In March, a German agricultural agency commissioned one among Weltec Biopower’s Kumac digestate processing methods. The gear separates strong matter from water, offering quite a lot of reported advantages, together with improved focus of vitamins (for simpler transportation and decreased fertilizer software value), because the agency explains right here.
That is the primary Kumac plant to go reside in Germany, along with the 16 which were constructed worldwide to this point. The agency, Agrar GmbH Reichenbach, based mostly within the Vogtland area of Saxony, specialises in dairy farming and the cultivation of feed crops. Along with the dairy farm with 1,400 cows and breeding cattle, the farmers have been working a biogas plant with {an electrical} output of 845 kW since 2006. The amenities generate as much as 72,000 tonnes of liquid manure and digestate per yr.
Daily, the biogas plant feeds 12,000 kWh of electrical energy into the general public grid. As well as, the plant provides as much as 500 kW of warmth to small customers and to the location of the previous Paracelsus Clinic in Reichenbach by way of a heating community. The plant’s most important enterprise consists of the supply of biogas by way of a 3.2-km uncooked biogas pipeline to the heating plant of Stadtwerke Reichenbach for the bottom load provide of flats and social amenities. The quantity of electrical energy generated every year corresponds to the annual consumption of round 6,000 non-public households.
The introduction of recent applied sciences and methods such because the Kumac system vastly contributes to the recycling of vitamins and the conversion of liquid manure into compost, fertiliser, animal bedding or biogas substrate, says Weltec Biopower. For the conversion, Kumac makes use of tried-and-tested processes which might be fine-tuned to one another.
Fertilizer enhance
“In Reichenbach, the output of the Kumac course of consists of round 25 % strong and 20 % liquid farm manure and 55 % dischargeable water,” defined Lars Bittermann, Managing Director of Agrar Reichenbach GmbH. “The ensuing strong matter and the nutrient focus are utilized as natural, high-quality fertiliser to our personal crops. On this approach, lengthy transport routes are prevented.”
“This closes an environment friendly materials circulate cycle, and the person areas of our portfolio interlock completely. From the cultivation of feed crops to dairy farming to the utilisation of the liquid manure within the biogas plant and the processing of digestate into fertiliser and water, all elements have their place.”
Dry matter discount
In step one of the liquid manure and digestate therapy, flocculants are added to the supply materials. These components guarantee flocculation of even the best elements, facilitating their separation from water. On the identical time, they contribute to the discount of odour emissions. After the fabric has been squeezed by way of a belt press by way of varied rollers towards a second, water-permeable belt, the strong materials can be utilized immediately as fertiliser, compost, animal bedding or biogas substrate with a dry matter content material of as much as 30 %.
Subsequently, the liquid part is handed by way of a tank wherein small particles and suspended solids are separated. Any remaining strong particles are eliminated via a high-quality filter. Within the subsequent step, the filtrate traverses a three-stage reverse osmosis course of to take away salts and vitamins. The ensuing liquid fertiliser is wealthy in nitrogen and merely accounts for one quarter of the unique quantity. Clear water accounts for the best share of the therapy merchandise and is at the moment discharged into the receiving water.
European funding
The scalable modular system can be utilized for portions from 70,000 tonnes of liquid manure or digestate a yr. Ought to the processing wants improve, a number of Kumac traces can simply be mixed. “The processing right here is nearly totally automated, which additionally minimises the quantity of personnel required”, stated Bittermann. Operators who resolve to arrange a system can obtain funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Improvement.
