The Anaerobic Digester at MSU

Michigan State is addressing how to reliably meet the university's growing energy needs while reducing negative impacts of power generation on the environment.
One of the many sustainable solutions being explored is the Anaerobic Digester. The new digester eats food waste from campus dining halls-as well as farm waste-which is then heated at high temperatures to produce methane gas that generates electricity to power buildings on south campus while reducing the amount of food waste that ends up in a landfill. The byproduct of the process-a nutrient-rich mixture of digestate-can then be used to fertilize croplands at MSU.
DISCLAIMER: Prior to the creation of Infrastructure Planning and Facilities in January 2013, several IPF departments were a part of the now-dissolved MSU Physical Plant. This video references that former unit.

[@paranoiatable]

This is a great explanation of the Biogas Digester! I take my Environmental Science class to the Dairy Farm at MSU and we talk about how important this digester is to sustainable agriculture!

[@jamescc2010]

Fantastic project! Don't waste waste. Turn waste into energy and other benefits...We should have more of these installed everywhere.

[@davidmorse5870]

The city of Medford OR, not exactly a liberal bastian has a similiar system for there city sewage, with great results, both financial and earth friendly.

[@knockhello2604]

Yep

[@knockhello2604]

@@davidmorse5870 smart

[@battal4341]

This is ridiculously simple yet effective way of making energy and other stuff like soil.

[@samdaniel8092]

Sir thanks for explaining wonderful concept .👍🏻

[@infocat13]

I have heard adding FOG to this greatly increases the methane production and you could add in solar for the hearing system

[@bobbylong2202]

What is fog

[@infocat13]

@@bobbylong2202 Fat Oil Grease the little guys like convert it to Methane:)

[@infocat13]

Imagine an all-electric transport system with no more ICE cars or trucks the market for Biodiseal and corn-based Ehanal collapses It takes energy to transport the FOG, so dump all your local FOG into the local sewage plant. Burn it all right there for power In my town, the local customer is BART and Muni IE electric subway and transit and the local sewage plant covers 140 acres so put solar panels on all of it and it could power 15,000 homes Return and pay the farmers to return the marginal Ethanal corn acreage to praire and Bison

[@JasonVladimir]

I work at a state agricultural college that snubbed this proposal...Damn shame!

[@knockhello2604]

Hm

[@viva7642]

its about money, no gain, no freakin way.

[@rainbowdashbutterfly]

This makes me excited

[@Ravikumar-fi5pi]

why there is a need of preheating of the waste products before entering it inside the anaerobic digester ?

[@lukesmithy372]

Ravi kumar harmful bacteria is still alive in the waste so it’s heated to kil

[@stephenndubueze2369]

How much will it take to construct tbis

[@centerenamel905]

Center Enamel Co., Ltd is the first and most experienced Glass-Fused-to-Steel tanks manufacturer in Asia. Center Enamel Glass-Fused-to-Steel tanks engineering & design, product testing and quality system are in strict accordance with AWWA D103-09, OSHA, ISO/EN 28765, NSF61 and NFPA etc.

[@joelperillotempra9324]

Same to the plastic to oil or fuel that need of digester that the smoke are going to the digester separating tank with water

[@wesamalwesam6895]

Hi how can a purified gas product Thank you

[@ChanIsReallyCool]

I completely agree

[@jstpsgthru]

Is this plant still operating? Have there been any accidental discharges or have other inconvenient problems occurred, like smell? Thanks

[@FacilitiesMSU]

Hello, yes this plant is still in operation. Here is the website: www.egr.msu.edu/bae/adrec/. Email [e-mail] directly with your questions. Thank you for your inquiry.

[@Ashley-gt3hn]

Are there any side effects? Does it have any drawbacks or risks.

[@ponythroat1405]

If you live near one. Be aware that every few hours they vent a cloud of gas for miles around, althouht not dangerous. The smell could gag a maggot. And clings to your clothed.

[@aliaasaleh5312]

how exactly can methane be converted into electricity??

[@FacilitiesMSU]

aliaa saleh Biogas from the digester is used as fuel for an internal combustion engine. The driveshaft of the engine turns an electrical generator to produce electricity.

[@malvane8061]

Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but I must ask: the microorganisms produce CH4, then there is a bunch of hand-waiving saying it will generate electricity. How does the gas produce electricity, and more importantly, how is the production of CH4, which is a potent GHG, kept from entering the atmosphere during the process?

