Biogas Production is all in the Mixing

St. Louis, MO -- Engineers at Washington University, using an impressive array of imaging and tracking technologies, have determined the importance of mixing in anaerobic digesters for bioenergy production and animal and farm waste treatment. Anaerobic digesters employ reactors that use bacteria to break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen.

They are studying ways to take "the smell of money," as farmers long have termed manure's odor, and produce biogas from it. The major end product of anaerobic digestion is methane, which can be used directly for energy, converted to methanol, or, when partially oxidized, to synthesized gas, a mix of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Synthesized gas then can be converted to clean alternative fuels and chemicals.

The goal is two-fold; one is to have farms that grow their own energy by using readily available farm waste to power the farm, the other is to eliminate the environmental threat of methane, a greenhouse gas considered 22 times worse than carbon dioxide.

Muthanna Al-Dahhan, Ph.D., Washington University professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering; his postdoctoral fellow Khursheed Karim, Ph.D.; and his graduate students Rajneesh Varma, Mehuld Vesvikar and Rebecca Hoffman have determined that mixing is the most crucial step in the success of large, commercial anaerobic digesters that can react 15,000 gallons of manure. In addition to graduate students, numerous undergraduates have contributed to the research.

Al-Dahhan received a roughly $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2001 to research anaerobic digestion. Since 2004, he and various collaborators have published no fewer than 16 papers on their anaerobic digester studies, and many will follow. The most recent paper is published in Biotechnology and Bioengineering 100 (1): 38-48, 2008.

"Each year livestock operations produce 1.8 billion tons of cattle manure," Al-Dahhan said. "If it sits in fields, the methane from the manure is released into the atmosphere, or it can cause ground water contamination, dust or ammonia leaching, not to mention bad odors. Treating manure by anaerobic digestion gets rid of the environmental threats and produces bioenergy at the same time. That has been our vision."

There are about 100 anaerobic digesters in operation in the United States, but a remarkably high percentage — 76 percent — regularly fail. Al-Dahhan and his colleagues at WUSTL, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and ultimately the Iowa Energy Center based in Ames, Iowa, studied the configuration, design, hydrodynamics and mixing parameters of reactors and their effects on the treatment performance and bioenergy production.

"A systematic study had never been done before, so we wanted to get a notion of what was behind the high failure rates reported," Al-Dahhan said. "We tested by gas injection, mechanical agitation, slurry circulation and liquid circulation and at different intensities. We found that, at laboratory scale (four liters), all of the different mixing modes performed adequately."

They then went to Oak Ridge Laboratory to a pilot plant and tested a reactor that held 100 liters.

"As size increased, we found mixing plays a very important role in successful operations," Al-Dahhan said. "Intensity of mixing also is important. We found that if intensity of mixing is reduced, failure often is a consequence."

Anaerobic digestion of manure is opaque, which means to understand the hydrodynamics of anaerobic digestion Al-Dahhan and colleagues developed a unique computer-automated, multi-particle radioactive tracking (MPRT) system, a novel dual source gamma ray computed tomography (DSCT), and computational fluid dynamic simulation. These tools allowed the researchers to see where and under what conditions biochemical stagnant — or dead — zones occurred. They also analyzed mixing systems, hydrodynamics, shear effect and reactor configuration.

"We then used all of our knowledge to redesign the commercial digester at the Iowa Energy Center to make an efficient and long-lasting operation," Al-Dahhan said. At WUSTL, Al-Dahhan and his student Rajneesh Varma collaborated with Joseph O'Sullivan, Ph.D., professor of electrical and systems engineering, on developing a new imaging reconstruction algorithm and program for the developed DSCT. With his student Rebecca Hoffman, Al-Dahhan collaborated with assistant professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering Lars Angenent, Ph.D., on microbiology techniques and measurement of organisms' distribution.

"The research we've done provides the basis to scale up in the future, " he said. "The process is complex, but we're seeking to simplify it for use as a quick assessment and evaluation of the digester. The final goal is a simple system ready for use by farmers on site for bioenergy production and for animal and farm waste management."

Source: http://www.wustl.edu/

Gerald Iwan Named New Director of NESC

Morgantown, WV -- A state water regulator, Gerald R. Iwan, with more than 30 years experience has been named director of West Virginia University’s National Environmental Services Center (NESC), announced Richard Bajura, director of the National Research Center for Coal and Energy where NESC is housed.

