REC BIOENERGY

BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY
Information from REC BIOENERGY
TASK Energy from Slaughterhouse

Biogas from slaughterhouse waste:

Towards an energy self-sufficient industry
SUMMARY
Usingthebiogasfromanimalbyproducts(ABP)

Digestion,theKMCslaughterfacilitycancover
itsheatdemandandelectricityrequirements.

Thecombinedslaughterhouse/biogasplantcan
processallanimalbyproductswhichmaynotbe
furtherutilizedsuchasblood,hindgut,stomach
contentandfatscrubbercontent.Electricity
producedfrombiogascanbefedintothenational
powergridandtheheatdeliveredtotheslaughteringfacility.Photo1:Biogasplant
INTRODUCTION
In accordance with the fast growing population,
thedemandforenergyandthedischargeofwaste
Anaerobic digestion of slaughterhouse wastes
(animal by-products).
areincreasingdaybyday.Toovercometheenergy
80% of the heat demand in the slaughterhouse
crisis, alternative energy sources are the only
is covered by the biogas driven CHP.
A hot water storage tank uncouples heat supply
remedy. Generation of energy from waste is
from heat production.
beneficialinmanyways.Itismostsuitableforeco
In combination with geothermal energy the complete
heat demand of the slaughterhouse is covered by
friendly waste disposal and also for energy
renewable energy.
generation.
Reduction of disposal costs.
There are two waste treatment systems. One is
Production of a valuable fertilizer.
centralized and the other is decentralized. In
decentralized waste treatment system, anaerobic
biomethanation/biogastechnologyiscommonlyacceptable.Thistechnologyhelpstotreattheorganic
wastehygienicallyandvaluablerenewableenergyandorganicfertilizercanbeproduced.

BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY Information from REC BIOENERGY

TASK Energy from Slaughterhouse

Thebiogastechnologyenablesonetoproducebioenergyinthehouseholdsbytreatingthewastes
generatedinthehouses.Thistechnologyisalsomadeapplicablefortreatingthewastesproducedfrom
publicplaceslikemarkets,slaughterhouses,hotels,conventsetcandforgeneratingelectricitywithout
causinganypollutiontotheatmosphere.

BIOMETHANISATIONTECHNOLOGY
BiomethanisationisauniversallyacceptedandproventechnologyforBioenergygenerationfrombio
wastes.Itisverysimpleanduserfriendly.Throughtheadoptionofbiomethanisationtechnologyall
degradablewastescanbetreatedwiththehelpofdifferenttypesofanaerobicbacteria/microbesina
concealedchamber/digester.Treatedbiomaterials,comingoutfromthedigesterintheformofliquid
orsolidcanbeusedasaverygoodorganicfertilizer
BIOPOWERGENERATION
Biogastechnology,thegenerationofacombustiblegasfromanaerobic
biomassdigestionisawellknowntechnology.Therearealreadymillions
ofbiogasplantsinoperationthroughouttheworld.

Whereasusingthegasfordirectcombustioninhouseholdstovesorgas
lampsiscommon,producingelectricityfrombiogasisstillrelativelyrare
inmostdevelopingcountries.

Theoretically,biogascanbeconverteddirectlyintoelectricityusinga
fuelcell.However,verycleangasandanexpensivefuelcellisnecessary
forthisprocess.Thisisthereforestillamatterforresearchandis
currentlynotapracticaloption

Today,experienceoftheuseofcombustionmotorstoproduceelectricityfrombiogasisextensive;this
canberegardedasaprovenstandardtechnology.
Over4,000biogasplantswithinternalcombustionmotorsarein
operationinGermany.However,ithastakenlengthyanddetermined
efforttomakethistechnologyasdurableandreliableasitistoday.

Thetechnologiesofanaerobicfermentationandelectricitygeneration
fromtheresultingbiogashavebeenwellknownforalongtime.Such
particularlyforsanitationplantshavebeeninoperationformanyyears
purposes.

InKenya,Tanzaniaandneighbouringcountries,biogasistraditionally
usedinsmallandverysmallinstallationsforprovidinghouseholdenergy
andforsupplyingsocialinstitutionswithgasasfuelforcooking,heatingandlighting.WithGTZ,GVEP,
HIVOSSNVsupport,severalthousandsmallandmediumsizeplantshavebeeninstalledfrom1983on.
However,potentialsforindustrialbiogasandelectricitygenerationinEastAfricaremainlargely
untapped.ThisisdespitetheneedtoscaleupelectricitygenerationinKenyatobridgethehuge
productiondemandgap.

