Biowayste: bringing anaerobic digestion to mainstream business
The Northamptonshire-based company Biowayste Systems Limited – providers of the one of the UK's fastest anaerobic waste-to-energy processes – is now taking its system to mainstream business, in what has traditionally been a cost-prohibitive market sector.
The company's smaller reactor tanks and significantly faster Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process are doing well in the current market.
Traditionally, the AD process has been confined to industrial-scale installations with large reactor tanks – the waste being collected and brought to the plant for processing. The process generally takes approximately 30 days for bacteria to break down a single tank of waste.
For the 5000 small food manufacturers across the UK, this has been a costly exercise which has seen the majority look for alternative, cheaper and less environmentally-sound solutions. However, the Biowayste system, with compact and cheaper site installation, and the capacity to digest a tank of waste within 12 hours, is becoming a viable proposition.
In addition to the ecological and financial benefits of AD for the client, the fact that the processing plant is an on-site installation gives two other benefits to the user – the production of both heat and energy. Depending upon the specific environment, this could well allow the manufacturer to be completely self sufficient, heating and powering their business from the AD process plant.
A good example of how this technology can help a business and further, an entire community, can be found in the Scottish Island of Islay. Home to eight of Scotland's best known whisky distilleries (an industry which is known to be extremely energy intensive and a heavy producer of waste) will see the first two Biowayste installations at the Bruichladdich distillery this month.
Mark Reynier, owner of the distillery comments: 'There are many factors which have driven our decision, the overriding one being the whisky industry's growing concern over its product's carbon footprint, thought to be amongst the highest in the food and drink industry.'
It is also a fact that Islay has an antiquated power supply, based on a single cable from the mainland, with voltage fluctuations commonplace, especially when the eight distilleries are working. The green nature of the power generated and the heat capture makes a Biowayste installation lucrative, as each megawatt hour of power attracts two government renewables obligation certificates.
For further information on Biowayste, please call +44 (0) 1788 824744, email: enquiries@biowayste.com or visit biowayste.com
Arjes Raptor: a specialist in processing biomass
Arjes is a recycling company under the technical direction of industry insider Mr Norbert Hammel. The Arjes Raptor produces an even biomass product. With three Raptor models – the XL, the XLL and the XXL – there is a model for every purpose. The capacity range goes from 100 m³/h till 300 m³/h.
The major difference between the XL and XLL is the length of the shafts. Due to the a shaft length of 2.5 m, the XLL has a 50% higher capacity than the XL. All types of Arjes Raptor are available with diesel engine or electric motor.
This brand has become stable in the biomass sector within a short period of time. A major advantage is the new developed, mechanical and full reversible transmission. Due to the direct drive, energy savings are about 30%-40%. The machine's energy consumption is also low with 0.5 l/t diesel consumption or 3KWh/t electricity consumption.
Thanks to the new shaft configuration and special blade geometry the shredder achieves a consistent and very even final product of 100-150mm. The engine and the drive technology allow for a high capacity, plus the Raptors are very quiet at only 82dBA (diesel) or 70 dBA (electric).
For more info please visit arjes.de
Aikan technology from Solum: combined AD and composting
Aikan Technology from Solum is an integrated AD and composting solution for most kinds of organic waste with a dry matter content of +20 %. It can also treat MSW.
Aikan Technology features:
Today two plants are operating with Aikan Technology – one in Denmark since 2003. and one in Norway since 2005. The plants are handling between 18,000 and 30,000 tonnes of source-separated MSW annually. MSW source separation quality is generally poor, but the Aikan layout makes it possible to deal with the approximately 25% impurities.
The plants are producing on average 60-80m3 of biogas per tonne of organic waste – with a methane content of 70%-80%. Nutrient-rich compost output is on average 350 kg per tonne of organic waste.
For some time, it has not been possible to find sufficient quantities of MSW in the catchment areas to run the plants at full capacity. Instead Aikan takes in sewage sludge that needs to be sanitized. Evidently, this flexibility improves the economy. The CAPEX for a 25,000 tonne plant is between €4.5 million (US $6.26 million) and €9 million (US $12.5 million) depending on the country. The plants are operated by three to five people, or one person per 6000 tonnes of waste.