[@FacilitiesMSU]

+Mal Vane You are correct, Methane is a strong GHG. Methane is also the main component of natural gas and a common fuel source. To reduce the GHG concern, the methane that is produced is held in gas tight storages attached to the digester. The Methane is then used as the fuel source for a 12 cylinder engine that turns the generator to produce electricity.

[@monicahmboya2781]

am perplexed for sure

[@monicahmboya2781]

MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities i heard that soap kill the bacterias concerned with fermitation how then are going to avoid this

[@burakayan3360]

So, is it possible to use remaining waste in farms as a fertilizer?

[@Anna-tc6rz]

Yes

[@papapaley]

How is it possible to manufacture 300kW per hour? the is no such units. do you min 300kW? or 300kWhr in how much time?

[@FacilitiesMSU]

Thank you for pointing that out, the electrical generator capacity at the digester is 300 KWatts. The actual output per hour will fluctuate based on the amount of "fuel" methane created by the digestion process.

[@yalgret]

@@FacilitiesMSU 300kW continuously for one hour = 300kWh . Few people understand the units properly.

[@callofduty_Moh]

@@yalgret thats a good explicit explanation

[@miladfrieha]

300kwh but for how much time will continue to produce such amount? thx for the presentation

[@jasmineccm9970]

Hi I'm currently studying the design principle of anaerobic digestion, and I was wondering if this whole system needed electricity to process or is there any methods to function it? And how many usage of electricity needed? Thank you

[@FacilitiesMSU]

Please contact the people here -- www.egr.msu.edu/bae/adrec/ -- with your questions. They are able to respond best.

[@waxogen]

@@FacilitiesMSU XPRISE CARBON PARTICLE CAPTURE The heat loss from a smokestack can be forced into a large tank containing hot liquid microcrystalline petroleum wax. The heat will keep the wax at a molten state which facilitate the carbon to be absorbed when combined with the wax. Carbon when mixed with wax reacts like a dye. The wax-carbon amalgamation result in a black wax solution thereby making it impossible for the carbon to escape into the environment. Other toxic particles are also captured in the wax settling at the bottom of the wax holding tank forming into a sludge. A sludge release valve is located at the bottom of the tank. After the sludge is removed more wax is replaced in the vessel working something like a toilet. The sludge becomes a byproduct that can be used as an additive to asphalt for roads or used for cocooning nuclear waste materials for long-term safe burial. The entropy of the Earth has been increasing at a startling rate since the beginning of the industrial revolution caused mainly by the carbon that is released into the atmosphere. Government scientists have failed to stop and prevent carbon pollution from entering the environment. This problem can only worsen until a solution is found before this problem becomes irreversible. It has been discovered that formulated wax has been shown to be the only answer to this problem. William Nelson [e-mail]

[@bryanbreezy]

love it

[@user-en2yk2oi2o]

I am searching design principles of anaerobic digester , if we suppose have flow =36kg/day , percentage of organic materials 66.6% if we meet appropiate condition ,such as : temperature = 35C and mixing materials with velocity 50revelution per minute,Can we produce biogas with quantity 500L/day ? please answer me , i am waiting . Thanks.

[@FacilitiesMSU]

عبد صالح The ability to produce biogas and the quantity of gas is highly dependent on the feedstock (flow). The approximate range of gas potential is 250 L/kg of volatile solids for manure to close to 1,000 L/kg of volatile solids for high oil/fat content feedstocks. Also, the type of feedstock dictates what the appropriate type of anaerobic digester will be. Without more information on the type of feedstock, it is hard to predict the biogas potential.

[@user-en2yk2oi2o]

Thanks about this answer , if the design criteria are available as described above , the result is guaranteed

[@daeser1]

Which microbes?

[@zhiguoliu9632]

+daeser1 It's actually thousands of different microbes, archeas and bacterias.

[@murthyiyer]

Wonderful! Would you please help me establish exactly this in Tanzania? If this is not possible for you to do, then would you please introduce me to the manufacturer of every single item shown here to achieve the same outcome?

[@carllelendt5452]

In 1950, a San Francisco east bay city (near Oakland) built a municipal sewage treatment plant with two cement 1 million gallon sludge digesters which are still operating very efficiently!! Log books show gas production. During the 1960's a 3 million gallon third steel digester was added, All extremely efficient, easy to operate. Cement, in my opinion, is much better, if engineered properly. The steel doesn't insulate as the cement does. And there can be problems with weld seems. Our facility has for decades been able to use gas for powering the entire facility, as allowed by law. The facility also has huge gas surplus which must be eliminated by burning off with "waste gas burners." Some surplus, as permitted by law, is sold back to grid. The trace nutrients in the facility effluence, along with the waste CO2 could, I think, be used for oil (lipid)/oxygen algae operation along side the sewage operation, powered by some of surplus methane.

