Biogas Handbook: Science, Production and Applications is a comprehensive and systematic guide to the development and deployment of biogas supply chains and technology.

Coverage includes:

• biogas as an energy option
• biomass resources for production
• plant design and engineering and process optimization
• biogas utilization, and international experience and best practice

Part One explores biomass resources and fundamental science and engineering of biogas production, including feedstock characterization, storage and pre-treatment, and yield optimisation.

Part Two focuses on plant design, engineering, process optimisation and digestate utilisation. Topics considered include the engineering and process control of biogas plants, methane emissions in biogas production, and biogas digestate quality, utilization and land application.

Part Three addresses international experience and best practice in biogas utilization; biogas cleaning and upgrading to biomethane, biomethane use as transport fuel and the generation of heat and power from biogas for stationery applications

Contents

1. Biogas as an energy option: an overview

• Biogas technologies and environmental efficiency
• Political drivers and legislation
• Health, safety and risk assessment

Part 1: Bioass Resources, Feedstock Treatment and Biogas Production

2. Biomass resources for biogas production

• Categories of biomass appropriate as feedstocks for biogas production
• Characteristics of biogas feedstocks
• Resource availability and supply chain issues

3. Analysis and characterisation of biogas feedstocks

• Preliminary feedstock characterisation
• Essential laboratory analysis of feedstocks
• Additional laboratory analysis of the feedstocks
• Detailed feedstock evaluation

4. Storage and pre-treatment of substrates for biogas production

• Storage and ensiling of crops for biogas production
• Pre-treatment technologies for biogas production

5. Fundamental science and engineering of the anaerobic digestion process for biogas production

• Microbiology
• Microbial environment
• Gas production and feedstocks
• Reactor configuration
• Parasitic energy demand of process
• Laboratory analysis and scale up
• Modelling and optimisation of anaerobic digestion

6. Optimisation of biogas yields from anaerobic digestion by feedstock type

• Defining optimisation
• Basic definitions and concepts
• Overcoming limitation as a result of hydraulic retention time (HRT)
• Increasing the metabolic capacity of a digester
• Matching feedstocks and digester type
• Case studies

7. Anaerobicdigestion as a key technology for biomass valorization: contribution to the energy balance of biofuel chains

• The role of anaerobic digestion in biomass chains
• A framework for approaching the role of anaerobic digestion (AD) within biomass chains
• Contribution of anaerobic digestion (AD) to the energy balance of biofuel chains

Part 2: Plant Design, Engineering, Process Optimization and Digestate Utilization

8. Design and engineering of biogas plants

• Digestion unit
• Gas storage
• Pipework and armatures
• Site characteristics and plant layout
• Process control technology
• Social and legal aspects

9, Energy flows in biogas plants: analysis and implications for plant design

• Energy demand of biogas plants - Energy supply for biogas plants - Balancing energy flows

10. Process control in biogas plants

• Process analysis and monitoring
• Optimising and implementing on-line process control in biogas plants
• Mathematical process modelling and optimisation in practice
• Advantages and limitations of process control

11. Methane emissions in biogas production

• Methane emissions in biogas production
• Methane emissions in biogas utilization, biogas upgrading and digestate storage
• Overall methane emissions

12. Biogas digestate quality and utilization

• Digestate quality
• Processing of digestate
• Utilization of digestate and digestate fractions

13. Land application of digestate

• Substrates and land application of digestate
• Field experience of land application and associated environmental impacts

Part 3: Biogas Utilization: International Experience and Best Practice

14. Biogas cleaning

• Biogas characterisation and quality standards
• Biogas cleaning techniques
• Biogas cleaning in combination with upgrading

15. Biogas up-grading to biomethane

• Development and overview of biogas upgrading
• Biogas cleaning and upgrading technologies
• Costs of biogas upgrading

16. Biomethane feed-in into natural gas networks

• Technical and legal conditions of biomethane feed-in in Germany
• Design and operation of injection utilities
• Biomethane quality adjustments
• Economic aspects of biomethane injection
• Optimization and efficiency increase

17. Generation of heat and power from biogas for stationery applications: boilers, gas engines and turbines, combined heat and power (CHP) plants and fuel cells

• Biogas and biomethane combustion issues
• Utilisation of biogas for the generation of electric power and heat in stationary applications

18. Biomethane for transport applications

• Biomethane as a transport fuel
• Biomethane distribution logistics and the synergies of jointly used natural gas and biomethane
• The growth of the natural gas vehicle (NGV) market in Sweden
• The extent and potential of the natural gas vehicle (NGV) world market

19. Market development and certification schemes for biomethane

• Market development
• Biomethane certification and mass balancing
• European mass balancing schemes for biomethane

Index

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