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Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5351–5356 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016)

Automation in Biogas Plant for Enhancement of

Efficiency and Safety

Pramod Sahua*, Sarita Sahub, Rajesh Purohitc, Vilas Warudkarc, S. Arisuthad and
S. Sureshe
Air India MRO-Nagpur,Plot-1, Sector-9,SEZ Area, MIHAN, Nagpur, Maharashtra-441108, India
a

bDepartment of Physics, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University Raipur, Chhattisgarh-492010, India

cDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh-462003, India
dEnergy Centre, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal-462003, India
eDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal-462003, India

Abstract

Biomethanation is a feasible and effective method of production of bio-methane from organic waste which can counter the
escalating demand of fossil fuels.Reduced production of bio-methane during winter is well known problem, which was
eliminated by the change of materialof organic waste feed stock passage amalgamated with solar heating. There were so many
cases reported related to digester failure due to over pressure of biogas. Few retrofitting were proposed for the automation of the
process of biomethanation in order to avoid digester failure and subsequent huge financial and life loss.
© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization
(ICMPC 2016).

Keywords:Biomethanation; anaerobic digestion; digester; retention time; Automation; programmable logic control.

1. Introduction
Energy is an essential need for human existence. The role of biomethane is becoming crucial in the panorama of
sustainable development. In fact, the worldwide bioenergy demand is strongly increasing in recent years [1].
Biomethanation is the process of conversion of organic matter in wastes to methane and manure by microbial action
in the absence of air through a process called anaerobic digestion, which is conducted in an enclosed space under

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91-9868503771

E-mail address: pramod_sahu@hotmail.com

2214-7853© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Selection and/or Peer-review under responsibility of 6th International Conference of Materials Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016).
5352 Pramod Sahu/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5351–5356

controlled conditions of temperature, moisture, pH, etc. By this process, bioenergy is produced from the organic
wastes and can be used for industries, household purpose as an alternate [2]. The organic wastes could be animal
waste, human excreta, food and vegetable waste, crops waste, etc. Case study was conducted on two villages of
Chhattisgarh (India) for the waste management and biogas recovery [3].
The process of biomethane production takes place in a specially designed unit, digester. Usuallyat 35⁰C feed
temperature, decomposition of organic material and completion of biomethanation process take 20 days time. The
retention time is lower if temperature is higher [4]. In the cold countries and also during winter in tropical countries,
the atmospheric temperature is less, resulting higher retention time and subsequently reduction in biomethanation
process. The paper addresses to enhance the biomethanation process capacity of digester during winter by changing
of material of feed passage and solar heating of stock prior to entering into digester.
In the last 10 years, biomethane production is tripled. Despite the widespread installation of biomethane plants,
the safety of such energy supply was not specifically addressed to date and there is lack of dedicated safety standards
aiming at the control of hazards and risks associated to biomethane production and upgrading. Learning from past
accidents and raising the risk awareness in this emerging energy sector is crucial for a scale and sustainable
exploitation of such a renewable resource [5]. In this perspective, the incidences of digester failure occurred in the
past were studied and automation is suggested in order to avoid such occurrences by the use of gauge, sensor,
actuator, pressure switch and servo motor.

1.1. Existing system of biomethanation:

Biomethanation has five main units. They are mixing unit, digestion unit, recirculation unit, scrubbing unit,
finally storage unit. In these five units, different types of process take place. In mixing unit all types of feed like cow
dung, food waste, human waste, etc. are mixed manually by using water and then mixed feed is sent to digester by
using valve.The digester is continuously working reactor in which fermentation feed is mixed finely to create a fully
homogeneous medium. The mixing process in digester is achieved by recirculation unit. After that gas is produced
in the digester and then it is transferred to gas storage bag via scrubbing unit, which removes impurities. The flow of
gas is regulated by hand valve [6]. Fig. 1 illustrates the process flow diagram for existing system.

C
B
D

Premixing
Tank (Solid) -Recirculation Unit

B - Scrubber Unit

Mixing Digester - Gas Storage Tank/

Balloon

Premixing
Tank (Liqd)

A
A- Concrete passage
B- Hand valve
C- Pressure gauge
D- Recirculation unit, scrubber unit and gas storage cylinder/ balloon
Fig. 1 Process flow diagram for existing biomethanation process
 Pramod Sahu/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5351–5356 5353

1.2. Problem identification

Two areas of problem were identified in the existing system, which needs improvement.

1.2.1. Lower production of biomethane during winter

Retention time of bio waste in the digester must be low for higher production of biomethane. Retention time
depends upon feed stock temperature before its anaerobic digestion. Usually retention time is 20 days at 35⁰C
temperature of bio waste; however, it increases during winter in tropical region, when atmospheric temperature
fallsup to ~4⁰C. The retention time is higher for cold countries. The lower feed stock temperature adversely affects
the production of biomethane.

1.2.2. Risk involved in digester failure

V.C. Moreno et al [5] collected and analyzed accidents in the biomethanation sector. Digester failure related
accidents were excerpted from their study and illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1. Few examples of accidents related to bio digester failure

Year Location Summary of the description

1999 France During the biogas production from anaerobic digestion of paper mill waste: An
explosion (5kg of TNT equivalent) destroyed gasometer and the pipeline to the CHP/
flare. The inlet to the gasometer was blocked and surrounding air entered into the system
and explosion took place. Damages to the surrounding buildings were found in a radius
of 130m.
2006 Germany During the biogas production from anaerobic digestion of household waste treatment:
Two digesters burst causing around seven million liters of fermentation sludge and rain
water to spread over adjacent fields. A third 20 m high tank was at risk of collapsing.
The mixture ran down from the plateau on which the plant had been built and polluted
not only the site but also two bodies of water. There was no risk to the population.
However, the bursting force of the standing fermenters caused damage to an adjacent
building and a fuel oil tank, from which 1000 L of fuel oil leaked. The amount of loss
approx.10 M€.
2007 Germany During the biogas production from anaerobic digestion: A 20m high and 17m wide
anaerobic digester ruptured, spreading debris up to 200m around the plant. 2 operators
were injured, several items of construction equipment were badly damaged, while the
buildings in the immediate vicinity were partially destroyed. Several hundred litres of
fuel oil poured out of an overturned tank. The plant had only begun operating two days
before. The property damage came to around 1.5 M€ and the business interruption loss
to around 1 M€.

