Professor develops water-saving AD process

Biomass Magazine
September 2010
By Lisa Gibson
Posted September 8, 2010 at 9:40 a.m. CST

A Colorado State University professor is developing an anaerobic digester that uses less water than conventional systems, making it ideal and economically feasible for use at feedlots and dairies in the western states.

Sybil Sharvelle, assistant professor of engineering, said her process is separated into stages, beginning with water trickling over the solids and converting the organic material into liquid organic acids. Then the acids are converted to methane in a separate high-rate digestion reactor. Sharvelle has experimented mainly with animal waste, but said the process is appropriate for any waste with solids content of more than 40 percent. “Aside from manure, we are also testing the reactor for conversion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste to methane,” she said. The amount of water saved varies depending on the quality of the feedstock, she added.

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