forms by two main routes. In the primary route,

the fermentation of acetic acid, the major product of the acid forming phase, produces methane

and carbon dioxide. Acetoclastic (or acetophilic) bacteria use acetic acid. The overall reaction is:

Based on thermodynamics and experimental data, researchers have identified an additional

reaction1:

CH3COOH + 4H2 2CH4 + 2H2O

A secondary route uses hydrogen to reduce CO2 to CH4 by hydrogenophilic methanogens:

4H2 + CO2 CH4 + 2H2O

Only a limited number of compounds can act as substrates in methanogenesis. Acetate, H2,

CO2, methanol, and formate are key substrates. Based on stoichiometric relations, experts estimate

that about 70% of methane is produced from acetate, while the remaining 30% is produced from

H2 and CO2.

1. Theory and Practice of Water and Wastewater Treatment, Droste, 1997

2. Theory and Practice of Water and Wastewater Treatment, Droste, 1997.

 3. Liquid to Gas Mass Transfer in Anaerobic Processes, Pauss, 1990.

4. The Microbiology of Anaerobic Digesters, Gerardi, 2003.

POME, generally has sufficient nitrogen and phosphorus. Anaerobes have low growth yields,

so their nutrient requirements are lower compared to those of aerobes. Operations must maintain

the ratio of COD:nitrogen:phosphorus at specific levels, so workers must monitor the ratio and

make adjustments as necessary during operations. Dosing pumps can add nutrients periodically.

Operations should also maintain levels of micronutrients such as nickel and cobalt, which promote

methanogenesis.

2.4.4 IDEAL CONDITIONS FOR ANAEROBIC DIGESTION

To effectively convert organic materials into biogas, the active microorganisms require

specific nutrients and environmental conditions. Nutrients and chemical synthesis required for

anaerobic digestion include:

 Macronutrients such as C, H, O, N, S, P, K, Ca, Mg to provide food for bacteria

 Micronutrients such as Fe, Ni, Zn, Mn, Mo, and Co to keep bacteria healthy

 Vitamins are at times needed to fulfill specific catalytic needs in biosynthesis and if so

would be required in small amounts.

 Enzymes (protein catalysts produced by living cells) to speed up cellular reactions of

microorganisms

 Temperatures around 35°C for mesophilic and 55°C for thermophilic pH around 7.

Figure 1.4 depicts the growth of microorganism in the conducive conditions.

Operators must monitor and maintain environmental conditions within the digester to

support healthy numbers of microorganisms and optimal biogas production. The following
sections explain the required conditions in temperature, pH and buffering systems, gas solubility,

mixing, nutrients, and toxicity.

2.4.2 TEMPERATURE

Treating waste in anaerobic digesters requires two temperature ranges: the mesophilic

range (25–40°C) and the thermophilic range (50–60°C). Biogas plants usually prefer the

mesophilic range because the thermophilic range requires a stricter temperature-control system.

Methane has been produced at lower temperatures, but for optimal production, digesters should

maintain temperatures above 20°C. Rates of methane production approximately double for each

10°C increase in temperature in the mesophilic range.

Physical parameters such as viscosity and surface tension change with temperature.

Thermophilic temperatures result in better mass transfer and a higher digestion rate than

mesophilic conditions.

A stable temperature achieves better results than fluctuating temperatures.

2.4.3 PH AND BUFFERING SYSTEM

Each of the microbial groups involved in anaerobic degradation has a specific pH region

for optimal growth. For the acidogens, the optimal pH is around 6, whereas for acetogens and

methanogens, the optimal is around 7. Numerous studies confirm that a pH range of 6.5–7.5 results

in good performance and stability in anaerobic systems, although stable operation can occur

outside this range.

