Biogas plants augment Agriculture by recycling agro-residues through cattle or directly by new generation biogas plants – allows recycling and sustainability

H N Chanakya, CST, IISc, Bangalore

Understanding history to predict future

Trajectory of AD/BG in India from 1950-2010, Chanakya & Sreesha, 2012

Popularizing Indian BGPsPull by-Biogas-Compost

Indian design biogas plants

1960-70

-Low crop yield-Efficient nutrient

management-Basic needs of lighting, pumping

-PopularizingBGPs

- Acceptance

-Deenabandhu, Janatha & local designs of BGPs-IISc design

-Multiple end-uses-Commercial uses and large plants-Mixed feed, -VAPs /uses

-Commercial plants-USW /sewage BGPs -Multi-use BGPs -Remediation BGPs-Pollution abatement

New - efficient designs, IISc

1970-80

-Cost reduction -New designs-Alt. feed stocks-R&D initiated-Better conv.

1980-90

Cheaper rugged designs, -Alt. Feeds, Big plants, -

Resource use efficiency, -R&D contd. Demos, 1990-

2000

- USW, multi-feed, -Waste water BGPs

-Pollution mgmt.-Co-digest toxicant

2000-10

-Energy crises-Alternative fuels-(cooking fuel)

-Energy crisis consciousness-NRE goalsMNES set up

-2nd -Energy crisis - GEF /GHG etc.- RE promo. policy -Revitalized MNES

-Envi. friendly tech.-Enviro. Clean-up-Commercialization-New laws, -CDM, C-trade, -Profitability

Biomethantion and Anaerobic Digestion

Goal: to develop designs using leaf biomass, agro-residues and municipal solid waste: build livelihoods around BGP

Technologies: Optimized biogas plant designs-cost reduction• Solid-phase and plug flow reactors; leaf biomass and MSW• Coffee effluent treatment plantsSpread and Impact: Multi-feed and high rate bioreactors: 80 modules• MSW plant – 3, Canteen plants – 5, Community biogas plants: 17

Lifeline EnergyDrinking water lifting, Domestic

illumination,Grain milling

Grid Power not used so no Coal Burnt for Power

Pura ASTRA-IEI experiment - 10 year operation (contd)95% revenue collection, participatory

management.Revenue enough only for O&M.Dung borrowed, return as cake - equity.Fermented dung premium manureBetter quality nursery material. No weeds

A 2m3 biogas balloon is easily carried by a housewife or an adolescent to the nearest gas

collection centre within the village. Surplus gas is an

essential output providing daily or weekly cash incomes to the

operator – usually the housewife.

When biogas is produced from agro-wastes and other soft

biomass, it is possible to create this output that will firstly reduce pressure on trees being cut for fuelwood, second could liberate

villages from fossil fuels.

These are also commercially viable at the rural level

What can we dream?

The cup is half-full - Facilitate methane collection system from grass-roots like milk collection systems.

• 50M HH 1m3/HH =4.2Bn Euro/yr upto 30Bn cap.• Recommend • 1.Setting milk collection type infrastructure on trial basis and franchise. • 2.Evolve policy cover• 3.Gather technologies for above option franchise to local enterprises.

•It will encourage grass-root level biomass use efficiency,

•HH fermentors• methane collection without

transport of wood ash, nutrients etc.

• HH level collection, Village level purification and

compression, tanker based. •Collection – vehicles also

run on methane!

What biomass feed stocks occur at

1.Village level?2.Across India?

1. Agro-residues in villages inadequately deployed today2. Agro-industry residues (liquid and solid)3. Urban solid wastes4. Making biomass plants viable5. Emerging and newer biomass feedstocks

EXISTING USE PATTERN ACTIVITY ALTERNATIVE Biomass TechnologiesFuel Source Annual Annual biomass Modern option andpower requirement requirement total requirement(Total) tons, kWh, L tons, (tons, total)================================================================================Wood and 400 cooking 785 dung BIOGAScrop 137 green biomass (210 m3/d)residue (dry basis) ----------------------------------------.(609 t) 97 heating water 47 fuelwood EFFICIENT WOOD

40 restaurants 23 fuelwood BURNING DEVICES44 jaggery making 33 residue (113 t)20 brick making 10 fuelwood ------------ ----------------------------.

