A five-strong consortium led by The Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) comprising CNG Services Ltd, Lyvennet Renewable Energy, Wardell Armstrong LLP and Field Science Limited has secured grant funding from the government-backed Technology Strategy Board with a total budget of £880,000 over two years.
The Small Scale Anaerobic Digestion Technology (SSAD-TECH) platform provides underpinning process technology for the development of a series of commercial products for the local treatment of organic waste to produce energy (either as biogas, heat or electricity) and digestate, which can be considered as a non-fossil fuel derived fertiliser.
A part of the government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, CPI is home to existing anaerobic digestion development facilities and is ideally placed to coordinate, direct and deliver another successful project.The small scale AD system will be designed to generate income and power for farms and food manufacturers, and also resolve the issue of biomass waste disposal. The project’s aim is to reduce capital costs of a small AD plant, while delivering a process capable of accepting biomass feed streams, saving significant land fill tariffs and generating power, and/or revenue from the sale of power, for the end user.
The innovative aspects of the SSAD-TECH system include:
- The relatively small size (throughputs between 2500 and 5000 tonnes per annum)
- Small footprint, enabling stand alone integration into existing sites and facilities
- Modular build configuration, designed to meet the needs of the agricultural and food manufacturing sectors
- Low capital cost (£350-500,000)
- Short payback period (3-6 years)
- Commercially viable plant at a small scale, 60-150kWe
- Next generation digester technology, optimized for digester stability and performance efficiency.
Source: The Centre for Process Innovation Ltd
Link: http://www.uk-cpi.com/3_pages/media-centre/news/2012/anaerobic-digestion-speed.html