Anaerobic systems must have adequate buffering capacity to accommodate the production

of volatile acids and carbon dioxide. To guard against the accumulation of excess volatile acids,
system operators must prevent pH from becoming too acidic. Lime, sodium bicarbonate, and

sodium hydroxide, three major chemical sources of alkalinity, can provide this buffer. Most POME

applications, however, and especially covered lagoon technology, do not require chemical dosing

to neutralize pH. Anaerobic effluent water contains buffer alkalinity from bicarbonate (HCO3);

recirculating the effluent water to the raw POME collecting tank maintains a neutral pH.

2.4.4 GAS SOLUBILITY

In an anaerobic process, gas is formed in the liquid phase and tends to escape to the air.

This liquid-to-gas transfer is important for the anaerobic digestion process. Process design

parameters such as the area of the liquid-gas interface, the stirring rate, and the temperature of the

liquid (which influences the viscosity and surface tension) affect the liquid-to-gas phase. Typically,

gases form at a much higher rate than that of the liquid-to-gas transfer, resulting in high

concentration of gas in the liquid. Overconcentration of certain gases such as CO2 and H2S may

cause a drop in pH, affecting the biological processes.3

2.4.5 MIXING

Mixing helps maintain pH and uniform environmental conditions. Without adequate

mixing, unfavorable microenvironments can develop. Mixing distributes buffering agents

throughout the digester and prevents localized build-up of high concentrations of intermediate

metabolic products that can inhibit methane formation. Mixing is commonly performed using a

mechanical stirrer, liquid mixing by the incoming POME through distribution pipes, or gas mixing

using recirculated biogas.

2.4.5 NUTRIENTS

Efficient biodegradation requires available nutrients including nitrogen, phosphorus and

trace elements (micronutrients). Nutrients build cells that form microorganisms and produce

biogas. General chemical elements that form microorganisms are carbon (50%), oxygen (20%),

nitrogen (12%), hydrogen (8%), phosphorous (2%), sulphur (1%), and potassium (1 %).

Generating biogas requires a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of at least 25:1.4

2.5 BIOGAS DEHUMIDIFIER

2.5.1 WHAT IS BIOGAS

Biogas is formed when microorganisms, especially bacteria, degrade organic material in

the absence of oxygen. Biogas consists of 50% to 75% methane (CH4), 25–45% carbon dioxide

(CO2) and small amounts of other gases. Table 1.2 details the composition of biogas.

Table 1.2. Composition of biogas

Elements Formula Concentration (Vol. %)

Methane CH4 50 – 75

Carbon dioxide CO2 25 – 45

Water vapor H2O 2–7

Oxygen O2 < 2

Nitrogen N2 < 2

Hydrogen H2S < 2

Ammonia NH3 < 1

Hydrogen H2 < 1

Source:nachwaschende-rohstoffe.de
 Biogas is about 20% lighter than air and has an ignition temperature between 650°C and

750°C. It is an odorless and colorless gas that burns with a clear blue flame similar to that of liquid

petroleum gas (LPG). Biogas burns with 60% efficiency in a conventional biogas stove; it has a

caloric value of 20 MJ/Nm3. The volume of biogas is normally expressed in units of normal cubic

meters (Nm3), the volume of gas at 0°C and atmospheric pressure.

Methane, which makes up the bulk of biogas, can combust with oxygen. The energy release from

combustion makes biogas a potential fuel. Biogas can serve any heating purpose, from cooking to

fuel for an industrial burner. In gas engines, biogas converts its energy content into electricity and

heat. Less commonly, compressed biogas can power motor vehicles through combustion.

The biogas production process exploits the natural ability of microorganisms to degrade

organic wastes. The decomposition process produces biogas and a nutrient-rich residue suitable

for use as a fertilizer. The organic wastes function as the substrate, the medium on which the

organisms grow. Figure 1.1 shows the anaerobic biological conversion process from various

substrates.

Any biodegradable organic material can serve as a feedstock to produce biogas. Some

materials, however, work better economically and technically. Costly inputs decrease the

economic benefits of outputs. One of the main attractions of biogas technology is its ability to

generate biogas from abundant, inexpensive organic wastes such as POME.

Biogas production using readily available biodegradable wastes has two key advantages.

