title: Self-heating of anaerobic digesters using energy crops.
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.affiliation: BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Department for Agrobiotechnology, IFA-TulIn, Institute for Environmental Biotechnology, Konrad Lorenz Str. 20, 3430 Tulln, Austria. harald.lindorfer@boku.ac.at
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lindorfer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kirchmayr
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000378:metabolism*; D019149:Bioreactors; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000382:microbiology*; D013213:Starch / Q000378:metabolism; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D013213:Starch