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The Research on the Flow Pattern Optimization of Biogas Anaerobic Digester Using CFD Method

Received: 26 September 2018     Accepted: 24 October 2018     Published: 12 November 2018
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Abstract

The biogas plant provides high-quality, clean and renewable energy, reduces carbon emission, and can sovle rural energy shortage and mitigate environmental pollution. However, it has some defects in practice, such as poor liquidity, low biogas production rate, bad discharge, which limit its wide application . The critical method for solving this problem is agitation, but the methods of agitation must be well-designed, otherwise the biogas production could not be increased, even consuming more energy. Taking advantage of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the flowing progress of biogas fermentation material fluid in the anaerobic digesters can be reappeared, the distribution curve of flow pattern can be obtained, the visualization of flow pattern can be achieved, the features and defects of flow configuration can be differentiated on the basis of the flow pattern visualization. In this present study, one 0.5 m³ anaerobic digester was chosen and the two water configuration modes of bottom agitation and dispersed exports were analyzed by CFD. The influence of the optimal design on the flow pattern was obtained. The results show that the optimization are different under different raw material conditions. Therefore, the agitation config could be well-designed based on the flow pattern which can be visualized using CFD method. Through the demonstration of this design opitimization, this paper introduces a general method to optimize the mixing config design of biogas plants using CFD method.

Published in Science Research (Volume 6, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11
Page(s) 48-53
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Biogas, Mixing, Anaerobic Digester, CFD, Flow Pattern

References
[1] Kougias P G, Angelidaki I. Biogas and its opportunities—A review [J]. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, 2018, 12(3):14-25.
[2] Ruiz D, San G M, Corona B, et al. Environmental and economic analysis of power generation in a thermophilic biogas plant. [J]. Science of the Total Environment, 2018, 633:1418-1428.
[3] Qiu L, Wang LY, Yang P. Control on the dynamic fermentation technology of rural biomass project [J]. Renewable energy resources, 2005, (1):47-49.
[4] Huang R Y, Feng L, Guo T, et al. Research Progress in Promoting Biogas Fermentation Efficiency by Stirring [J]. China Biogas, 2017, 35(5):43-49.
[5] Luan D, Qiao C, Zhou S. Numerical Simulation and Analysis of Power Consumption and Metzner-Otto Constant for Impeller of 6PBT [J]. Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2014, 27(3):635-640.
[6] Zhongqian H, Brief introduction of design of small tank methane tank [J]. China Biogas, 2000: 18(4):33-34.
[7] Binxin Wu. Advances in the use of CFD to characterize, design and optimize bioenergy systems. Computers & Electronics in Agriculture, 2013, 93(2):195–208.
[8] Fleming J G. Novel simulation of anaerobic digestion using computational fluid dynamics [D]. Raleigh: North Carolina State University, 2002.
[9] Mendoza A M, Martínez T M, Vicente Fajardo Montañana, et al. Modeling flow inside an anaerobic digester by CFD techniques [J]. International Journal of Energy & Environment, 2011, 2(6):963-974.
[10] Stamou AI. Improving the hydraulic efficiency of water process tanks using CFD models [J]. Chemical Engineering & Processing Process Intensification, 2008, 47(8):1179-1189.
[11] Fei S, Tian L, Yuan H, et al. Improving the mixing performances of rice straw anaerobic digestion for higher biogas production by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation [J]. Applied Biochemistry & Biotechnology, 2013, 171(3):626-642.
[12] Jun Wang, Qingwen Xue, Ting Guo, Zili Mei, Enshen Long, Qian Wen, Wei Huang, Tao Luo, Ruyi Huang. A review on CFD simulating method for biogas fermentation material fluid [J]. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2018, 97:64-73.
[13] Yang H, Deng LW, Zhang GZ, Lei YH, Shi GZ. A review on effects of stirring on biogas production of anaerobic digestion [J]. China biogas, 2010, 28(4), 3-10.
[14] Karim K, Hoffmann R, Klasson T, et al. Anaerobic digestion of animal waste: waste strength versus impact of mixing. [J]. Bioresource Technology, 2005, 96(16):1771-1781.
[15] Cai X J, Wu L Z. Explore the structure of the lateral inserted agitator [J]. Petro-Chemical Equipment, 2001, 5(30): 45-46.
[16] Luo T, Long Y, Li J, et al. Performance of a novel downward plug-flow anaerobic digester for methane production from chopped straw [J]. Bioresources, 2015, 10(1):943-955.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Ruyi Huang, Zili Mei, Yahan Yang, Enshen Long, Ziyun Wang, et al. (2018). The Research on the Flow Pattern Optimization of Biogas Anaerobic Digester Using CFD Method. Science Research, 6(4), 48-53. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11