BIOGAS
TECHNOLOGY Information from REC BIOENERGY

TASK
Energy from Slaughterhouse

KenyaMeatCommission

Usingthebiogasfromanimalbyproducts(ABP)Digestion,theKMCslaughterfacilitycancoveritsheat
demandandelectricityrequirements.
KenyaMeatCommissionhugeslaughtercapacityof1,000largeanimalsperdayand1,500smallstocks
perdayinNairobiproducesahugeamountofwaste andbyproductswhichmaynotbefurtherutilized
suchasblood,hindgut,stomachcontentandfatscrubbercontent.
AproposedcombinedfeedstockbiogasplantcanproduceElectricityandHeatEnergy.
The produced Electricity from biogas
can be fed into the national power
grid and the heat delivered to the
slaughteringfacility.
TheProposal
In pursuit of aforementioned
opportunities, REC is desirous to
partner with you in an equal
opportunity endeavour to produce
biogasfromslaughterwastesoasto
reducetoanextentthestresson
resourcesandecologicalcrisisthatis
unfoldingintheregionduetoglobal
warming.
The development of affordable,
inexhaustible and clean energy
technologies will have huge longer
term benefits. It will increase
countries energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import
independent resource, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate
change,andkeepfossilfuelpriceslowerthanotherwise.

Thiswillalsogotowardsanenergyselfsufficientindustry.
Pleasecontacttheundersignedforfurthercorroborationonthisarea.
Mr. Patrick Thimba CEO -Africa Bio
Tel +254 (0)203559151
Cel+254 722 710 526
ceo@africabio.co.ke
Director Renewable Energy Consortium
Mr. Charles Kimani MD-Rokim group
Tel +254 (0) 2073814
Cel+254 719 281900
charles@rokimgroup.co.ke
Director Renewable Energy Consortium

BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY Information from REC BIOENERGY

TASK Energy from Slaughterhouse

ELECTRICITYFROMBIOGAS
CaseStudy
AsignificantchancetoutilizebiomassinKenyaistheexploitationofbiogasproducedinthebiological
treatmentplantsinwhichapartoftheproducedbiogasisusedtocoverheatingrequirementsduring
thebiologicaltreatmentprocessesandanotherisusedintheCHPplant.

OnesuchexampleistheCHPplantonbiogasinthewastewatertreatmentplantPsyttaleiaservingthe
capital city of Athens both situated on a small island located at 1500 m distance from the mainland
coastline.Thebiogasisbeingproducedfromthesludgedigestersatadailyrateof72000Nm/dayand
canbeusedforproducing64GWhofusefulenergyperyear.
The project includes biogas burning in specially designed turbines for electricity production, and the
associatedheatcomingfromthefluegasandthecoolingwatercircuitoftheturbineswhichwillbeused
forsludgeheating(insidethedigesters)anddrying(ofthefinalproduct).
The produced electrical energy will be consumed for satisfying the site consumption, and any surplus
energywillbesolddirectlytothegrid.

Results
The environmental benefits arising from the realization of this project are significant in terms of air
emission reduction. The daily methane (CH4) emissions will be reduced from 20 000 Nm to 0,2 Nm,
hydrocarbonsemissionsfrom120Nmto0,2Nmwhencarbonmonoxide(CO)willbeheldbelow650
mg/m and NOx below 500 mg/ m. In addition to the reduced or avoided air emissions a significant
reductionofsolidwastesvolumewillberealizedasdewateringandsludgedryingwillhelpinreducingits
volumebyafactorof0,8.

Lessonslearnedandrepeatability
During the design and construction phase a number of issues have been raised which are briefly
described below. At the early stages of the project significant issues arose as this was the first power
plant of that kind ever installed in Greece and in addition the nominal power output was quite
significant.ThesolutiongivenwastosendEYDAPpersonnelabroadtoUKandDenmarkwheretheyhad
accumulatedexperiencefromexistingsimilartypepowerplants.Thelocationofthepowerplantandthe
wastewatertreatmentfacilityisquiteuniqueastheyarebothsituatedonasmallislandlocatedat1500
mdistancefromthemainlandcoastline.Althoughpartoftheelectricalenergyproductionisconsumed
locallyforthesiteneeds,theenergysurplus,whichisasignificantpartoftheoverallproduction,issold
to the grid. This itself created a significant technical barrier, which had to be overcome namely the
construction of an underwater cable connecting the island with the grid at the mainland and the
associatedcontrolsystem.AunderwatercableconnectionwasconstructedwithanXLPinsulated355
cable and a second one 3x 120 with paper insulation. Initiallya smallbuilding was constructed on the
island containing the hardware necessary for system control, and in addition for coupling and
synchronizingthegenerationfacilitywiththegrid.AtalaterstagePPC(thePublicPowerCompanywhich
wasatthattimethegridsoleownerandsupervisor)requestedasecondsimilarfacilitytobeconstructed
atthemainland;arequest,whichwasalsofulfilledfromEYDAP.PPCalsoconstructedacableconnection
between a nearby combinedcycle natural gas fed power plant and the control centre located at the
mainlandwhichmadepossibletocontrolthewholeislandbasedgenerationsystemfromdistance(i.e.
thesystemisnowfullyautomatedandunmanned).