. 5570 Agro- 20.8 fuelwood PRODUCER GASGrid Processing (16,000 kWh) ELECTRICITY .Electri- 27079 Irrigation 190 fuelwood (Total .city (146,160 kWh) 192,992 kWh).(53,064) 10891 Grain milling 10.7 fuelwood (251 t) .(kWh) 9524 lighting (8,213 kWh) ------------------------------------------

27.0 fuelwood BASE-LOAD USESKerosene 6283L lighting (20,696 kWh) biogas or producer

gas depending uponHuman NA Drinking 2.5 fuelwood resource available

(1,923 kWh) ----------------------------------------.Petrol/diesel NA mobile shaft power NA Biodiesel Mod. veg. Oils(MVO)Total = 785t dung, 137t herbaceous biomass, 405t wood (all existing) (Bottled methane)

Bioenergy Fantasy – Low carbon path (>25 yrs)Biomass supply potential exists

Endogenous energy security + ExportExternal technology dependency /inadequacy

Methane farming – sweet sorghum + biomethanation = 500%>energy than ethanol – closed cycle, high sustainability potential

Feed

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Yield

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efits

Rs

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Sweetsorghum 188 150 28125 43500 22617 56250 122367DOC 3 600 1800 3845 7500 1800 29345

Outputs from a typical methane farm (per acre basis): 4.6m3/hr, 27kWthermal, 10kWelecpower, steam, CNG, CDM, refrigeration, bio-compost, peripherals, cooking gas, etc.Sample potential projection by a Maharashtra biomethanation company for cane belt

PFR allows many soft biomass residues to be fermented to biogasTo ferment these soft biomass residues such as terrestrial weeds, agro-residues, aquatic residues, agro-processing wastes, food wastes, etc.

require different Fermenter designs – because their properties differ and cannot become slurries

A three zone fermentation could be done in simple plug-flow reactors with separate gas storage. These new biogas plant can

now reach every one in India, All rural families can build such plants. Not a single tree has to be cut for fire-wood

1

2

3

3-zone, PFR for multi-feeds

A 4 m3/day biogas plant built for a farm to use

Various biomass residues requires only 12kg dry material per day = 1.2t DM/family/year

Gas to be used by two families.

USW /food waste plant in Sri Lanka(CST-astra, IISc design, 2009)

How does the biology differ?

Centre for Sustainable Technologies, IISc, Bangalore

BMP and Decomposition propertiesCST, IISc, Bengaluru, India

Complex Organics

Higher Organic Acids

Acetic Acid Hydrogen

Methane

52%, NA, NA 24%, NA, NA

72%, 50%, 10% 28%, 50%, 90%

4%, NA, NA20%, NA, NA

76%,NA, NA

Cattle dung, food wastesand biomass

Complex Organics

Higher Organic Acids

Acetic Acid Hydrogen

Methane

52%, NA, NA 24%, NA, NA

72%, 50%, 10% 28%, 50%, 90%

4%, NA, NA20%, NA, NA

76%,NA, NA

Parabacteroides distasonis ATCC 8503

Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405

Syntrophomonas wolfei

Methanoculleus marisnigri JR1

Plant biomass, thermophilic, CSTR

Pseudomonas pertucinogena,Pseudomonas halodenitrificans

Bacillus thermoterrestris

Clostridium sp. FCB90-3

Methanoculleus thermophilicusMethanosarcina thermophila

Cow dung, thermophilic, CSTR

Lactobacillus parabrevis, Butyrivibrio sp.

Anaerobaculum mobile, Lactobacillus hammesii

Sporanaerobacter acetigenes, Syntrophococcus sucromutans, Pseudoramibacter alactolyticus

Methanobrevibacter sp., Methanoculleus bourgensis

Food waste, thermophilic, CSTR

Municipal Solid Wastes

This resembles segregated MSW collection “dry-waste” collection centres’ run for profitSegregated for market within 24h after receiptStocking designed for minimum quantity for lifting

This resembles segregated MSW collection “dry-waste” collection centres’ run for profitSegregated for market within 24h after receiptStocking designed for minimum quantity for lifting

Compost odour is “offensive” to residents and needs lots of leaves so change to “biomethanation”

Even this is economically viable - Evolution 2 next page

Make it more “economically attractive people should fight for /over garbage rights!!

Solid Wastes !! are a solid wasteConventional methods becoming increasingly expensive, untenable and unsustainable

Generation Collection transport processing Disposal

Economic Sustainability is itself poor as it stands today

Collection Costs Rs1500-3500/t,Transport Rs550-1800/t,Treatment Rs 300-500/tDisposal Rs 300-600/t (assuming free landfill site)

Need to offset these costs can we think of making this profitable? extracting energy, by-products, recycling, re-using, infrastructural inputs

Sector-wise USW composition

Source Quantity (t/d)

Fraction % (by weight)

Domestic 780 55Markets 210 15

Hotels and eatery 290 20Trade and commercial 85 6

Slums 20 1Street sweeping and parks 40 3

Source: Chanakya and Sharatchandra, 2005Although USW Generation today is about 3600t/d, the relative composition is still similar

waste

Data Source – KSPCB,2008; Chanakya and Sharatchandra, 2008

BITS-Goa CampusKitchen /Garden wastes1tpd gas for cooking

.

