sand bed cannot contribute or be digested to biogas, which in turn can clog the
pipeline or get settle in the plant, creating problem in biogas plant.
3.4
Biogas Potential of Different Feedstock
For optimized anaerobic digestion process and biogas production, feedstocks are
particularly vital (Schievano et al. 2009). However, it is somewhat challenging to
exactly calculate the biogas production potential of different feedstocks, due to
origin of the source, organic load, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and moistness
of the feedstock. Anaerobic biogasification potential (ABP) and biochemical methane potential (BMP) are some of the important criteria reported to evaluate biogas/
methane potential of feedstocks (Schievano et al. 2009). BMP assay is an efficient
method and an indication of the degradability of the feedstock; it helps to establish a
baseline data for the performance of anaerobic digestion (Speece 1996). The
combinations of a particular feedstock, microbial inoculum, and other additives
are optimized during BMP assays, based on which a specific microbial inoculum
is used to seed the feedstock to reduce the initial lag phase and fasten the anaerobic
degradation process. BMP is a laboratory-based analysis approach to evaluate the
feedstock potential by following three criteria:
1. Characterization: BMP assay includes different criteria such as pH, COD, and
volatile and total solids (VS and TS); assay values are used to evaluate the
anaerobic digestion process in terms of the obliteration of feedstock material.
2. Total biogas production: Gas production is analysed during the course of the
BMP assays, and biogas could also be scoured of the carbon dioxide and traces
(of other gases) by different chemical processes to mainly check methane content.
3. Biogas analysis: Generally gas chromatography (GC) is used to analyse gas
composition and concentrations (such as CH 4 , CO 2 , N 2 , and H 2 S).
3.4.1 Factors Affecting BMP
Chemical composition of the feedstock such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, cellulose, and hemicelluloses could affect the BMP. The biogas production and composition varies based on different feedstocks, which differs substantially subject to their
origin and constitution (Weiland 2010; Mayer et al. 2014).
Feedstock Constituents BMP depends on the chemicals, fats, and proteins, which
support better methane production than carbohydrates.
Total and Volatile Solids The TS include both organic and inorganic content of the
feedstock. Organic material could be evaluated by the amount of total organic carbon
present in a feedstock (Hamilton 2012). Volatile solid degradation is directly related
to methane production (Moody et al. 2009) and methane yield is affected by volatile
3 Biogas: An Effective and Common Energy Tool – Part I
69
pipeline or get settle in the plant, creating problem in biogas plant.
3.4
Biogas Potential of Different Feedstock
For optimized anaerobic digestion process and biogas production, feedstocks are
particularly vital (Schievano et al. 2009). However, it is somewhat challenging to
exactly calculate the biogas production potential of different feedstocks, due to
origin of the source, organic load, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and moistness
of the feedstock. Anaerobic biogasification potential (ABP) and biochemical methane potential (BMP) are some of the important criteria reported to evaluate biogas/
methane potential of feedstocks (Schievano et al. 2009). BMP assay is an efficient
method and an indication of the degradability of the feedstock; it helps to establish a
baseline data for the performance of anaerobic digestion (Speece 1996). The
combinations of a particular feedstock, microbial inoculum, and other additives
are optimized during BMP assays, based on which a specific microbial inoculum
is used to seed the feedstock to reduce the initial lag phase and fasten the anaerobic
degradation process. BMP is a laboratory-based analysis approach to evaluate the
feedstock potential by following three criteria:
1. Characterization: BMP assay includes different criteria such as pH, COD, and
volatile and total solids (VS and TS); assay values are used to evaluate the
anaerobic digestion process in terms of the obliteration of feedstock material.
2. Total biogas production: Gas production is analysed during the course of the
BMP assays, and biogas could also be scoured of the carbon dioxide and traces
(of other gases) by different chemical processes to mainly check methane content.
3. Biogas analysis: Generally gas chromatography (GC) is used to analyse gas
composition and concentrations (such as CH 4 , CO 2 , N 2 , and H 2 S).
3.4.1 Factors Affecting BMP
Chemical composition of the feedstock such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, cellulose, and hemicelluloses could affect the BMP. The biogas production and composition varies based on different feedstocks, which differs substantially subject to their
origin and constitution (Weiland 2010; Mayer et al. 2014).
Feedstock Constituents BMP depends on the chemicals, fats, and proteins, which
support better methane production than carbohydrates.
Total and Volatile Solids The TS include both organic and inorganic content of the
feedstock. Organic material could be evaluated by the amount of total organic carbon
present in a feedstock (Hamilton 2012). Volatile solid degradation is directly related
to methane production (Moody et al. 2009) and methane yield is affected by volatile
3 Biogas: An Effective and Common Energy Tool – Part I
69