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    ACS Style

    Ruyi Huang; Zili Mei; Yahan Yang; Enshen Long; Ziyun Wang, et al. The Research on the Flow Pattern Optimization of Biogas Anaerobic Digester Using CFD Method. Sci. Res. 2018, 6(4), 48-53. doi: 10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11

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    AMA Style

    Ruyi Huang, Zili Mei, Yahan Yang, Enshen Long, Ziyun Wang, et al. The Research on the Flow Pattern Optimization of Biogas Anaerobic Digester Using CFD Method. Sci Res. 2018;6(4):48-53. doi: 10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11,
      author = {Ruyi Huang and Zili Mei and Yahan Yang and Enshen Long and Ziyun Wang and Jun Wang and Chuixue Kong},
      title = {The Research on the Flow Pattern Optimization of Biogas Anaerobic Digester Using CFD Method},
      journal = {Science Research},
      volume = {6},
      number = {4},
      pages = {48-53},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sr.20180604.11},
      abstract = {The biogas plant provides high-quality, clean and renewable energy, reduces carbon emission, and can sovle rural energy shortage and mitigate environmental pollution. However, it has some defects in practice, such as poor liquidity, low biogas production rate, bad discharge, which limit its wide application . The critical method for solving this problem is agitation, but the methods of agitation must be well-designed, otherwise the biogas production could not be increased, even consuming more energy. Taking advantage of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the flowing progress of biogas fermentation material fluid in the anaerobic digesters can be reappeared, the distribution curve of flow pattern can be obtained, the visualization of flow pattern can be achieved, the features and defects of flow configuration can be differentiated on the basis of the flow pattern visualization. In this present study, one 0.5 m³ anaerobic digester was chosen and the two water configuration modes of bottom agitation and dispersed exports were analyzed by CFD. The influence of the optimal design on the flow pattern was obtained. The results show that the optimization are different under different raw material conditions. Therefore, the agitation config could be well-designed based on the flow pattern which can be visualized using CFD method. Through the demonstration of this design opitimization, this paper introduces a general method to optimize the mixing config design of biogas plants using CFD method.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - The Research on the Flow Pattern Optimization of Biogas Anaerobic Digester Using CFD Method
    AU  - Ruyi Huang
    AU  - Zili Mei
    AU  - Yahan Yang
    AU  - Enshen Long
    AU  - Ziyun Wang
    AU  - Jun Wang
    AU  - Chuixue Kong
    Y1  - 2018/11/12
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11
    T2  - Science Research
    JF  - Science Research
    JO  - Science Research
    SP  - 48
    EP  - 53
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2329-0927
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sr.20180604.11
    AB  - The biogas plant provides high-quality, clean and renewable energy, reduces carbon emission, and can sovle rural energy shortage and mitigate environmental pollution. However, it has some defects in practice, such as poor liquidity, low biogas production rate, bad discharge, which limit its wide application . The critical method for solving this problem is agitation, but the methods of agitation must be well-designed, otherwise the biogas production could not be increased, even consuming more energy. Taking advantage of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the flowing progress of biogas fermentation material fluid in the anaerobic digesters can be reappeared, the distribution curve of flow pattern can be obtained, the visualization of flow pattern can be achieved, the features and defects of flow configuration can be differentiated on the basis of the flow pattern visualization. In this present study, one 0.5 m³ anaerobic digester was chosen and the two water configuration modes of bottom agitation and dispersed exports were analyzed by CFD. The influence of the optimal design on the flow pattern was obtained. The results show that the optimization are different under different raw material conditions. Therefore, the agitation config could be well-designed based on the flow pattern which can be visualized using CFD method. Through the demonstration of this design opitimization, this paper introduces a general method to optimize the mixing config design of biogas plants using CFD method.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture & Key Laboratory of Development and Application of Rural Renewable Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Chengdu, China

  • Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture & Key Laboratory of Development and Application of Rural Renewable Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Chengdu, China

  • Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture & Key Laboratory of Development and Application of Rural Renewable Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Chengdu, China

  • College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

  • College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

  • College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

  • Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture & Key Laboratory of Development and Application of Rural Renewable Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Chengdu, China

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