Wydajność procesu fermentacji metanowej w biogazowniach rolniczych
Authors: Pilarski Krzysztof 
Published: March 2024

The literature of the subject confirms that the majority of research mostly reflects laboratory conditions. It concerns mostly the amount of acquired biomass, its composition from the investigated substrate along with its basic physical and chemical parameters. The research does not analyse the biogas installation operation considering biomass conversion into biogas (biomethane) which translates directly to an economic and ecological effect of biogas plant in Poland. Moreover, there is no literature data to which extent the amount of biogas (methane) acquired from substrate in a laboratory is reflected in installations in a technical scale. Aim of study. The study was undertaken which aim was to analyse and assess a relation between methane fermentation efficiency obtained in a technical scale and under laboratory conditions. For comparing the productivity of the industrial installation to the laboratory one, the biochemical methanogenic potential correction coefficient (BMPCC), which had not been applied before, was introduced. Material and methodology. The research was conducted under laboratory conditions and in three selected plants varying in a fermenter structure, which affected directly methane fermentation efficiency. In the research the effect of the following factors was analysed: the type and amount of given substrate, process temperature, time of stirring substrate inside fermenters, the effect of feed concentration expressed in dry residue (dry mass) on stirrer load, daily fermenter load and hydraulic retention time. In the paper, the biochemical methanogenic potential of particular substrate obtained in a laboratory as well as the methane amount obtained from the same substrate in technical scale were analysed. The analysis applied the author’s original solution, which regarded introducing biochemical methanogenic potential correction coefficient. The parameter made it possible to determine and indicate the most efficient biogas installation processing organic biomass into methane concerning laboratory conditions. Results and conclusions. The obtained results show that the acquired methanogenic biochemical potential in a laboratory differs from the values obtained in a technical scale. The differences in mass of methane from a tonne of fresh substrate mass fluctuate from 3% to even 20%. The introduction of the biochemical methanogenic potential correction coefficient (BMPCC) resulted in indicating to which extent (percentage) biomass in a technical scale is not processed into methane in comparison to laboratory conditions. In order to achieve that, the rudimentary chemical formulas were employed, which were selected on the basis of the chemical composition. The amount of the methane obtained from particular substrate in the installation A was similar to the amount gained in laboratory conditions. Higher values of the biochemical methanogenic potential correction coefficient were obtained in the installation C, which means weaker biomass conversion into methane in a technical scale comparing to laboratory conditions whereas for the biogas plant B, the correction coefficient proved to be the highest and for example for maize silage it was 20%, which implies the amount of methane gained from the substrate in a technical scale being lower by 20% comparing to laboratory conditions. The suggested biochemical methanogenic potential correction coefficient may be a tool applied to diagnose a biogas installation in a selected time interval as well as it can be used for verification of biochemical methanogenic potential of particular substrate in comparison to laboratory research.