FeBio: R&D of novel 75 kWel AD plant for difficult agricultural residues: horse manure, straw and green waste

Abstract

Substrates for biogas production will be provided mainly by residues in future. Without a complex and expensive pre-treatment, solid residues with dry matter (DM) content higher than 30%, e.g. horse manure, husk, grass or straw can only be used in small quantities in a wet anaerobic digestion (AD) plant to maintain a DM content of lower than 15%. Especially for small quantities of dry and solid residues, typical for rural and agricultural areas, the application of small-scale dry AD-plants with a maximum capacity of 75 kWel can be a technical smart solution. For solid residues, the dry AD process in combination with a Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP)is technically favourable, as it works with DM content higher than 20% and provides electricity. The objective of the „FeBio“project (running time are 4 years, from 2020 – 2023 and funded by the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) within the 7th Energy Research Programme) is the development of a small-scale dry AD plant for solid and stackable residues with low investment costs of 4,000 - 6,000 €/kWel and electricity generation costs of lower than 18 €-Cents/kWhel.