German manufacturer Weltec Biopower has been commissioned by English recycling company Eco Sustainable Solutions to build a biomethane plant near Bournemouth Airport.
Eco Sustainable will operate the plant itself and fill the stainless steel tanks with household waste and agricultural residues from nearby businesses and its own farms. The site will feature two 5,579 cubic metre digesters, storage tank and two pre-storage tanks.
A de-packaging plant for food is already in place at another nearby location. From the end of 2025, the plant will produce processed biogas, which will be fed into the national gas grid as a natural gas equivalent.
Uniform mix and high system availability
Weltec’s modular plant design enables the project to be completed within 18 months. Proven pump and agitator technologies are used for sustainable digestion of the previously homogenised organic materials – such as submersible motor and long-axis agitators with high performance, which prevent substrates from settling at the bottom of the tanks and ensure optimal mixing of the input materials.
No interruption to biomethane production is necessary during system maintenance, which contributes to high plant availability. The company also supplies pump containers, dosing units, desulphurization, heating and three downstream hygienisation systems. The biogas produced is processed into biomethane using an upgrading system with membrane technology.
Simple plant operation
The components can be monitored and regulated by Eco Sustainable Solutions at any time via a web-based control system.
“The innovative tool guarantees complete and rapid access to all plant parameters,” explained Stephan Stärk, responsible for automation technology at Weltec Biopower.
Recycling award
Weltec Biopower has already implemented biogas projects for Eco Sustainable Solutions in the past. In Piddlehinton, west of Dorset, a 1.6 megawatt biogas plant was commissioned in 2009 and expanded two years later. A hygienisation stage for the fermentation of food and agricultural waste has also been implemented.
The plant received the British ‘Organics Recycling Award’ in 2013 for its efficient use of energy, which incorporates high-quality fertiliser output in accordance with strict British PAS110 standards and the decoupled system waste heat for a neighbouring feed mill.
Contributing to heating decarbonisation
The Bioenergy Review study (2023) concluded that up to 183 terawatt hours of biomethane could be produced annually in the UK using biogas and biomethane from waste materials such as those supplied by Eco Sustainable.
This amount could meet the annual gas demand of households across South-East England, London and East Anglia.
The review also concludes that bioenergy and renewable gas in particular can have an important impact on achieving the 2050 climate targets, especially if they contribute to the decarbonisation of the heating sector.
