Adjusting the rheological properties of corn-straw slurry to reduce the agitation power consumption in anaerobic digestion

• Agitation power consumption (P) in the anaerobic digestion of biogas plants is a major consumer of electric energy. To reduce P by adjusting the rheological properties, in this work, the rheological properties of the corn-straw slurry were studied systematically considering the effects of TS, temperature and particle-size, and P was calculated based on the rheological behavior of the corn-straw slurry. The investigation shows that the corn-straw slurry is a non-Newtonian fluid and exhibit shear-thinning behavior, and the rheological properties can be well described with the power law model. The size-reduction is more effective compared to the option of temperature-increase to improve the agitation power efficiency, and the value of P can be reduced by up to 48.11 %. Since the size-reduction can also increase the methane yield, the reduction of the particle-size is a promising option to save P, especially at relatively high TSs and for the thermophilic AD process.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik -- Energiteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering -- Energy Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Rheological properties

Corn-straw slurry

Agitation power consumption

Anaerobic digestion

Energiteknik

Energy Engineering

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)