Table Of ContentGreen Energy and Technology
Pruk Aggarangsi
Sirichai Koonaphapdeelert
Saoharit Nitayavardhana
James Moran
Biogas
Technology
in Southeast
Asia
Green Energy and Technology
Climatechange,environmentalimpactandthelimitednaturalresourcesurgescien-
tific research and novel technical solutions. The monograph series Green Energy
and Technology serves as a publishing platform for scientific and technological
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**IndexedinScopus**.
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· ·
Pruk Aggarangsi Sirichai Koonaphapdeelert
·
Saoharit Nitayavardhana James Moran
Biogas Technology
in Southeast Asia
PrukAggarangsi SirichaiKoonaphapdeelert
DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering DepartmentofEnvironmentalEngineering
ChiangMaiUniversity ChiangMaiUniversity
ChiangMai,Thailand ChiangMai,Thailand
SaoharitNitayavardhana JamesMoran
DepartmentofEnvironmentalEngineering DepartmentofMechanicalEngineering
ChiangMaiUniversity ChiangMaiUniversity
ChiangMai,Thailand ChiangMai,Thailand
ISSN 1865-3529 ISSN 1865-3537 (electronic)
GreenEnergyandTechnology
ISBN 978-981-19-8886-8 ISBN 978-981-19-8887-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8887-5
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature
SingaporePteLtd.2023
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Singapore
Tothebiogascommunity,letourcollective
visionforrenewableenergy,recycledwaste
andacleanerenvironmentkeepprogressing
towardacarbon-freefuture
Preface
This is the first edition of our book, Biogas Technology in Southeast Asia. It is
authoredbyPrukAggarangsi,SirichaiKoonaphapdeelert,SaoharitNitayavardhana
and James Moran. The authors have worked closely with the editorial team from
Springer Nature to publish this book. There are a total of eight chapters covering
biogasproduction,preprocessing,operation,cleaningandenduseapplications.Each
chapter is a self contained unit. It is not necessary to read them all in sequence.
Chapter1introducesbiogasandmakesacaseforincludingitinacountriesrenew-
ableenergymix.Chapter2introducestheproductionprocess.Thebiochemicalreac-
tionsandpathwaystakenduringbiogasproductionareintroduced.Theterminology
associatedwithbiogasdigestersisexplained.Chapter3concernsitselfwiththewide
varietyofdigesterscurrentlyavailable.Eachdigestertypehasuniqueattributesthat
makeitsuitableforaparticularfeedstock,climateandeconomicoutlay.Particular
attention is paid to those that are exclusively designed for use in Southeast Asia.
Chapter4isaspecializedchapterforthepretreatmentoflignocellulosicfeedstock
(biomass)beforeitcanbedigested.SincemostfeedstockinSoutheastAsiaiswastew-
ater, this pretreatment step is unnecessary. However if crops, grass, wood, etc. are
being used to generate biogas, then it becomes necessary to pretreat. Chapter 5 is
abouttheoperationandcontrolofthedigester.Nowadays,automaticcontrolisonly
sporadicallyused,butthisislikelytochangeinthefutureasourunderstandingofthe
complexprocessbroadens.Thougheachbiogasplantisdifferent,theyallhavesome
operationalproceduresincommonthatensureasafeandstabledigester.Chapter6is
apost-treatmentchapter.Theoutputfromthedigesterincludeswastewater(cleaner
but still too polluted to release back into the environment) and sludge in addition
to biogas. Treating this wastewater so it can be released into the environment and
dryingthesludgeforfertilizeraretheprocessesdiscussedinthischapter.Chapter7
introducesthemanyusesforbiogas,fromheatproductiontofuelcells.Severalappli-
cationsrequirethebiogastobecleanedand/ordried.Thelevelofpurityrequiredis
dependentonthedestination.Chapter8concludeswithacasestudyonthedesign
andconstructionofabiogasdigesterintheSouthofThailand.
Thegrowingimportancetodevelopnon-intermittentsourcesofrenewableener-
giesisthedrivingforcebehindextractingenergyfrombiomass.Biogasisonesuch
vii
viii Preface
source and has its own advantages over other biomass energy products, such as
bioethanol, because it can be produced from organic waste products. Southeast
Asia produces plenty of organic waste but suffers from take-off options for the
biogas.Farmsandorganicproducersarelocatedawayfrompopulationcenters,and
unlikeEurope,SoutheastAsiaisnotnetworkedwithgasgrids.Transportingbiogas
economicallyorusingitclosetoproductionarechallenges.Manybiogasplantsare
constructedduetoregulationrequiringtreatmentofthiswastewater.Thetraditional
treatment is to place the wastewater in open ponds where the gases produced get
releasedtotheatmosphere.Methanehasaglobalwarmingpotential25timesgreater
thancarbondioxide,andtherefore,everyeffortshouldbemadetocaptureanduse
itproductivelyorattheveryleastflareitsafely.
