Control model of energy flow in agricultural biogas
plant using SCADA software
Jan Szymenderski
Institute of Electrical Engineering and Electronics
Poznan University of Technology
Poland
Jan.Szymenderski@put.poznan.pl
Abstract—The article presents a model of controlling the flow
of energy in agricultural biogas plant. Control model was made
on the basis of a shared project biogas power plant. Biogas plant
control algorithm modeled using SCADA software and an
analysis of cost performance and life of the investment have been
presented.
Keywords—biogas power plant, biogas, biomass, SCADA
system, renewable energy
I. INTRODUCTION
Protecting the environment is now an important aspect in
human life. Research are conducted to improve the energy
efficiency of existing power installations Research are
conducted to improve the energy efficiency of existing power
installations. Advantageous installation from the point of view
of environmental protection can be an agricultural biogas
plant, used for the production of biogas from plant biomass,
animal manure or organic waste. Nowadays biogas plants are
rarely used due to the high ratio of investment costs to energy
efficiency. Accordingly, in the present approach lacks a
holistic approach to the problem of optimizing the energy
processing in these systems.
In the article the process of improving the energy
efficiency of installations producing electricity and heat from
biogas has been described. A control model of biogas plant
made using SCADA software has been presented and the
calculation of the cost of investment design profitability has
been summarized.
II. BIOGAS POWER PLANT
Now commonly used is the processing of the biogas
mixture of several substrates, called co fermentation.
Differentiation of substrates conduce to obtain a better process
parameters and increase security to ensure the supply of raw
material. Feedstock for biogas plants should provide high
efficiency biogas production, stable course of the fermentation
process and the possibility of exploitation of the resulting
post-fermentation mass accordance with the applicable law. In
large biogas plants applied a common fermentation of the
mixture of animal manure with waste from the agro-food
industry or with the energy crops. For small agricultural
biogas plants it is recommended to combine animal manure
978-1-5090-2800-9/16/$31.00
2016
Dorota Typańska
Institute of Electrical Engineering and Electronics
Poznan University of Technology
Poland
Dorota.Typanska@put.poznan.pl
only with energy crops. The raw materials for biogas
production are presented below[2,3]:
A. Waste of animal origin from agricultural holdings
For the production of biogas can be used slurry or manure,
which have different properties depending on: animal
species, method of their feeding and breeding and the
composition and proportions of the. High productivity exhibit
poultry droppings. However, the high percentage of dry matter
content in poultry droppings generates costs related to its
dilution. The most frequently used is slurry - the mixture of
feces and urine of livestock. Animal droppings are
characterized by lower productivity than the organic waste
from the agro-food industry and plant biomass. Applying
liquid manure has a positive effect on the process flow and for
possibility of obtaining a good manure.
B. Plant biomass including energy crops
Wide range of use can have waste biomass from farms or
from energy crops, which are characterized a very high
effectiveness of biogas production. The most often used are
maize, beets, grasses and sucrosorgo, mainly in the form of
silages. Moreover, can be used clover, potatoes, broad beans,
rye, sunflower, onion, mustard, peas, kohlrabi, cabbage,
cauliflower, wheat, oats, barley, canola or pumpkin.
C. Waste from food and fruit-vegetable processing
These wastes are commonly used in large biogas power
plants. It is not recommended to use them in small
installations due to operational difficulties. Waste are efficient
substrate for biogas production. These might be in. e. waste
from industry: fruit and vegetable, dairy, bakery, sugar,
distillery or meat. Due to the large diversity of the properties
of individual substrates to evaluate each of them for biogas
production, should be carried out separately.
To determine the parameters of the individual elements of
the technological system installation,, it must first make a
detailed analysis of the substrate. Next, the result of electricity
and heat production from the biogas fermentation should be
calculated. The calculation can be based on indicators of
productivity of biogas, published in substrate atlases
(expressed in cubic meters per tonne of dry organic
matter)[2,3].
c IEEE
 Proceedings of CPEE 2016 September 14-17th 2016, Sandomierz, Poland

III. SCADA SOFTWARE

SCADA system (Supervisory Control And Data
Aquisition) in practice it is implemented as a network of
connected servers, which archive a managed process and use
them for the visualization of the status and, after analysis and
processing may also be used for process control. SCADA is a
master computer system, that manages devices connected to
the network, such as computers or devices dedicated to
industrial applications. It provides control on devices with the
highest priority execution. Typically, the devices have their
own software program, which implement. Operation algorithm
or its parameters can be changed by a programmable logic
controller (PLC) to which the device is connected.. The
controller program can be constant or controlled by a
supervisory system - SCADA software. Hereby is obtained the
three-layer control on task performed by device. This allows
to keep track of current changes and react to them, and in case
of loss of connection with the rest of the system, this role takes
the PLC [1,4].
Fig.1 Characteristics of the energy production for selected substrate[5] Functions performed by the SCADA systems are [4]:
 Collecting and processing data from process;
Usually, minimum and maximum values are given, but it is  Visualization of process;
recommended to accept the lower. Using in biogas power
plant, waste belonging to the category of sanitary-  Control;
epidemiological, requiring hygienisation, has a direct impact
 Alarm and event recording;
on technology, forcing install the appropriate equipment. In
fig. 1 shows characteristics of the energy production for  Data archivization;
selected substrate. The basic elements of the technological
 Sharing of information about the process in computer
system include[2,3]:
networks;
a) Preparation of substrates:
 Storage;  Reporting;

 Grinding/homogenization;  Access security.

