Design & Demonstration of Pilot Scale Continuous Stirred Tank Bioreactor for Biogas Production

Anaerobic digestion (AD) systems are extremely sensitive to changes in environmental variables. Correct design and control of the system's parameters are essential to maximize process efficiency, increase stability, and prevent system failure. Automation systems can both raise plant availability and help meet the transparency requirements of the process. A fully automated Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) of 40m³ capacity was designed for jatropha waste and installed at University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun (India). This is first fully automated digestor at pilot scale which can be monitored by remote sensing all over the country. Parameters (pH, temp, feeding rate, energy consumption) were attained from a CSTR plant online by using Remote monitoring system. Pilot scale CSTR was operated using cow dung: jatropha de-oiled cake (CD: JDOC) in a optimized ratio of 1:3. The reactor was run continuously for 120 days. Average biogas produced per day was 25m3 per day.