In March, a German agricultural agency commissioned certainly one of Weltec Biopower’s Kumac digestate processing techniques. The gear separates strong matter from water, offering a variety of reported advantages, together with improved focus of vitamins (for simpler transportation and decreased fertilizer utility price), because the agency explains right here.
That is the primary Kumac plant to go stay in Germany, along with the 16 which were constructed worldwide so far. 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.
Every single day, 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 shoppers and to the location of the previous Paracelsus Clinic in Reichenbach by way of a heating community. The plant’s 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 annually corresponds to the annual consumption of round 6,000 non-public households.
The introduction of recent applied sciences and techniques such because the Kumac system tremendously 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 increase
“In Reichenbach, the output of the Kumac process consists of around 25 percent solid and 20 percent liquid farm manure and 55 percent dischargeable water,” defined Lars Bittermann, Managing Director of Agrar Reichenbach GmbH. “The resulting solid matter and the nutrient concentrate are applied as organic, high-quality fertiliser to our own crops. In this way, long transport routes are avoided.”
“This closes an efficient material flow cycle, and the individual areas of our portfolio interlock perfectly. From the cultivation of feed crops to dairy farming to the utilisation of the liquid manure in the biogas plant and the processing of digestate into fertiliser and water, all components 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 parts, facilitating their separation from water. On the identical time, they contribute to the discount of odour emissions. After the fabric has been squeezed via a belt press by way of numerous rollers in opposition to 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 p.c.
Subsequently, the liquid section is handed via a tank during which small particles and suspended solids are separated. Any remaining strong particles are eliminated by way of a wonderful 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 present 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 here is almost fully automated, which also minimises the amount of personnel required”, mentioned Bittermann. Operators who resolve to arrange a system can obtain funding from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Improvement.