 Hygienisation and/or sterilization; Using SCADA system allows [1,4]:

 Digester.  Reducing operating costs;

 Providing current knowledge about system
b) The accumulation and processing of biogas for the performance;
final products:
 Biogas reservoir;  Improving the efficiency of the system;

 Installation for the purification of biogas;  Increase of equipment life;

 Cogeneration unit;  Reducing the time required for detection of errors and
their repair;
 Electric power infrastructure;
 Easier facility management, through automatically
 Heat pipelines; generated reports.
 Gas pipelines.
IV. BIOGAS POWER PLANT PROJECT
c) Processing, storage and use of the digestate mass: Control model of energy flow has been made for biogas
 Reservoirs and lagoons for storing sludge; power plant with power of 40 kW. This biogas plant converts
 Installation to separation of sludge fraction; the animal biomass - cattle manure (in the amount of 1200
tonnes / year) and cattle slurry (in an amount of 525 tonnes /
 Fertilization; year). Biomass comes from livestock farm, which is located
near the biogas plant. Model of biogas power plant is shown in
 Control and monitoring of the process. Fig. 2.
Proceedings of CPEE 2016 September 14-17th 2016, Sandomierz, Poland

Fig. 2 Model of biogas Power plant

Fig. 3. Main screen of SCADA application

 Proceedings of CPEE 2016
In the presented model liquid manure and cattle
manure goes through the grate belt for a preliminary tank,
where with the use of the mixer are subjected to a process of
homogenization. The main pump allows to provide the right
amount of product to the tank, where takes place the
fermentation process. The circulation pump enables the
circular mixing of the fermenting mass in order to improve the
quality of the process. The gas accumulated in the upper part
of the reservoir goes through a gas analyzer and a filter to the
gas tank. The next element of the installation is a cogenerator
allowing production of electricity and heat. It retrieves the gas
from the magazine and through the second analyzer goes to
the internal combustion engine. Mechanical power is
transmitted to the shaft of the synchronous generator, and the
exhaust gases to the heat exchangers. It is thus possible to heat
the biomass contained in the main tank to the proper
temperature. Excess of heat can be used to heating domestic
hot water. Consumed biomass goes to the waste tank, which
can then be used, for example as a fertilizer [1].
Complex process of energy conversion requires
adequate control to ensure stable work of the entire system.
This task is well realized by SCADA software. It allows to
visualize the entire system, and preview of individual
parameters. On this basis, it is possible to continuously control
the process. Another advantage is the possibility of recording
data, which allows for their subsequent analysis in order to
evaluate the correctness of the installation. In addition, each
alarm condition is accurately described, this allows for quick
locate and eliminate defects. This is also important due the
viability of a particular installation. The main screen of the
control system is shown in Figure 3.
Presented model was realized based on the
CitectSCADA software from Schneider Electric. This
software can connect with PLCs from different manufacturers.
It makes possible to simulate the operation of small biogas
power plant. In addition to visualization software allows you
to transfer data to the controller, and thus interfere with the
technological process. The system has a built-in PLC
simulator. On this basis, it can to perform the calculation of
the profitability of investments in various scenarios for the
production and consumption of electricity without building
costly physical model.
V. SUMMARY
The last decades is the accelerated development of
renewable energy. One of the branches of this industry is the
production of electricity and heat from biomass. There are two
September 14-17th 2016, Sandomierz, Poland
ways to use it. One of them is the construction of large
complexes, which supplied the raw material of many farms
and the food industry. Their great advantage is the ability to
process a variety of fuels. This mode of production must meet
the requirements of power plants. It requires high capital
investment, space and human resources. The second way is to
build a distributed system based on low-power installations. In
the second case, the scale of the process does not require the
involvement of such great human and financial resources. The
obvious advantage is to increase the reliability of the entire
power system. The disadvantage of this solution is to limit the
number of possible fuels to be processed in a single
installation. For small power biogas plants work properly it is
necessary to appropriate control. One way is to use SCADA
system presented in the article.
Process data collected during the operation of the
plant are an excellent source for the analysis of functionality
and cost-effectiveness of the entire system. The use of
SCADA allows you to make remote adjustments by the
technologist to optimize system operation. This approach
greatly simplifies management and reduces user interaction to
minimum. It also does not need to undergo special training.
The creation of new control standard for such micro system
could contribute to increasing their reliability and availability
in the market. This is important for the protection of the
environment. Should therefore aim at maximizing the
performance of this type of installation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The research work have been financed by the statutory
activities of "young team" on the Poznan University of
Technology no 04/42/DSMK/0356
REFERENCES
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for Management and Visualization in Generation of Renewable Energy
from Biomass”, International Journal of Engineering Research &
Technology, vol . 3, issue 5, pp. 882-887, May 2014.
[2] A. Cukrowski, A. Oniszk-Popławska, G.Wiśniewski, M.Zowsik, ”Small
agricultural biogas power plant (in Polish) ”, Wiatr s.c. publishing
house, Warsaw 2011.
[3] A. Cukrowski, P. Mroczkowski, A. Oniszk-Popławska, G.Wiśniewski,
„Agricultural biogas- production and use”, Mazowsze energy agency (in
Polish), Warsaw, December 2009.
[4] D. Głuchy, D. Kurz, G. Trzmiel, “ Control of heat and power station
work using the SCADA system (in Polish)”, Poznan University of
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[5] http://www.slideshare.net/Biedrzu/surowce-i-biomasa-marek-biedrzycki