“10% more yield would be nice,” a biogas plant operator wrote on Facebook (in a biogas group).
“Nothing easier than that,” I thought.
According to KTBL, biogas plants in Germany use only 65% of the biogas potential. That’s what the specialist author Christian Dany writes in Sonne, Wind & Wärme.
That is the average. And there are biogas plant operators who get significantly more out. So there must also be some who get significantly less. That’s the logic of an average.
“10% more” would then be a yield of 71.5%. There is still room for improvement.
How to get 10% more – in just 3 steps and 3 months
Step 1: Performance check
How does your biogas yield compare to the KTBL standard?
That is the starting point.
If you need an Excel file to work it out, send an email to w.danner@snow-leopard-projects.com
Or send us your current data and we will calculate it for you.
Step 2: Trace elements must be right
If a current fatty acid analysis shows less than 500 mg/l acetic acid equivalent, your trace elements are fine.
The biology is working.
If the acetic acid equivalent is above 500 mg/l, you should have a trace element analysis done. But not the standard aqua regia digestion. That tells you nothing. It has to be an analysis of the biologically available trace elements.
Not many labs do this. If you need an address, send an email to w.danner@snow-leopard-projects.com
If you’re not sure what the acetic acid equivalent is, I explain it in this video:
Step 3: Raise the temperatures in the biogas plant
Raise the temperature in the biogas plant in small steps so that the biology can adapt.
A maximum of 1 °C per week.
If you are currently running at 43 °C and want to go up to 55 °C, that will take at least 12 weeks, or 3 months.
Patience is key.
And if you want more than 10% additional biogas yield, send me an email and we’ll arrange a phone call.
