Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic digestion is a biological process that produces a gas composed principally of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) otherwise known as biogas. These gases are produced from wastes such as livestock manure, food processing waste and other organic materials.

Anaerobic processes occur both in nature and in a controlled environment like a biogas industrial plant. Organic waste such as food wastes, brewer’s grain and manure are combined in an airtight container, called a digester, with methanophilic bacteria to catalyze the digestion process. Depending on the waste feedstock, operating temperature and system design, the resulting biogas could contain from 55 to 75 per cent pure methane. State-of-the-art systems can produce biogas that is more than 95 per cent pure methane.

ZWES has selected EEC Energy as its partner in this important field. EEC has developed a highly efficient small-scale, modular and scalable thermophilic design that can produce very high quantities of useable biogas by heating and agitating it using a highly effective proprietary process. It is intended to use this digester for converting all types of wet organic waste to power and thermal energy, which is a much more efficient use of the resource than composting or mesophilic (self-heated) anaerobic digestion. Thermophilic AD also kills virtually all pathogens, making it both a safe and productive process for energy production and cogeneration.

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