anaerobic digester
What is an Anaerobic Digester?
Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which micro-organisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. It is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy.
Anaerobic digestion is widely used as a source of renewable energy. The process produces a biogas, consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and traces of other ‘contaminant’ gases. This biogas can be used directly as cooking fuel, in combined heat and power gas engines or upgraded to natural gas-quality biomethane. The use of biogas as a fuel helps to replace fossil fuels and the nutrient-rich digestate produced can be used as fertilizer.
Specialised Expertise
The technical expertise required to maintain industrial-scale anaerobic digesters, coupled with high capital costs and low process efficiencies, had limited the level of its industrial application as a waste treatment technology. Anaerobic digestion facilities have, however, been recognised by the United Nations Development Programme as one of the most useful decentralised sources of energy supply, because they are less capital-intensive than large power plants.