An Aikan plant is being planned in Thailand in cooperation with the Danish Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries.
Solum manages 200,000 tonnes of organic waste yearly. This is processed into a number of high-quality products such as organic fertilizer used in agriculture and growth media used in landscape gardening. Solum is Denmark's largest supplier of growth media and grass care products for golf courses, soccer stadiums, and the green sector in Denmark. Solum Gruppen was established in 1986 by Christian Christensen. The main office is located in the village of Vadsby 25 km west of Copenhagen. Solum Gruppen has activities in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Thailand. A staff of 35 generates an annual turnover of around €13 million (US $18 million).
As of January 2010 the large Danish Investment Fund LD Invest Equity invested €3 million (US $4.1 million) in Solum Gruppen in order to assist boosting the expansion of the Aikan Technology.
For more information on Solum, please visit solum.com
Hammel: biomass expertise
The Hammel primary shredder shreds extremely robust material, e.g. roots, trunk wood, green waste and other woods. The shredders are equipped with two slow speed shafts. The input material is ripped, torn and cut and discharges directly from the shafts onto the conveyor belt. When a hydraulic end pressure is reached when shredding extremely difficult material, the hydraulically-controlled shafts switch automatically into reverse. Therefore the shafts turn backwards, break the material, clean the material from the shaft and switch automatically in the forward mode.
Hammel primary shredders reach an end product size of approximately 150 mm. They are robust, low wear and easy to maintain. Depending on the selected type, mounted shafts and material you can reach an output of up to 200 tonne/hour.
Hammel screens are available for when an end product of less than 150mm is required. Each screen segment has an hydraulic individual drive, where the speed is adjustable. Each screen consists of one or two screen decks located on top of each other, where high output performance is guaranteed. The material is either put directly into the hopper of the screen or as pre-shredded material discharged from the primary shredder into the loading bunker.
The end product 20-120 mm is ideal for thermal treatment, the 0-20 mm can be used for composting.
The machines are offered as stationary version or as semi-mobile version on hook lift, which makes a quick change of location possible. The customer can choose between diesel or electric drive. The output of the whole plant ranges from 25 to 40 tonne/hour according to the required end size product. For this appliance we recommend our high-performance primary shredder VB 650 with best value for money.
For more information, please visit hammel.de
Willibald: new products for biomass
At last year's Entsorga-Enteco 2009 show new products from Willibald were exhibited, and many enquiries were received from the public.
The series UH (unihacker) sets standards in the treatment of biomass. The use of fixed tools (new cutting system) and the reduced rotor drive, lop, old forest, trunk wood (up to a diameter of 40 cm) as well as middle root wood can be shredded.
Fast changeable tools (knives) shred the material against comb-shaped counter cutters. It is ideal for the treatment of biomass at cogeneration power stations. Most notable is that all materials are getting shredded with the same tool.
Therefore, the machine does its maximum amount with minimum set-up time. For accurate sizing of the end product, an additional flap or optimal star screen (2 fractions) can be added. This series is powered by a MAN-Diesel engine.
The series EP 5500 Shark is especially suitable for the crushing of lops and yard waste as well as biowaste for composting or digesters. The crushing is done by small sickle-shaped flail and comb-shaped counter cutters, which do not even block when processing damp material. The flails can be changed easily with the hydraulically axle extractor (optional).
With this flail-system the daily maintenance of greasing the flail holders is removed, as well as the need to check the screws. The machine can be adjusted by remote control. The new system has an additional flap. Therefore, bark, pallet wood as well as old forest can be prepared with an optimal end graining. A hydraulic conveyer can make previous unreachable heights reachable which increases output especially on small compost sites.
For the end preparation of biomass a screen technique is used. Preferably a 3-fraction screening unit is attached, as only in one working step the suitable fraction gets reached.
The Kombi Separator is a 3-fraction screening unit. The raw fraction is separated over a star screen (speed is adjustable), the middle and fine fraction is selected via a shaker screen. This machine is offered in a hook-lift version. It can be offered with a crawling speed drive or a tandem-chassis. Our compact, powerful screening unit stands for high economy. The transport of several screen mats is without problems and also space saving. Through the easy change of the shaker screen mats, we can react quickly to customer specifications.
For further information, please visit willibald-gmbh.de