[@tomcat7843]

What is capital cost to build this system

[@FacilitiesMSU]

The plan began operating in 2013 so not sure they can give you the cost today to build it. Here is their website: www.egr.msu.edu/bae/adrec/. Email [e-mail] directly with your questions. Thanks for your inquiry.

[@richsend]

I am working on a project in Deasert Hot Springs where we will be in need of alot of electricity. I would like to speak with you off line, is there a contact person and number available?

[@danielsuarez8647]

So we can use our toilets to create metan ? Why we dont do it ...

[@Nantchev]

What is its EROI?

[@FacilitiesMSU]

Hi Nantchev. Much of the energy invested comes from MSU's farm waste and food waste as fuel, so rather than having landfill fees, or needing to truck the manure off site, we can use the material as fuel to create energy.

[@Nantchev]

EROI = Energy Return on Investment. How much more energy comes out then you put in? Fracking has an EROI of 1:1.5, meaning for the equivalent of 1 barrel of oil it produces 1.5 barrels worth.

[@FacilitiesMSU]

The system uses between 5 and 7% of the electrical energy generated to sustain the process, meaning we are exporting 93 to 95% of the energy to other campus buildings. Since we are using combined heat and power, we also generate thermal energy in the form of 190 degrees C water. Depending on the time of year, anywhere from 3 to 20% of the thermal energy is used to keep the anaerobic digester at its operating temperature of 37 degrees C. We also use some the excess heat to keep adjacent research buildings warm in the winter.

[@Nantchev]

MSU Infrastructure Planning and Facilities Thanks.

[@49agastyawagle50]

@@FacilitiesMSU very crafty.........

[@daniellbondad6670]

160*F for 1 hour 100*F for 20-30 days

[@daniellbondad6670]

I love how the channel owner answers the peoplea questions.Information spread effectively.

[@TescaGlobal]

Complete Explanation and Application of Anaerobic Digestor: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKi1o5KIqK2Hgdk

[@ayoubboulehfa3932]

Kw/hour is not a unit of énergie

[@battal4341]

Exhilarating

[@victorcampos8228]

Wow

[@Andrew-kd3gn]

They’re trying to put two of these things in my county. One of them right in town! We’re gonna fight to the end to stop that

[@Kevin_the_minion8]

The only problem is it is hella inefficient until we get better technology

[@woldeyohannesisrael5192]

This company it has to open his school alone by having on his book so everybody he can learn and do his job and he never by the Electricity or they can do it for themselves themselves The person who did this he needs to have a book so we can start and do it

[@stevemorgan850]

Noticed you did not mention that this also produces CO2 🤔

[@thomasprogar3143]

The more I learn about it the less I am in favor of this idea. These digessters are having the unintended (or intended) consequences of expanding CAFOs in some states and the end product is stil the releasing of C02 into the air. The "nutrient rich" digestate is more water soluable and has a number of issues. Plus, this is only viable if taxpayers subsidize it. California is starting to question the benefits of biodigesters and there are talks of pulling back. More research is needed and once again I hope MSU would push more for regenerative farms instead of industrial CAFOs

[@Anna-tc6rz]

I'm suprised they don't recapture the co2. It's widely used for a variety of things

[@jirislavicek9954]

kW/h is oxymoron. You are either talking about power of 300 kW or energy 1080 MJ (power of 300 kW running for a period of 1 hour).

[@ayoubboulehfa3932]

Sooooooo fals

[@snazzyengineering]

You're still burning the fuel, though, and creating CO2. If you're running an internal combustion engine with it, you'll be producing more CO2 per MW of electricity, since there's no way you can match the thermal efficiency of a GE turbine. Your carbon foot print will still be larger. This project, however, still has a lot of merit (if it's well engineered). You'll be producing fertiliser for your agricultural department, and the plant will be powered only with your waste material, so it may save money and resources for your institution, and may cut down waste disposal costs.

[@bobo888bobo]

if the organic material were instead left to decompose in a normal oxygen environment (outside), then it would also produce co2. If you want to capture carbon, then that is a different project. You could do it by drying and storing the plant materiel so it decomposed very slowly.

[@michealdumasii5432]

@@bobo888bobo are you familiar with carbon capture?

[@Fundamental_Islam.]

Letting methane out in environment like landfill will cause more global warming since methane has more greenhouse potential

[@callofduty_Moh]

well catch!