BIOMETHANE AS A SOURCE OF CLEAN ENERGY AND A MEASURE FOR EFFECTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT- A Drive from Research to Commercialization

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Introduction•Why Biomethane?• Research Work on Biomethanation• Pilot Activities for biomethane Production and Tests•Demonstration Plant• Commercialization Drive• Challenges and Way forward

INTRODUCTION

• Biomethane important source of renewable energy, has high potential of diverting tons of waste from landfill/dumpsites

• Biomethane for heating and electricity generation

• Residual waste could be composted and use as fertilizer

•Ghana has high potential but less invested

•Attention more on liquid waste

WHY BIOMETHANE?

Poor waste management practices leading to worsening Environmental quality; a concern to health and the environment

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Waste generation keep increasing

§ Average generation rate of municipal solid waste (MSW)high in regional capitals (0.51 kg/person/day) andmetropolitan areas (0.63 kg/person/day)

§ The waste generation rate of 0.47 kg/person/daywould double in the next 30 years to 1.0kg/person/day amounting to 65,254 tons/day

Miezah et al., 2015

WHY BIOMETHANE?

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Average generation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable MSW in Ghana (Miezah, 2014)

§ MSW generated from households in Ghana amounted to 12,710 tons per day;Biodegradable fractions were 8,600 tons per day

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Percentage fraction of household waste in Ghana (Miezah, 2014)

Highest Organic/putrescible fraction of MSW stream by weight

WHY BIOMETHANE?

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Composition (% DM) BMSW

DM from fieldDM analysis based

55.8 (2.8)96.7 (1.7)

Glucan 38.7 (1.1)

Xylan 6.8 (0.4)Arabinan 1.5 (0.1)Klason Lignin 10.1 (1.3)

Ash 7.6 (0.0)

Ethanol Extractives 13.6 (0.2)

Residues 21.8

Chemical composition of biodegradable wastes

High carbon-based materials and moisture favourable for anaerobic digestion (AD)

Miezah et al., 2017

FROM RESEARCH TO COMMERCIALIZATION

RESEARCH PILOT DEMONSTRATE COMMERCIALIZATION

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Ideally 6 year plan, Research started from 2015, commercialization expected by 2021

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Biomethane potential (BMP) experiment GC for measuring methane component of biogas

RESEARCH STAGE

Needed parameters Unit Accepted Level Experimental Value

Averages

Moisture Content % Above 30 44 (2.1)Volatile solid % Above 75 of dry

matter85

pH 6.8-8.0 4.5 adjusted to 7.8Chemical oxygen demand (COD)

mg/L Above 10,000 78,000 (200)

Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)

mg/L Above 5,000 56,000 (180)

Biogas Yield L/kg VS Above 150 369 (17)Methane fraction of Biogas

% Above 45 65 (1.3)

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RESEARCH

• Started since 2015

• Research stage will continue through to the commercialization stage

• Several input from research institutions/academia through collaboration, sponsorship, etc

PILOT

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Double stage digester for digestion of organic waste Residence time 15 days

Flame Test for biomethane produced

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Parameters Unit YieldBiogas yield L/ kg VS 321 (29.7)

L/kg COD 510 (17)L/kg BOD 761 (27)

Average Methane Composition % 65.8 (1.7)

Biomethane yield L CH4/ kg VS 221.2 (18.1)

L CH4/kg COD 335.6 (10.5)L CH4/kg BOD 500.7 (17.5)

Average CO2 % 19.6 (4.8)Average O2 % 7.1 (1.3)Others % 7.5 (0.7)

PILOT

Residual waste and effluent utilization

Waste residues being composted Using the effluent to water lettuce on the field

PILOT

Improving on Yield• Co-digestion- Liquid waste and MSWVarying feedstock combinations

• System optimization study including Modelling: Optimum conditioning

• Incorporating optimized conditions into demonstration plant

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DEMONSTRATION PLANT

1 ton of waste per day treatment facility would be considered

COMMERCIALIZATION STAGE

Considering a high capacity plant, 1000 to 1500 tons of waste.

CHALLENGES• Funding arrangement: Getting investors to contribute

• Capital cost repayment and meeting operational cost

• Technical solutions: leakages, optimization, processing default

• Low promotional drive: Low commitment on national scale

WAY FORWARD• Renewable energy fund should have investment component. • Fee for tipping and tariff feeding should consider paying for

capital investment and operation cost.• Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement key to success

of commercial biomethane production.• The long drive from “research to pilot to demonstration to

commercialization” envisage corrections in any default. • Renewable energy from Biomass or Waste should be

promoted higher than any other source- health reason and environmental consideration.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• Funding support for research by DANIDA

• Research support from KNUST

• Support from RI&D department Zoomlion

THANK YOU