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AbstractAn Austrian SME leading a consortium of SME who will submit a project proposal at the end of September 2010 in the EUROSTARS program (scheduled duration 24 month) needs additional partners. The project`s overall aim is to increase the economic efficiency of biogas plants. Project partners will work on the utilisation of solid residues/bio-digestate from such plants, on the manufacture and distribution of marketable pellets. Biogas plant operating companies are invited to complete the consortium.DetailsBackground:Anaerobic digestion for solid wet biomasses is a process currently expanding as the EU regulation has provided incentives at national levels to support its growth. Anaerobic digestion produces two outputs: first, biogas that can either be used in a CHP for co-generation of heat and electricity or be injected into the grid. And second, bio-digestate, a nutrient-rich liquid spread out as a fertilizer. The 91/676/EEC Directive concerning the protection of water against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources indicates that the content of the digestate spread should be closely monitored to stay within the thresholds set in the regulations. Project: The aim of the 24 month scheduled project is to detect the necessary energy input for each process step (pressing, drying, pelletizing) and the best technology for the different steps. In addition, the produced pellets (out of biogas residues) will be exploited, and hence potential technological risk during the thermal treatment of the pellets will also be taken into account. The issue will be tackled by combustion and gasification tests undertaken by a specialised institute to define the optimal proprieties of the pellets. In parallel the pricing of pellets, the end-user market potential and the commercialization strategy will be analysed. Additionally the whole production chain and the technology market development will be assessed. Biogas plant operating companies: The overall output of the project will be the definition of a complete technical concept to process the solid fraction of bio-digestate into value added-products. This issue is presently crucial for many existing biogas plants without an efficient heat utilisation concept. The project will offer a solution. For the common proposal biogas plant operators from different European countries are searched for. Some details of the proposal and the activities of the plant operators, Task I (duration 1-12 month with an immediate start): The necessary treatment steps to produce biogas residues pellets (pressing, drying, pelletizing) will be evaluated on test facilities of every manufacturer from the treatment components (dryer manufacturer, etc.). The main part of the biogas plant operators will be the supply and the distribution of the biogas residues to the test facilities. After this step, the necessary energy demand will be obvious and the calculation of the test plant can be realized. Also the thermal utilization (burning and gasification) and the possibility of enrichment with fertilizer components will be tested. Task II (duration 12-24 month): With the results from the first year, the biogas residue treatment components will be implemented into the biogas plant to increase the whole efficiency of the plant. Requirements and benefits The operating companies should be open minded, willing to go through vast testing cycles, ready to broadly give feedback to the project partners and to take over some administrative duties. In return, they advance a concept that will help to increase their cost efficiency and will ensure the compliance of their plants with the 91/676/EEC directive. Technical Specifications / Specific technical requirements: The consortium is looking for biogas plant operating companies that would like to join in a European project (EUROSTARS). The focus of the project is to increase the economic efficiency of biogas plants by utilising biogas residues via marketable products (pellets). Deadline of EUROSTARS 5th Call: 30.9.2010
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