Re: DIG-L: digester accidents

[Simm <simm@mozcom.com>]

I haven't heard of any accident in relation to a biogas plant.

I have heard a few times of explosions of manure storage tanks that were
pumped out and this way air was sucked in, which resulted in an explosive
athmosphere. I still wonder where the spark may have come from that is also
needed... in there. Maybe someone lit a cigarette near an outlet.

The best place to ask for more details are insurance companies I guess. I
did that probably six or seven years ago, and was told that such manure
pumping incidents happen about twice a year in Germany. That company had
not seen a case with a biogas plant neither. 

Anthony Simm

At 11:37 AM 4/10/02 -0400, Marty Climenhaga wrote:
>Hello all,
>
>I am trying to get some info on AD accidents - most references I see talk 
>about the possibility of explosion, but I haven't heard of specific 
>instances and I'm trying to get a handle on whether they are rare, 
>extremely rare, never happen or happen more often than you'd think but 
>aren't widely publicized.
>
>I am wondering who has heard of an explosion, fire or other accident 
>involving an anaerobic digester in any application, whether industrial, 
>wastewater, farm, or low-tech biodigesters in developing countries.  Can 
>anyone point me to somewhere to look?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:	renertech [SMTP:renertech@xtra.co.nz]
>Sent:	Monday, April 08, 2002 7:13 AM
>To:	digestion@crest.org
>Subject:	Fw: DIG-L: energy conversion
>
>Oops!   Forgot to add the attachment.  So Sorry.  I also added in a few 
>more comments to the message below.  Ken C.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: renertech
>To: digestion@crest.org
>Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 10:48 PM
>Subject: Re: DIG-L: energy conversion
>
>
>Dear Michael, I had replied to a couple of other requests off line, but it 
>looks as if the New Zealand Farmer biogas system is interesting to many 
>more, so I am replying to you on the network.  Because the first guy as 
>from the US of A, I did the figures in Imperial rather than metric.  If you 
>can't decipher them then I guess I could do a rerun??    Because of the low 
>prices for petroleum fuels over the last 15 years, there are not too many 
>plants still working, but those that are will be watching the present OPEC 
>price hikes with great interest.  Most of these farmers take the 
>intermediate pressure methane of stripped biogas and  use a long stroke 
>hydraulic cylinder to compress it up to 3000psi in one compression stroke. 
> Then they have the usual  CNG conversion kit on their motor vehicles and 
>run around on their own homemade CNG.  I might also say that  using the 
>UASB technique, you don't need to use up half of your gas to heat the 
>system to mesophyllic temperatures.  Biogas can be made at temperatures as 
>low as 10-15oC   If you look at the publications page on my website,  you 
>will see a report there on making biogas from coffee wastes which gives 
>most of the details.
>Sincerely,
>Ken Calvert.
>Renertech.
>159 St.Andrew St.
>Invercargill.
>New Zealand. 9501
>Phone. +64 3217 7015
>Fax.      +64 3217 7032
>E-Mail   renertech@xtra.co.nz
>Webs   www.coffee.20m.com
>----- Original Message -----
>  From: Michael Kottner
>  To: renertech
>  Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 8:17 PM
>  Subject: Re: DIG-L: energy conversion
>
>
>  Dear Ken,
>
>  I would be more interested in your system of gas stripping, especially to 
>take out the CO2 under low pressure. How is it done and is it still done in 
>New Zealand as in Germany we are looking always at very complicated devices 
>when it comes to CO2 stripping ? Could you send some more information, 
>bacause farmers here are interested in low tech approaches.
>
> << File: ATT00009.html >>  << Message: Re: biogas stripping etc. >>  << 
>File: ATT00011.txt >> 
>
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Beginners Tour of Biogas
http://WWW.roseworthy.adelaide.edu.au/~pharris/biogas/beginners