Gerald R. Iwan comes to NESC from Connecticut, where he was chief of the Water Supplies Section of the Department of Health. He has also worked in environmental protection in New York and has served in a leadership capacity in several national organizations dealing with water and the environment. Iwan holds a Ph.D. in biology from Fordham University.

“Small communities face special challenges with their drinking water and wastewater infrastructure that the NESC helps them to address,” said Bajura. “Jerry has experience on the front lines in small communities as well as in our nation’s capital in undertaking efforts to provide safe, affordable drinking water and wastewater treatment in this post-9/11 era.”

“I am delighted that the leadership and staff at NRCCE and NESC have invited me to work with them on continuing and enhancing NESC’s long and highly regarded tradition of education and service to the water, waste, and wastewater sectors,” Iwan said.

“The next few years are going to be exciting, considering population growth, public health, climate, economy, security, and social restructuring. The need for reliable infrastructure, safe, sustainable drinking water resources; and sound waste and wastewater management systems and practices will become even more apparent as we wrestle with these and other emerging issues” Iwan continued.

Source: The National Environmental Services Center
Web site: http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/

New York, NY, -- Dover Corporation announced it completed the acquisition of Neptune Chemical Pump Company. Neptune will become part of Dover’s newly-formed Pump Solutions Group (“PSG”) within the Fluid Management segment. Terms of the transaction were not released.

Neptune, based in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, is a premier manufacturer of chemical metering pumps, chemical feed systems and peripheral products. Neptune’s key product lines are well known for their use in metering, dosing and injecting chemicals with emphasis on water and waste water treatment. Other major applications include agricultural, food and beverage, and laboratory use. Neptune’s fast and flexible business model features speed to market delivery and a reasonably priced alternative when compared to its competitive peer group.

Commenting on the acquisition, Soma Somasundaram, President of Dover’s Fluid Solutions platform said, “The Neptune acquisition is consistent with our Pump Solutions Group strategy. It complements and broadens our existing pump portfolio while offering strong synergy opportunities within the PSG. Neptune’s strong presence in water and waste water treatment further expands our presence in attractive end markets giving us a low flow, accurate metering alternative to go along with Wilden’s high viscosity and corrosive fluids coverage and Blackmer’s major position in the fuel transportation market.”

John Allen, President of the Pump Solutions Group stated, “We expect to grow Neptune by leveraging their product offering through PSG’s extensive network of distributors and suppliers world wide. Neptune’s diaphragm pumps join existing pump technologies within the Wilden, Blackmer, Almatec and Griswold brands to give our customers and distributors an exciting and expanded product set.”

Mike Dowse, Neptune’s President said, “We are excited to part of the Pump Solutions Group. PSG’s global initiatives and synergistic activities will lead Neptune into new markets, while introducing best practices and expanded opportunities.”

Dover Corporation, with over $7 billion in annualized revenues, is a global portfolio of manufacturing companies providing innovative components and equipment, specialty systems and support services for a variety of applications in the industrial products, engineered systems, fluid management and electronic technologies markets.

Source: http://www.dovercorporation.com/

. “Virtual Water” Innovator to Deliver Keynote Address John Anthony Allan, the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate will deliver the keynote address at WEFTEC®.08.

New Signal Converter for Magnetic Flowmeters
An exceptional and economic solution for measuring electrically conductive liquids.
 

SCADAgroup Acquires Adaptive Instruments Corp. SCADAgroup Pty Ltd, parent company of Control Microsystems, announced today the acquisition of Adaptive Instruments Corp.

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Product Manager, Solids/liquid Separation -  Texas

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This is a full time salaried position in which the person has the responsibility for managing for product development within a specified group of assigned customer accounts. The Product Manager will be interacting with customers, sales representatives and other company departments as required to achieve company goals.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS
-BSME or four years of hands on engineering and/or sales experience in the design and marketing of bulk material handling equipment and/or environmental filtration equipment.
-Ability to effectively communicate with customers to promote various products through group presentations and one-on-one interaction.
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WAM, Inc.
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Fort Worth, TX 76131
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Email: gregm@waminc.com 
Web site: http://www.waminc.com/ 

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This week's photo is of a WWTP at Tembec's facility in Temiscaming, Quebec.  Wastewater from pulp production is treated in two BioPaq IC reactors where COD is converted into 50.000 m3/d of methane gas, before being treated in the activated sludge plant.  The methane gas is desulpurized in a ThioPaq scrubber and used for pulp drying.

Photo courtesy Leo Habets of Paques BV.

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