Balcony Biogas Plant (2kg/d, Rs 12-15,000 (2012), 120L/d)

Mild Steel, Epoxy Coated

Rs.6-9000/- FRP versions

Small Apartment Biogas Plant

10kg/d, 600L/d, Rs.12-15,000 (2011)

FRP with internal reinforcements.

The Treatment and Recycling system

Currently just about break even costs or about

profitable at ideal conditions. NEW AVENUES

FOR VALUE ADDITION REQUIRED TO SHOW SENSIBLE PROFITS

Treatment and Recycling potential (1tpd) system, 2014Quantity Recove

ry (%)Rate, Rs/kg

or grossRs/ton

INPUT Capital cost/d (investment) 1200 Rs 1200O, M&D/d 450 Rs 450

Total input 1650OUTPUT Biogas commercial 50kg/d 100 50/kg 2500

Paper 116 kg 75 15 1305Cloth, rubber, PVC, leather 10.1 kg 50 12 60Glass 14.3 kg 75 3 32Polythene /plastics 62.3 kg 75 12 561Metals 10 kg 90 25 225

Total output (net gain Rs @100% recovery) 3033 4683Output net gain Rs.@75% recovery) 2487 3033

The Treatment and Recycling system

Currently just about break even costs or marginally

profitable at ideal conditions. NEW AVENUES

FOR VALUE ADDITION REQUIRED TO SHOW SENSIBLE PROFITS

Making Biogas economic

Value Added (by)Products

Mushroom,Fibers (fabric, paper, ropes, etc)Vermi-compostPest repellent, MA Storage

CST-IISc Technology

Fresh husk (9t / ha)

30d SRT

Fiber (50%) =2.4t(Rs40/kg=Rs96,000)

Areca yield =6t fruit + 9t husk /ha/yrNuts value Rs.100,000 :husk fibre value Rs.96,000 (no process available today)CST Areca Biogas Plants recover 40% as fibre, 40% fermentables as biogas and 20% as compost

30% fermentables for biogas(1.4t/ha*400m3/t=640m3 =Rs5600)

Compost(0.93t/ha*3000=Rs2790) Pr

oces

s & E

cono

mics

ARE

CA

Anaerobic digestion of Banana leaf for fiber, biogas

and compost

CS

T-II

Sc

Tech

nolo

gy

Vascular bundles (fibre)

Cementing channel

a b c

Broken channel

•Decomposing banana leaf in CST biogas plant , 20% of TS is recovered as fiber, 75% as biogas and 5% as compost in 27days of fermentation•The pattern of banana leaf decomposition was followed by staining the digesting leaf at various intervals of fermentation and viewing under microscope- suggesting only cementing walls of vascular bundles being broken down and getting vascular bundles as intact fibers

CS

T-II

Sc

Tech

nolo

gy

Areca Husk

Banana leaf

CS

T-II

Sc

Tech

nolo

gy

Decomposition pattern with respect to fermentation time of banana leaf 5b. Areca husk

Problems, Challenges and New Tasks, etc.Feasible on large scale and small scale, sustainable mode of operation with zero energy input, Different agro-residues show different fermentation pattern in the same reactor conditions and needs to be standardized, Value added product like biogas and compost with zero emissions and no pollution

Small scale fiber extraction - value addition at family level (Banana Leaf)

Banana leaf(100kg/day)

Plug flow type biogas plant

Digested leaf

Biogas

Pest repellent

Raspador

Fibre4kg/day

120Rs/day

Compost

Profit and financial viability assessmentsCost of Biogas plant= 75,000

Cost of Rapador= 50,000

Annual Labor=5400

Annual power= 2160

Total investment per year=132560

Cost of fiber= 30 per Kg

Annual fiber production=1460 Kg

Total returns= 43800

Pay back period with interest: 4yrs

Non fiber matter

Separating Fibers-economics

Extent of Kill and residual air in MA storage of grains

• 1-2 fillings required and can make and excellent livelihood option with just a small balloon and pipe.