Economically, both the biogas and slurry are valuable. At the same time, project owners gain a

safe way to process biodegradable waste that might otherwise end up in landfills or waterways,

avoiding negative environmental impacts.

2.5.1 GAS ENGINE

A gas engine (Figure 2.5) is part of an internal combustion engine that runs on a gas fuel

such as natural gas or biogas. After the production process reduces impurities in biogas to specified

levels, the biogas feeds into a gas engine to generate electricity. Gas engines that run on biogas

require a moisture content less than 80% and an H2S concentration less than 200 ppm; these

parameters depend on specification of the gas engines. Gas engines convert energy contained in

the biogas into mechanical energy to drive the generator, which produces electricity. Typically,

gas engines have an electrical efficiency between 36–42%.

2.5.2 BURNER AND BOILER

Biogas generated with an anaerobic digestion process can fuel a boiler. An engineer installs

a gas burner in the wall of the boiler (Figure 2.6). Feeding biogas into a boiler creates an alternative

means to generate heat or electricity. Biogas can replace part of the biomass fuel, such as shell and

fiber, which boilers in palm oil

mills normally use.

2.6 BIOGAS FLARE

2.6.1 BIOGAS BURNER

Flares burn excess gas in industrial process plants. For safety reasons, biogas plants must

have flares (Figure 2.7) installed to burn off excess biogas. Occasionally, biogas cannot enter the

gas engine or other combustion equipment. This can happen while processing an abnormally large

amount of fresh fruit bunches, resulting in excess biogas production. Excess production exceeds

the maximum flow of biogas that can enter the gas engine. Similarly, when the gas engine is offline
for maintenance, biogas has nowhere to go. Biogas installation, without gas engine or boiler, must

use flare constantly to manage the gas. Operators should never release excess biogas directly into

the atmosphere because it is extremely flammable in high concentrations. Direct release of biogas

also releases greenhouse gases.

2.6.2 BIOGAS GENERATION TECHNOLOGY

High organic contents in POME made it a good source for methane gas generation via

anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is the effective effluent treatment method, containing a

huge amount of organic substances such as POME. It is a process of methanogenic anaerobic

degradation of organic and inorganic matters in the absence of oxygen. It is a multistage

(hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis) degradation of organic matters and

transformatiom into CH4 and CO2 by the action of a group of microorganisms (Ahmed et al., 2015).

An upgraded and compressed biogas is called bio-CNG and can be used in natural gas vehicles

(NGV) directly or added to the existing natural gas pipeline networks. In order to utilise biogas as

fuel for vehicles, the composition of methane should be more than 97 %, CO2 less than 3 % by

volume, H2S less than 10 ppm and water content should be less than 32 mg / Nm3 (Hosseini and

Wahid, 2013). The upgrade of biogas consists of scrubbing and compression of biogas as shown

in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Biogas purification process

Based on Figure 1, the purification of gas that relates with the scrubbing unit consists of

CO2 separation unit, H2S separation unit and moisture separation unit. Firstly, when the raw biogas

is passed through a CO2 separation unit, the limestone crystals are used to remove CO2. The

reaction of limestone with CO2 will form calcium carbonate. Then, the biogas continues to pass

through H2S separation unit where the removal of H2S is done by using catalyst iron oxide in the

form of oxidised steel wool. Once biogas comes in contact with this wool, the reaction between

iron oxide (Fe2O3) and H2S will result into iron sulphide (Fe2S3) and H2O. Lastly, in purification

stage the biogas is passed through a moisture separation unit. The silica gel crystals are used to

separate the moisture. The scrubbing unit capacity is decided according to the size of the biogas

plant. After these processes, the biogas is about 98 % pure.