The aim of this book is to provide a description of techniques, processes and
necessaryprocedures toturnbioproducts intobiogas.Themicrobialreactions that
govern the process are discussed early, but the focus of this book is on the engi-
neeringrequiredtoselectandconstructbiogasdigesters.Thepre-andpost-treatments
required for the feedstock and estimating the production rate from the feedstock
supply and pollution level. The civil engineering involved in digester construction
isaseparatetopic,notdiscussedindetailherebutlefttootherdedicatedbookson
thismatter.Mostofthesubjectmattercomesfromthedesignofbiogasplantsfrom
agriculturalfarmsacrossSoutheastAsia,inparticularThailandwhichiswherethe
authorsarebased.
Thisbookfocusesonbiogasproducedfromorganicagriculturalwasteandfood
processingplantssincethesearetheareastheauthorshavedirectexperiencewith.
Biogasfromlandfillgas,sewagesludgeandmunicipalwastearenotdiscussedinthis
book mainly because Southeast Asia does not have many of these types of biogas
plants. Biogas from these sources is typically more expensive as it contains more
impuritiesthatneedtoberemovedpriortocombustion.
Severalsectionsofthebookdealwitheconomicissues,suchasplantconstruction
andoperatingcosts.Chapter8isacasestudyonaplantbuiltintheSouthofThailand.
ThecostsareinThaibaht.Costs,especiallylaborcost,willofcoursebedifferent
elsewhere.WherepossiblethecostsarepresentedinUSdollarsataconversionrate
of$1=฿33.Sincethisconversionratefluctuatesonadailybasis,pricespresented
indollarsshouldbeusedonlyasaguide.TechnicaldatahereispresentedinSIunits
wherepossible.InsomecircumstanceswhentheoriginaldataispresentedinEnglish
units,thenitisleftassuch.Unitsforproductionofbiomethaneareusuallyexpressed
as Nm3/h,whichstandsfornormalcubicmeterperhourunderstandardconditions
of0°Cand1atm(101.325kPa).
ChiangMai,Thailand PrukAggarangsi
SirichaiKoonaphapdeelert
SaoharitNitayavardhana
JamesMoran
Acknowledgments
Theassistanceofmanyindividualswhocontributedmaterialandsuggestedimprove-
mentsisgratefullyacknowledged.Thanksarealsoduetothecompaniesandorga-
nizationswhograciouslyprovideddataandgavepermissionforreproducingcharts
andfigures.Thenumberofsuchorganizationsistoolargetopermitindividualrecog-
nitionhere;however,theyaregenerallyidentifiedinthetextasthesourcesofspecific
data.TheauthorswishtothanktheresearchersandstaffattheEnergyResearchand
Development Institute Nakornping of Chiang Mai University (ERDI-CMU) who
havecontinuouslybeenconductingresearchanddevelopmentintorenewableener-
gieswithafocusonbiogasanditsmanyapplications.SpecialthanksalsogoestoMr.
PanutatInjaimaandMr.WarutYuennanfortheirhelpwiththegraphicdesign.Among
themanywhohavesupportedandfinancedthisresearchovertheyears,specialthanks
goestotheEnergyConservationFund(ENCONfund),theThaiMinistryofEnergy.
WewouldliketoacknowledgeourpartnersthroughouttheyearsincludetheThai
BiogasTradeAssociation,AgrikompGmbH,ChiangMaiFreshMilkFarmCo.,and
specialthankstoNamHongPowerCo.forallowingustosharethedetailsofbiogas
designandconstructionasacasestudyforthebook.
Other significant contributor to this first edition is Chandra Sekaran our patient
editor. Finally, we wish to express gratitude to our families for their support and
patienceduringthepreparationofthisbook.Toallfellowresearchersinthefieldof
biogas,wewishtoextendourdeepestgratitudeandthanks.
ix
About This Book
BiogasTechnologyinSoutheastAsiaisfocusedontheapplicationsofbiogastech-
nology to waste and wastewater management problems commonly experienced in
SoutheastAsia.Thebookcontentisbalancedbetweenintensivebiologicalprocess
andtheauthors’fieldexperienceofbiogasdigesterdesignsandoperation.Thebook
beginswithbasicexplanationonanaerobicdigestionprocessoforganicmatterspecif-
icallyonwasteandwastewaterproducedfromagriculturalindustriesintheregion,
including swine farms, palm oil mills and tapioca starch factories. Specific biogas
yieldsanddigestionconditionsareexplainedandverifiedusingdataprovidedbythe
EnergyResearchandDevelopmentInstituteNakornpingofChiangMaiUniversity.
Thisbookalsoemphasizesdigesterselectionanddesignbasedonfeedstockinputand
otherengineeringconditions.Readerswillbetoestimateandvisualizetheproject
scale from the major components. Biogas operating conditions are discussed with
crucialparameterssuggestedformonitoring.Lastly,biogasutilizationinelectricity
and heat production are presented based on applicability in the region. This book
shouldbesuitableforgeneralaudiencesuptoprojectdevelopersandplantoperators.
The authors aim the share existing experience and lessons learned, contributing to
thebiogascommunity.
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