Environment-friendly Biogas Residue Treatment

Introduction of Anaerobic Digestion Digestate

Anaerobic digestion produces two main products: digestate and biogas. Anaerobic digestion
(AD) digestate, also called biogas residue (slurry and dregs), is a nutrient-rich biofertiliser, being
the organic product of microbial fermentation after producing biogas in methane-generating. All
kinds of organic residues and waste, such as chicken dung, energy grasses, vegetable waste, malt
husks, food waste, kitchen waste, Corn silage, grass silage, pig liquid manure, cattle liquid
manure, old cooking oil, chip fat, flotation sludge, glycerin, slaughterhouse waste, could be the
input materials of biogas plant, therefore, biogas residue is rich in organic matters, NPK
elements, humic acids, vitamin, auxin and gibberellin, which are essential for optimal crop
yields, making them high-grade bio fertilizers. It can well be used in agriculture to conserve and
recycle nutrients and to reduce waste discharge and use of chemical fertilizers.

Nutrient value of digestate

As we know, numerous different input substrates could be used as input materials of the biogas
plant. Those materials varies with different nutrients. Energy crops, crop residues, waste paper,
grass clippings, leftover food, sewage generally have greater DM content and more favourable
nutrient composition than manure slurries, resulting in a more concentrated and valuable
digestate.

As the nutrient profile and fertilizer value of AD digestate is dependent on the feed-stock
composition, nutrient content of digestate varies in accordance with different feedstock. The
broken-down of feedstock biomass reduces the DM concentration of most AD feed-stocks by
50% to 75% the nutrient content of most macro and micronutrients is preserved.
Utilization of digestate

Seeing from the above picture: the solid or semi-solid material left over after AD is called
digestate, while liquid exiting from the digester is called effluent. In some jurisdictions,
digestate can be used directly, land-applied as fertilizer. In North America, it is more
common to compost difestate or dry it for use as a fertilizer.

The treatment of the digestate to further increase its value and feasibility of transportation is
necessary for governments and essential for environment. Because of its high concentration of
nutrients, biogas residues are mostly used as agricultural fertilizer. A field experiment, the
purpose of which is comparing the fertilizing effect of compost with that of biogas residues from
source separated household waste, had suggested that application of biogas residue resulted in
higher yield and grain quality than compost.
Except for the application in agriculture, biogas residue can also be utilized as potting medium or
a substrate for plants in horticulture. But directly application may have negative effects on
growth, natural or artificial additives should be added into biogas residues to increase plant
productivity in horticulture. Fermentation residues can also be treated to produce compost and
liquid fertilizer separately. Here, I would like to introduce How to make biogas residue quality
bio-fertilizer pellets.

Biogas Residue Fertilizer Making Technology

Biogas residues consists of Biogas dregs and biogas slurry. To make biogas fertilizer, we should
separate dregs out first. With the utilization of screw press machine, due to high fibre structure of
digestate, it is extruded into dry fiber-based substance.
The digestate is pumped to screw press machine which mechanically separates the digested
materials into solids and liquids. The reclaimed liquids are captured and can be reused to
manufacture liquid fertilizer. The digested solids are typically used as quality compost. As
approximately 85% of the biological activity has been completed in the AD phase, the fiber
solids can be applied as bio-fertilizer directly, or granulated into organic fertilizer granules.
Before I introduce you with the granules making technology, I would like to talk about 3 benefits
of making biogas dregs into organic fertilizer granules/pellets!
organic fertilizer granules is suitable for commercial use and large scale application
it is easy for transportation and mechanized fertilizing.
granules are much easier for storage, compared with compost.
ps: after liquid-solid separation, if the moisture content is still too high, please add a certain
amount of dry grass powder or rice husk to lower the MC to 60%.

Granulating
Granulation has an important effect on the quality of organic fertilizer. It is one of the key
processes in the organic fertilizer production line, which is mainly reflected in the nutrient
composition uniformity. The biogas residue can be granulated by double roller extrusion
granulator. The machine is used for a variety of organic matter fermented granulation, breaking
through conventional organic granulation process. It can save a lot of energy and produce
spherical particles. Organic matter content can be reach to 100%, which achieves fully organic
granulation. The particles can be sieved after granulation, reducing energy consumption. The
moisture content of materials is at 20-40% without drying after fermentation.

Screening
There are some dif
particle size output
fertilizer granulato
screening. It requir
vibration, low nois
equipped with the
device on the scree
It can be fitted with
back feeding system
screening unqualif
and small particles
materials. These pa
carried by conveyor and re-
crushed to the granulator,
helping improve the
continuous operation ability
of the organic fertilizer
production line.
Cooling
The particles need to be
cooled after drying, which
helps preserve the particles.
The hot particle materials
output from fertilizer dryer
are sending into the inner
counter-current cooler. Dry Packaging
air, under the action of the After cooling the particulate material, it is delivered into the warehouse with t
cooling fan, are sending into by automatic packaging scales, which achieves quantitative weighing and pac
the lower part of the cooler, production process is completed.
exchanging heat with humid
particles falling from the
upper part. After cooling, the
temperature difference
between the particles and the
ambient temperature is less
than 5 degrees Celsius.

Advantage of Biogas Residue Fertilizer

Full utilization of digestate will help governments meet targets for reducing GHGs along with
meeting the requirements of, for example, the EU Nitrates Directive and Water Framework
Directive. Compared with untreated manures, using digestate as a biofertiliser has major
environmental benefits, such as reduced odours, improved veterinary safety, plant pathogen
reduction and the reduction of weed seeds. From the point of view of biogas residue fertilizer, it
has lots of advantages.
Providing nutrients
As organic fertilizer, nutrient content of biogas residue is more than any other retting organic
fertilizer. The recovery rate of NPK is up to 90%. The nutrients are quick effective and easily
absorbed by crops. There are almost no heavy metal elements.
Soil improvement
Biogas residue fertilizer is not only with high quality, but also a good soil conditioner. According
to the determination, applying biogas organic fertilizer can increase soil 0.17-0.6% of organic
matter content, enhance 0.003-0.005% of total nitrogen and improve 0.01-0.03% of total
phosphorus. Copper, zinc and iron in soil have different degrees of activation, which makes soil
bulk density decreased and increases the total porosity, thereby significantly improving the
physical properties of soil. On the other hand, it helps loosen the soil, which is conductive to
form soil microbial activity and soil aggregate structure.
Insect disease prevention
Biogas residue fertilizer contains a variety of biologically active substances, such as amino acid,
trace elements, plant growth hormone assassination, B vitamins and certain antibiotics, etc.
Ammonia and ammonium salts in biogas residue have a direct role in the killing pests.