DIG-L: Re : DIG-L: digester accidents are rare butŠ

["Christian COUTURIER" <meiffren.couturier@wanadoo.fr>]

I think that accidents are extremely rare but "happen more often than you'd
think".

- destruction of the Sinding digester (Denmark codigestion plant) some years
ago

some accidents in France (heard about them but I have no details) :

-  accident on Paris'municipal WWTP (Acheres), due to storm (first accident
on this plant from 1940, 27 digesters), no human damage
- accident on an industrial WWTP due to implosion of the digester. no human
damage but the digester have not been rebuilt.
-  accident  on a municipal WWTP : fire in a digested sludge storage
(confined space, mixture of gas from degassing sludge and air ; a worker was
smoking near the outle pipe) - no human damage, the storage have burnt.
-  accident  on a municipal WWTP : gas escape (failure of canalizations), 1
death due to H2S. People on this WWTP are now very afraid with AD.

According to these "statistics", 4 accidents in last 20 years on a panel of
about 40 AD plants, i.e. maybe 0,005 accident per digester per year ??? this
is very few” if you are not a victim !

More of accidents are due to lack of basic security devices or inapropriate
procedures (old concept digesters, lack of information), and mainly with
peripherics rather than the digester itself :
- ignition (cigarettes) + gas escape, no gas leakage detection
- implosion (inapropriate drainage in absence of depressurisation
safety-valve or "rupture disk")
- mechanical damage (wind, storm)

I'm very interested by results of you inquiry.

----------
>Deð: Marty Climenhaga <mclimenhaga@macviro.com>
>ø : "digestion@crest.org" <digestion@crest.org>
>Objetð: DIG-L: digester accidents
>Dateð: Mer 10 avr 2002 17:37
>

>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?


Digestion List Archives:
http://www.crest.org/discussion/digestion/200202/

Digestion List Moderator:
Paul Harris, paul.harris@adelaide.edu.au
http://www.roseworthy.adelaide.edu.au/~pharris
List-Post: <mailto:digestion@crest.org>
List-Help: <mailto:digestion-help@crest.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:digestion-unsubscribe@crest.org>
List-Subscribe: <mailto:digestion-subscribe@crest.org>

Other Digestion Events and Information:
http://www.bioenergy2002.org
http://crest.org/discussiongroups/resources/biomass/biogas/BIOGASMK.pdf
http://www.crest.org/articles/static/1/1010424940_7.html

Beginners Tour of Biogas
http://WWW.roseworthy.adelaide.edu.au/~pharris/biogas/beginners