HOW BIOGAS WORKS?

Stages in biogas production

Biogas is produced using well-established technology in a
process involving several stages:

1. Biowaste is crushed into smaller pieces and slurrified to

prepare it for the anaerobic digestion process. Slurrifying
means adding liquid to the biowaste to make it easier to
process.

Materials suitable for biogas production include:

• biodegradable waste from enterprises and industrial facilities,
such as surplus lactose from the production of lactose-free
dairy products
• spoiled food from shops
• biowaste generated by consumers
• sludge from wastewater treatment plants
• manure and field biomass from agriculture
2. Microbes need warm conditions, so the biowaste
is heated to around 37 °C.

Mesophilic digestion takes place optimally around 30 to

38 °C, or at ambient temperatures between 20 and 45 °C,
where mesophiles are the primary microorganism present.

Thermophilic digestion takes place optimally around 49 to

57 °C, or at elevated temperatures up to 70 °C, where
thermophiles are the primary microorganisms present.
3. The actual biogas production takes place through
anaerobic digestion in large tanks for about three
weeks.

Anaerobic digestion is a collection of processes by

which microorganisms break down biodegradable material
in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial
or domestic purposes to manage waste or to produce fuels.
Much of the fermentation used industrially to produce food
and drink products, as well as home fermentation, uses
anaerobic digestion.

4. In the final stage, the gas is purified (upgraded) by

removing impurities and carbon dioxide.