2. Proposed system

In the study, retrofitting is proposed in the existing system to cater the problem identified as mentioned under
para 1.2. Fig. 2 illustrates the proposed system design of biomethanation plant.

2.1. Enhancement of production of biomethane during winter

The path from premixing tanks to the mixing tank and then digester is usually made up of concrete structure. And
this path is located on earth surface or subsurface. During lower atmospheric temperature the feed stock becomes
5354 Pramod Sahu/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5351–5356

cool when passes through these path and subsequently higher retention time and lower biomethane production. In
the proposed design, the concrete passage was replaced with stainless steel supplemented with plain reflector glass
panels placed parallel to the passage. The stainless steel passage provides smooth flow of feed stock as well as
higher heat transfer to the feed stock in view of high thermal conductivity as compare to the concrete. Thermal
conductivity (k) of concrete is 0.4-0.007 W/mK whereas that for stainless steel is 12-45 W/mK. The parallel placed
glass reflector panels enable solar heating to the stainless steel passage, which transmits the same to the feed stock
flowing inside due to its higher thermal conductivity. The system contributed in reduction of retention time inside
the digester and finally enhancing the production of biomethane.

C
B
D

Premixing E
Tank (Solid) -Recirculation Unit

B - Scrubber Unit

Mixing Digester - Gas Storage Tank/

Tank Balloon

Premixing
Tank (Liqd)

A- Concrete passage
B- Hand valve
C- Pressure gauge
D- Recirculation unit, scrubber unit and gas storage cylinder/ balloon
E- Plain glassreflector panels

Fig. 2 Proposed system design for automation in biomethanation plant

2.2. Risk avoidance in digester failure

Digester failure due to overpressure is a common problem in biomethanation plant. To avoid such occurrences,
few retrofitting were suggested:
 Alert must come at preset level of gas pressure well below the design pressure of digester.
 At alert level gas pressure must be released automatically through valve and intake of feed stock to be cut-off.
 Once the pressure is released the pressure relief valve and intake valve must be restored automatically.

2.2.1. Flow chart for proposed automated system

In order to achieve above said retrofitting in the existing system, following sequence of operations after the gas
production are suggested:
 Pramod Sahu/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5351–5356 5355

 Gas production started and reaches to preset pressure well below the design pressure of digester
 The pressure switch gives input to PLC (Programmable Logic Control)
 Blower gets ON and biogas transfer takes place from digester to storage bag as the biogas has not the flowing
capability
 At the same time, shut-off valve located between mixing tank and digester is closed by actuator to avoid intake of
feedstock into the digester
 Once the gas pressure inside the digester fall below the said preset pressure-the shut-off valve opens, blower gets
off and system restores itself for continued operation without exceeding the pressure level.
Fig. 3 illustrates the process flow chart for such automation.

Start

If No
gas pressure
reaches to
preset level

Yes

Servo motor gets ON to

Blower gets ON
close the shut-off valve

Scrubber gets ON

Blower gets OFF

Servo motor gets OFF

Stop

Fig. 3 Flow chart for automated process to avoid digester failure

5356 Pramod Sahu/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 5351–5356

The proposed algorithm will not allow gas pressure to exceed the design pressure of digester; hence will provide
a safe and automated system.

3. Conclusions

The existing system of biomethanation plant was studied and observed (1) reduced production of biomethane
during winter and (2) digester failure due to over pressure of gas. To enhance the gas production material changes of
feed passage amalgamated with solar heating was incorporated. To avoid the digester failure, an automated system
consisting of gauge, pressure switch, sensor, servo motor and actuator was proposed.

References

[1] International Energy Agency, World Energy Investment Outlook, 2014.

https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/WEIO2014.pdf.
[2] E. V. Prakash, L. P. Singh, “Biomethanation of vegetable and fruit waste in co-digestion”, International Journal of Emerging Technology and
Advanced Engineering, Certified Journal, vol 3, no. 6, (2013) 493-496.
[3] N.S. Maurya, P. Sahu, Sarita Sahu, “Waste Management and Biogas Recovery: Case Study of Villages of Chhattisgarh State (India)”,
International Conference on Technology Enabled Organizational Transformation “Transilience-2012”, Jun 21-23 (2012).
[4] N. Rajakovic, M. Knezevic, “Biogas- energy instead of waste”, Sixth International Symposium Nikola Tesla, Belgrade, SASA, Serbia, Oct
18-20 (2006).
[5] V.C. Moreno, S. Papasidero, G. E. Scarponi, D. Guglielmi, V. Cozzani, “Analysis of accidents in biogas production and upgrading”,
Renewable Energy, vol 96 (2016) 1127-1134.
[6] D. Ajay Abhilash, P. Kayalvizhi, R. Rakesh, S. Balamurugan, “Automation in biomethanation plant using PLC and SCADA”, International
Journal of Bio-Science and Bio-Technology, vol8, no. 2 (2016) 171-180.