The clean biogas is then allowed to pass through a compressor for compression. Biogas

compressors can be found in the local market in the range of 3.5 psi up to 3,000 psi depending on

the application. The hand compressor consists of one inlet for biogas to enter and one outlet for

compressed biogas. The hand compressor consists of specific valve at its base which consists of

two ports, one port for suction and other for compression. The selection of method for gas

scrubbing could vary. Research by Kapdi et al. (2005) found that water scrubbing (physical

adsorption) is the simplest technology which is continuous and less expensive for CO2 removal
from biogas. It also simultaneously removes H2S. After removal of CO2, biogas is enriched in CH4

and becomes equivalent to natural gas in term of it composition (percentage of CH4 content).

2.7 BIOGAS TRANSPORT

In regions where piping systems are unachievable, biogas systems prove to be

unsustainable and cannot be utilise for offsite usage. Other than gas piping, natural gas can be

compressed as bio-CNG or liquefied natural gas (bio-LNG). This section discusses the options to

transport biogas.

Transportation as Bio-Compressed Natural Gas (Bio-CNG)

Generally, biogas is stored on-site in large impermeable bags. These are impractical to

transport as the volume are relatively huge. The energy density of biogas is extremely low at

ambient pressure and as a result it must be compressed to relatively high pressure which is at

approximately 3,000 - 3,600 psi for storage in cylinders in order for it to be transported

economically via truck (Gaikwad and Katti, 2014).

Bio-CNG bulk transport vehicles are used when over-the-road transportation of bio-CNG

or compressed biogas is required. Given the transportation and capital equipment costs associated

with over-the-road transportation of compressed biogas as well as the probable need for additional

compression at the point of consumption, this method of biogas distribution is generally not

considered as a long-term, cost-effective solution. Compressed natural gas bulk transport vehicles,

often referred to as tube trailers, are used when over-the-road transportation of Bio-CNG is

required to transport it in approved tanks that do not exceed the rated tank pressure. Another
general requirement for transporting Bio-CNG via truck is to ensure that the water vapour content

is less than 10 ppm, minimum CH4 content of 95 % and appropriate hazardous materials markings.

Transportation as Bio-Liquefied Natural Gas (Bio-LNG)

Biogas can also be in liquid form where the product is known as Bio-liquefied natural gas

(Bio-LNG). Two of the main advantages of Bio-LNG are that it can be transported relatively easy

and it can be dispensed to natural gas vehicles (NGV) refuelling station. However, if Bio-LNG is

to be used off-site, it must be transported by tanker trucks, which normally have a 40 m3 capacity.

The low-pressure storage tank is a buffer for LNG after it exits the biogas liquefaction equipment.

Typical Bio-LNG storage tanks are double-walled, thermally insulated vessels with storage

capacities of 60 m3 gallons for stationary, aboveground applications. Bio-LNG is transported at

relatively low pressure which is at approximately 20 to 150 psi, but because it is a cryogenic liquid

it requires special handling.

Bio-LNG is transported in the same manner as petroleum LNG that is via insulated tanker

trucks designed for transportation of cryogenic liquids. Standard tanker trucks hold 40 m3 of LNG

at approximately 50 psi. Compressed natural gas bulk transport vehicles are used and it is required

to comply with the Malaysian standard MS 830:2013 storage, handling and transportation of

liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) code of practice as assumed that transportation by truck for biogas

would be held to the same requirements. Major requirements include for this practice is more likely

for Bio-CNG requirement but with additional feature like presence of two independent pressure

relief systems, maximum one-way-travel-time marking and appropriate hazardous materials

markings. One of the most attractive features of over-the-road transportation of Bio-LNG is that

the infrastructure and market have already exist.

2.7.1 TRANSPORTATION THROUGH PIPELINE

There are a few aspects that need to be taken into consideration when planning the gas

piping system for distribution to ensure the system meet all safety and technical requirement of the

standard and legislation as well as it is able to deliver the required amount of gas. Biogas can be

distributed through dedicated pipelines for biogas only system or injected to an existing piping

grid. When using a dedicated gas grid for the biogas, there should be no interference with existing

natural gas grids. The advantage is that within such a biogas grid, all rules and contracts can be

tailor-made to the producers and consumers on that grid. If a consumer is satisfied with the specific

properties of the biogas of the producer, they can use it as their standard and adjust their appliances

to these specific properties. The grid operator can take these properties into account and operate

the grid in a way that is specifically arranged for biogas.

