Project meeting of STEP at the site of the company ATS - Agro Trading & Solutions in Hardegsen (Photo: DBFZ)

Heat Biogas

Project ID 03KB142

ThermoFlex-WAVE - Further development and validation of a technology for internal heat storage for a more efficient use of heat in biogas plants

Exemplary scheme of the ThermoFlex process (source: Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences)

Duration

  • 01.10.2018 – 30.09.2021

Contact

bue Anlagentechnik GmbH
Am Anger 11
06249 Mücheln

Bernhardt, Matthias – project leader
Telephone: +49-(0) 34632 99-7763
E-mail: m.bernhardt@bue-anlagentechnik.de

Partner

03KB142B - Thorsis Technologies GmbH
03KB142D - Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences
03KB142E - JSW Biogas
  • Address:
  • JSW Biogas
    Genthiner Str. 21
    39307 Bergzow
  • Contact:
  • Lars Werthmann – project leader
    Telephone: +49 (0) 39349 50-517
    E-mail: jsw-bio@t-online.de

Associated partners

Cooperation partners

Subpartner

03KB142 - GMBU - Environmental Biotechnology, Halle

Results

Seick, I. (2021): Short presentation ThermoFlex-WAVE,  V.CMP International Conference on Process and Monitoring Control of Anaerobic Digestion Plants 

Topic

For a flexible power generation of biogas plants and an effective heat utilisation, efficient technologies of heat storage will play a decisive part. For this purpose, an innovative process was developed within the project framework "ThermoFlex". The project was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the KMU-Innovative-Program. The ThermoFlex process enables the flexibility of biogas plants with a high heat efficiency and without additional heat storage. This allows a significantly reduce of the investment costs compared to conventional heat storage systems. The process based on a controlled operation of a secondary digester in thermophilic temperature ranges after a mesophilic first stage (main digester).
As confirmed by the partners' preliminary work for common process conditions, the process biology of the weakly loaded secondary digesters tolerates corresponding temperature variations.

Aim

Based on the promising results achieved in the previous project, a transfer of the ThermoFlex process into large-scale applications is planned. Therefore, a comprehensive R & D work prior the successful market launch is required for further development / adaptation as well as validation / testing of the developed process. This is intended in the follow-up project project ThermoFlex-WAVE.

In addition to the optimization of the ThermoFlex process and the planning of process variants, the main goals of the project are the conversion of an agricultural biogas plant into a reference plant and the large-scale testing for the validation of the ThermoFlex process.

Measures

bue Anlagentechnik GmbH 

  • Analysis of the current technical and economic boundary conditions for the use of the ThermoFlex process
  • Adaptation to relevant heat utilization options
  • Detailed planning of optional process variants for example systems
  • Planning and engineering support of the conversion of the large-scale biogas plant into a reference plant for the ThermoFlex process
  • Process optimization for the trial operation on the reference system; Validation of market potential as well as economic and ecological evaluation of the process

Thorsis Technologies GmbH

  • Optimizing the control of the ThermoFlex process and the model-based monitoring of the biological process
  • Modelling and simulation of example scenarios for optional process variants
  • Implementation of the ThermoFlex control for the reference system;
  • Accompaniment of the ICA-technical modification of the large-scale biogas plant
  • Simulation of scenarios for optimal process parameterization for the operation of the reference plant

Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal

  • Continuous fermentation test for the temperature tolerance of process biology for the boundary conditions of the reference plant
  • Investigations into a potential increase in substrate efficiency by thermophilic process in the secondary digester and to the load limits in the fermentation test
  • Scientific monitoring of the conversion of the large-scale biogas plant; incl. analysis of the actual state of the process control, process biology and plant efficiency before conversion
  • Scientific monitoring of the large-scale testing of the ThermoFlex process; incl. process monitoring and optimization of process biology after conversion

JSW Biogas

  • Provision and preparation of biogas plant data and heat utilization data for planning the reference plant
  • Definition of operational boundary conditions for conversion to the ThermoFlex process
  • Conversion of the large-scale biogas plant to the ThermoFlex process
  • Operational execution of the large-scale testing; Provision and preparation of the operating data of the trial phase for the evaluation of the results

Focus

bue Anlagentechnik GmbH

  • Further development and adaptation of the ThermoFlex process, engineering support for large-scale testing and validation

Thorsis Technologies GmbH

  • Adaptation of the model-based control for large-scale testing and validation of the ThermoFlex process, simulation of process layouts

Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal 

  • Scientific support of the further development and adaptation of the ThermoFlex process as well as the large-scale testing and validation

JSW Biogas

  • Preparation, conversion and application of a biogas plant for large-scale testing of the ThermoFlex process

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