• Pests Tried• Sitophilus oryzae• Tribolium castaneum• Rhyzopertha dominica

Offset high costs

outcomes

Pest repellant uses

Liquid in the digester has pest repellant properties that needs to be tested locally. Best way to use needs to bd determined

locally

Mushroom cultivation on digested biomass

Mushroom cultivation is best done when there is a large content of leaf litter and agro wastes. Digested residue (top left) is

mixed with a bulking agent like rice straw (bottom left) and kept for mushroom production – typically oyster mushroom

(Pleurotes spp). Within 20-45d about 2-3kg mushroom /kg of dry mixture is produced whose value is about Rs.120.

Other Pleurotes varieties to be tested, other mushrooms to be tested, household technology /device to evolved.

Centre for Sustainable Technologies, IISc, Bangalore

RCST, IISc, Bengaluru, India

Spawning

Fruiting body

1st flush

Astra-CST PFR

Biogas Digester liquid spraying

Leachate

-- CURRENT PROCESS --With only biogas and compost-

LOW ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY Spraying digester liquid to mushroom increases economic sustainability

Digester residuePr

e-pa

cked

mus

hroo

m b

ags p

urch

ased

from

IIH

R-Ba

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re

Mushroom

Multi-Feed Biogas PlantsAgro-processing wastewatercoffee Industry Wastewater

Seasonal outputsMulti-feed capability neededSolid to liquid switching in 10d!!Independent operation

A 4X60m3 plug-flow based coffee bioreactor /biomass based biogas plant at Mallandur (below) and a 6X60m3 coffee bioreactor near Balehonnur,

Chikkamagalur, Karnataka. Gas production is large

and collected in gas bags (right)

Biogas plants for mixed Agro-processing waste-water

and soft biomass Mixed solid–liquid feed,

no gas drum

Each module Rs.4 Lakhs = 30m3 gas /d 40RsX15LX350d=210,000/yr

Gas given to Labour Lines = Trees savedFossil fuel substituted

Pollution prevented

Biogas fromEmerging Biomass

by-products

Micro-algal productionBiodiesel rejects – non-edibledeoiled cake, /

glycerol+methanol

(Chanakya et al., 2012b)

Sustainable Cultivation of Algae for Biofuel is possible at four locations in India

• Paddy fields as a multi‐tier crop (16.49Mha) • Saline brackish region of Kachch (Gujarat; 3.0Mha)• Urban domestic wastewater  (40billion L/d)• Fishery deficient seashores (3Mha).

(Chanakya et al., 2012b)

Mixed Consortia and WastewaterKill three birds with one stone

Algal-biofuel, COD/ BOD removal and Nutrient recyclingBellandur tank can provide 30,000L biofuel + 30,000m3 biogas daily

150 Million BGPs potential exists

How to make the program ‘profitable’?

Rapidity /critical mass

Biomethanation Technologies /byproducts

Rural Enterprises will market these for local and urban markets Rapid pay back.

ADD CDM BENEFITS, Highly “Enterprisable”!!!!

Agro-residues,Weeds, Straws

Leaf Litter, MSW(no dung needed)

Digester liquid

Biogas

Digested Residue

Grain Disinfestation, Auto-Fuel, Pico-power, CO2, Direct Fuel Cell

Pest Repellant, Algae-Pisciculture, Fertigation

Mushroom, Fiber (fabric-paper), Rooting Medium, Inoculant Carrier, BioFilm Support, Vermi-compost

(derivatives),

Biogas Plants(keystone technology

approach)

Pico-power (0.2-2kW)

Direct Fuel Cells, 10-200WVermi-compost

Lignin formaldehyde

Microbial Inoculant Carrier

Rooting medium

Mushrooms

Fiber for cloth

Compost

Fiber Paper, upholstery, etc.

CA storage /Fumigation

Biofilm Support

Aqua-culture

AutoGas (clean /compress)

Algal culture /N harvest

Pest repellant

Mushroom growth promoter

Compost is “offensive” to residents and needs lots of leaves so change to “biomethanation”

Even this is economically viable -Evolution 2 next page

Make it more “economically attractive people should fight for /over garbage rights!!

The cup is half-full - Facilitate methane collection system from grass-roots like milk collection systems.

• 50M HH 1m3/HH =4.2Bn Euro/yr upto 30Bn cap.• Recommend • 1.Setting milk collection type infrastructure on trial basis and franchise. • 2.Evolve policy cover• 3.Gather technologies for above option franchise to local enterprises.

•It will encourage grass-root level biomass use efficiency,

•HH fermentors• methane collection without

transport of wood ash, nutrients etc.

• HH level collection, Village level purification and

compression, tanker based. •Collection – vehicles also

run on methane!