As for injection to an existing grid, one prerequisite for an agreement would be to ensure

that biogas injected into the natural gas pipeline network meets the local gas utility’s pipeline gas

quality standards. Once the biogas is injected into the natural gas pipeline network, it can be used

as a direct substitute for natural gas by any piece of equipment connected to the natural gas grid,

including domestic gas appliances, commercial, industrial gas equipment, and CNG refueling

stations. The safety and reliability of gas piping or reticulation systems in nonindustrial premises

are governed by the Gas Supply Act 1993 (Act 501) and the Gas Supply Regulations 1997, under

the purview of the Energy Commission (ST). Act 501 regulates the piping of natural gas

downstream of city gate stations or the piping of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the filling

point of storage vessels or cylinders up to end user appliances or equipment. Under Regulation 65,

Gas Supply Regulation 1997, the main requirements to be complied with before connection is to

ensure that no gas shall be taken from the gas main pipeline until an agreement for the supply of
gas has been entered into between the parties and the gas installation connected to the gas main

pipe has been inspected, tested and found to be safe by a competent person registered with the

Director General.

2.7.2 POME BIOGAS OFF-SITE UTILIZATION

Figure 2 shows the transportation options and utilization options for biogas. As can be seen,

three major application of biogas is for cooking, meeting electricity demands, and as bio-CNG.

Table 1 shows the impurities removal requirement depending on biogas offsite utilisation. Based

on the discussion in Section 2, the selection of technology for biogas purification depends on the

application of biogas, where it will be utilised. The biogas specification may varies depending on

its application and method of transportation and will be further discussed below.

Figure 2: Alternative for biogas transportation for offsite usage

Table 1: Impurities removal requirements depending on biogas utilization

Component Application H2S CO2 H2O

Boiler <1,000 ppm No No

Cooking Yes No No

Vehicular Engine Yes Recommended Yes

National Gas Grid Yes Yes Yes

2.7.3 APPLICATION FOR DOMESTIC COOKING

Biogas energy can be utilised for cooking and heating application. Biogas burns more

efficiently as compared to fuel-wood at an efficiency of about 60 % whereas fuel-wood burns at

5–8 % efficiency in open fire place and dung burns at 60 % of that of fuel-wood (Mengistu et al.,

2015). Most of household in Malaysia currently are using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as their

source of heat for cooking. Usage of LNG however is expensive due to high technology of gas

processing (liquefied). In this case, for the cooking application, biogas in form of CNG is good

enough to handle the demand for cooking source of heat. Bio-CNG can be supply by truck to

residential area where the gas is delivered in cylinder storage tank. Based on Table 1, only H 2S is

obligate to be removed from cooking gas because it can produce toxic air pollutant during

combustion. Therefore, there is no need for further purification after H2S is removed. It only needs

to be compressed to store in pressurized cylinder tank and safely transport to the point of

distribution. Since LNG is widely used, Malaysian government should establish a new policy to

encourage the usage of bio-CNG and also control price range (lower rate) for this new option.
2.7.4 APPLICATION FOR INDUSTRIAL HEATING

Biogas usually has a calorific value (CV) between 21-23 MJ / m3 and can be burned directly in a

boiler to generate hot water or steam. In a well-sized and operated boiler, 85 % of the energy in

the biogas will be converted to heat within the boiler. Hence this could be a very promising energy

for industrial source of heating. Boilers tend to be fairly simple and robust hence very little gas

cleaning is required, keeping the capital costs and operating costs low. According to Table 1, H2S

composition in biogas must be less than 1,000 ppm to be use directly for a boiler. If the point of

consumption is far, the biogas can be transferred by using pipeline to supply the gas to the industrial

demand. However, the biogas needs to be free of H2S (lower H2S content) before it can be delivered

through pipelines. Otherwise, it will cause corrosion to the pipeline equipment.

