Transcript What is Anaerobic Digestion?

Tom Hintz – Seahold LLC
UNC Charlotte IDEAS Center
Bioenergy Symposium
April 9, 2013
[email protected]
http://www.seahold.com
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Thomas Hintz, is the senior/managing partner at SeaHold LLC.
Tom is a seasoned business executive with a solid background of
achievements in profit generation, product/project development.
Tom graduated from Indiana University in 1983. Tom’s main
focus is “Renewable Energy” in California, working with farmers,
private industry, universities, innovative entrepreneurs, and
government agencies. Tom’s greatest strengths are the
conceptualization, visualization and implementation of “waste to
energy” projects that yield significant revenue, while maximizing
environmentally sound practices. Tom is recognized for his
expertise in the field, and regularly advises local, regional and
state regulatory agencies and commissions that govern
“Renewable Energy” projects.
Tom specializes in making projects happen; from the “pie in the
sky” conceptual design through specific, detailed engineering; to
the commissioning and operations of alternative energy facilities
and the eventual interconnection to natural gas and electrical
distribution networks. Tom knows the value of buying and selling
energy credits.
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
Anaerobic Digestion is simply the controlled
breakdown of organic matter without air, used to
manage waste and/or to release energy. It is a
biological process that produces an energy-rich
biogas, principally composed of methane (CH4)
and carbon dioxide (CO2), which can be used as
a fuel.
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Covered
Lagoon
Vessel
Complete Mix
Round/square
Deep (>3m) Lagoon in/above ground
tank
Plug Flow
Fixed Film
Rectangular,
in-ground tank
Above-ground
tank,
plastic fill
Tech Level
Low
Med
Low
Med
Heating
No
Yes
Yes
No
Solids
<3%
3-10%
11-13%
3%
Solids Type
Fine
Coarse
Coarse
v. Fine
Collection
Flush
Flush / scrape
Scrape
Flush
HRT (days)
40-60
15+
15+
2-3
Temperate & Warm
All
All
Temperate &
Warm
Climates
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Fiscalini
Farms
Fiscalini
Farms
Modesto, CA
Modesto,
Biogas
Energy,CA
Inc.
Biogas Energy, Inc.
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Joseph Farms - Cottonwood Dairy
Atwater, CA
Williams Engineering Design
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Qualco Energy
Tulalip, WA
Andgar
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The basic fixed-film digester design consists of a tank
filled with plastic media on which a consortia of bacteria
attach and grow as a slime layer or biofilm hence the
name fixed-film digester. The media is fully submerged
and wastewater flow can be in either the up-flow or
down-flow mode. As the wastewater passes through the
media-filled reactor, the attached and suspended
anaerobic biomass convert both soluble and particulate
organic matter in the wastewater to biogas, a mixture of
mostly methane and carbon dioxide
Dairy Research Unit (DRU)
at the University of Florida
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
High Solids Digesters
◦ Best used for mixed feedstock applications (food waste,
animal manure, ethanol production byproducts)
◦ Smaller real-estate footprint and feedstock flexibility
Gas Upgrading
CH P
CN G Gas Station/
Pipeline
Electric Energy
Thermal Energy
Final Storage/
Post Digester
Main Digester
Pump
Separator
Liquid Soil
Amendment
Special thanks to Kyle Goehring Eisemann
D ige st a t e So lid s
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Solid Soil
Amendment
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
High Rate – Zero Waste
◦ 90%+ conversion of feedstock to energy, low turn-around
time (4 days); produces organic fertilizer and CLEAN
WATER as by-products
Special thanks to Joe Burke - Novus
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
Financial incentives can help offset the cost of anaerobic
digestion projects
Examples
◦ State Of North Carolina - Renewable Energy Tax Credit
◦ 35% up to $2.5 million per installation - no system sizing
requirement
◦ Federal - Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit
◦ Electricity produced from anaerobic digesters - .011 per kWHminimum sizing 150 kW
Extensive information can be found at http://www.dsireusa.org
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Reason For Failure
Small Footprint - only 4Strategy
day HRT
For Success
• Operators did not have the skills or the time required to keep a
marginal system operating.
•Do your homework, get the training and skills needed for long term
success
90%+ Conversion to energy
•The biggest key to success of a project is to find and implement the
• Developer selected digester systems that were not compatible with
facility operations.
technology solution that not only fits with the operational strategy of the
facility, but that the technology solution doesn’t DISRUPT the operations
of the facility
Ability to ‘Test Drive a Plant’
•“One Size Fits All” does not work for biogas solutions.
•Some designer/builders sold “cookie cutter” designs to operators
• The systems became too expensive to maintain and repair because of
poor system design.
•“Proprietary” and “One Of A Kind” technology solutions are not
necessarily the best investments
• Operators did not receive adequate training and technical support for
their systems.
•Do your homework, get the training and skills
• There were no financial returns of the system or returns diminished
over time
•“Financial Success” isn’t necessarily measured on the amount of
“income” a system generates; look to the long term returns
(environmental, etc) that will assist
Creation of Organic Fertilizer
Produce Clean Water for reuse
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Kyle Goehring - EISENMANN Corporation
Joe Burke – Novus Energy
Jeff Zierdt – Novus Energy
Brian Gannon – Biogas Energy Incorporated
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23551 Rose Quartz Drive
Perris, CA 92570
951-943-9697
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