Final project¶
For the final project, I’m not sure witch one I will do, so I will explain the tow possibilities, but first, I need to explain you what anaerobic digestion (or methanation) is.
The princpe of anaerobic digestion is to produce biogases (methane and CO2) by degradating organic matter. This matter can be solid or liquid, and can produce little or a large amont of gaz. The cycle can be describe like this :
Image create by kbbioenergy
The main advantage is that it is a renewable energy source, using only waste from farms, industries and towns. Methane can be used to generate electricity by cogeneration (the least efficient method) or injected directly into the natural gas network. Although burning methane produces CO2, it is estimated that each kilowatt saves around 200g of CO2e.
Project 1 : The anaerobic digestion tank¶
The project can be describe like this :
And if there is enought time, a three-phase head !
The main goal of ths project is to create an autonomous tank for lab experiments. This will need specific requirement like :
- a gas-tight and liquid-tight tank
- a recirculation system
- specific size and shape
- a double heating jacket
And if there is enought time, a three-phase head !
There is a simple 3D modelisation of the reactor :
Project 2 : Algae culture tubes for methanisation¶
This project can also be descibe like this :
To do this shema, i used Adobe Illustrator.
Here you can see a serie of tube, witch will contain algae. The thinner tubes are for recirculation system, to have an homogeneous reactor. It take the fluid from the top to the bottom. A few LEDs will be needed to help the algae grow. The all system will be in a box, to have a controlled light input and a stable temperature.
The main objectif of this project is to create a columns bio-reactors for harvest aglae. Theses algae will be put in differents conditions so we can compare what is the effect of the parameter we change. With these test, we hope to found the best combination and thus the best growing condition. As the algae will be methanised, it is not necessary to produce as much organic matter as possible, but rather the algae with the greatest methannogenic power.