2.7.5 DIGESTER DESIGN

A cylindrical concrete dome digester of 50 m3 capacity was designed and installed1. The

HRT was for 50 days and maximum gas pressure height was 110 cm. Biogas digester construction

took 20 days slightly longer than our estimate because of continued rain and shortage of labors.

During construction, users participated actively and understood the technique of digester

construction, importance of leakage control, safety procedures and repair and maintenance

techniques.
2.7.6 FEEDING

As at the initial stage large quantity of feeding material was required and some cattle dung

was already available nearby, about 30% of initial feeding was from cattle dung. Rest of the

feeding was from POME which was transported from the mill and fed into the digester in alternate

days. 2 plastic tanks of 2,000 ltrs each along with a water pump were used to pump and transport

POME from the mill as trucks regularly return empty from the mill while delivering palm fruits at

the mill. Transported POME was stored at the digester site for regular feeding. The feeding rate

was 15 ltrs per m3 without adding water. The average temperature at the construction site was 260

Celsius. M3
3.0 RESULTS

After initial feeding of POME, the gas production started in 10 days. Total 15 houses were

connected through pipelines and gas was supplied particularly for cooking purpose. On average,

each house use stove for 3 hours per day. As the rate of gas consumption by stove was about 325

ltrs per hour, the total gas consumed by 15 houses was about 14,600 ltrs per day. This indicates

that 1 ltr of POME produces about 19.5 ltrs of biogas.

The slurry is almost liquid and not practical to make compost. Users are using slurry as liquid

fertilizer for vegetable production, crop production and even plantation of palm trees. The effect

of slurry on agriculture production is still to evaluate.

The local government officials are very happy with the results. The biogas users are highly satisfied

as they have access to clean cooking fuel at home and high quality fertilizer for crop production.

There is already a quite good demand of such digesters in surrounding communities.

3.1 SOME PHOTOS RELATED TO THE PILOT DIGESTER

3.2 CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED

Producing biogas from POME is not a very new concept but producing biogas by

transporting POME from the mill and manage as a community biogas is a new. The palm mills are

generally far away from the communities and is not feasible for supplying gas to the community

if the digester is installed at mill premises. In this situation, the only possibility is to install large

digester and produce electricity using POME.

As most parts of Indonesia is electrified and cooking fuel is main concern to the families, digester

at community for cooking purpose is more important and beneficial. However, we have faced some

challenges particularly on managing the digester:

a. Initially Palm Mill owner were not willing to make available of POME for biogas.

Purchasing POME and use for biogas will make it more expensive. Therefore, educating

palm mill owners on the benefit of biogas utilizing POME was very important. SNV is

trying to overcome this problem jointly working with government and local organizations.

b. Even if POME is available from the mill, transporting regularly to the digester site is also

a challenge and costly for the community. As trucks regularly transport palm fruits to the

mills and return empty, SNV has suggested the users to use those trucks for transporting

POME.

c. SNV has developed different operations models and suggested to the users applying them

based on their choices. a) Digester operating committee can be formed among the users

who is responsible for transporting POME and day to day operation. The committee

members are trained on how to manage the digester. b) Alternatively, a private company

or Palm Oil Cooperative can take the responsibility of digester management and charge a

monthly fee to each household user for the services. In case there are many community

digesters installed in the nearby areas, this can be a good business for a company.

d. This can be a good business for the mill owners as well as they have freely available POME

and can install biogas digester and sell gas or electricity to the community. In this case mill

will manage the digester.

4.0 CONCLUSION

POME is very good source for producing biogas. The fresh POME discharged at first

pound has high fiber as well as oil and grease and make higher potential for biogas production

however, sedimentation at the bottom of digester and outlet can be a problem. As our digester has

no agitation mechanism inside the digester, the second or third type of POME is suitable for the

small digesters. Even mixing with some cattle dung together with POME is the best way for

maximizing gas production. In case of using fresh POME, the retention time in the digester should

be longer than 50 days.