title: Degradation efficiency of agricultural biogas plants--a full-scale study.
abstract: The degradation efficiency of 21 full-scale agricultural CSTR biogas plants was investigated. The residual methane potential of the digestion stages was determined in batch digestion tests (20.0 and 37.0 °C). The results of this study showed that the residual methane yield is significantly correlated to the HRT (r=-0.73). An almost complete degradation of the input substrates was achieved due to a HRT of more than 100 days (0.097±0.017 Nm(3)/kg VS). The feedstock characteristics have the largest impact to the degradation time. It was found that standard values of the methane yield are a helpful tool for evaluating the degradation efficiency. Adapting the HRT to the input materials is the key factor for an efficient degradation in biogas plants. No influence of digester series configuration to the VS degradation was found. The mean VS degradation rate in the total reactor systems was 78±7%.
authors.affiliation: University of Hohenheim, State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, Garbenstraße 9, 70 599 Stuttgart, Germany. Electronic address: Stephan.Ruile@uni-hohenheim.de.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruile
authors.affiliation: University of Hohenheim, State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, Garbenstraße 9, 70 599 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: University of Hohenheim, State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, Garbenstraße 9, 70 599 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mönch-Tegeder
authors.affiliation: University of Hohenheim, State Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Bioenergy, Garbenstraße 9, 70 599 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oechsner
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D056804:Biofuels; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000032:analysis; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012015:Reference Standards; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D008697:Methane
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Degradation efficiency; Full scale; Methane emission potential; Residual methane potential