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Lindorfer, H; Braun, R; Kirchmayr, R; .
(2006): Self-heating of anaerobic digesters using energy crops.
Water Sci Technol. 2006; 53(8):159-166 FullText FullText_BOKU

Abstract:: With the increasing application of energy crops in agricultural biogas plants and increasing digester volumes, the phenomenon of self-heating in anaerobic digesters appeared in some cases. Until now this development was just known from aerobic systems. To obtain an idea of the thermodynamics inside an anaerobic digester, a detailed analysis of all heat fluxes in a full-scale agricultural biogas plant was carried out. Several experiments were realised to quantify the influences of different internal and external energy sources. To estimate the impact of self-heating in anaerobic systems, data of other full-scale agricultural biogas plants in Austria were collected. Alternatives to the cooling of the digesters are discussed based on individual experiences of several plants. A connection between carbohydrate-rich substrates, especially with high starch contents, and the self-heating could be shown. From the results it can be assumed that the anaerobic digestion of most energy crops is exothermic, which is in contrast to the current thermodynamic belief.
Authors BOKU Wien:: Braun Rudolf; Kirchmayr Roland
Find related publications in this database (using NML MeSH Indexing): Anaerobiosis;Bacteria, Anaerobic/metabolism*;Bioreactors*;Carbohydrate Metabolism;Crops, Agricultural/microbiology*;Starch/metabolism;Thermodynamics*;
Find related publications in this database (Keywords): anaerobic digestion; digester thermodynamics; energy crops; heat fluxes; self-heating