Waste to Fuels Technology Research Update

Chad Kruger, WSU

Center for Sustaining Agriculture & Natural Resources

Where have we been?

Ecologys Waste 2 Resources program has strategically invested in WSU
CSANR for Waste To Fuels Technology (WTFT) research that will facilitate
the commercialization of a suite of second-generation organics processing
technologies that can be integrated with aerobic composting by our regional
organics recycling industry.
Early research (2005-2011) focused on:
Waste organics inventories and assessments
Technology development for anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis
In 2011-2013, WTFT funded applied research in three technology areas and
modeling of their integration:
High solids anaerobic digestion
Nutrient recovery
Pyrolysis

Recycling organic waste is a big deal to the PNW

Removing 20% of total C
annually ~10% of
Washingtons Net CO2

176,000 MT of
synthetic N fertilizer
inputs in 2001

Carbon

Nitrogen

Nitrogen (Thuosand Dry Tons/yr)

Carbon (Million Dry Tons/yr)

10

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Field
Residue

Animal
Manures

Forest
Food
Municipal
Residue Processing

Total

250
200
150
100
50
0
Field
Residue

Animal
Manures

Forest
Food
Municipal
Residue Processing

At least 16.9 Million Dry Tons Biomass in Washington

Total

Where are we going?

For 2013-2015, WTFT is funding:

A research needs assessment
A synthesis study on the potential for integrated organics recycling
facilities
Extension / tech-transfer
Seed research in several applied areas of research

Evolving Composting Yards into Bio-refineries

Inputs

Outputs

Processing Facility

AD = Anaerobic Digestion, NR = Nutrient Recovery, RNG = Renewable Natural Gas

Applied Research
Anaerobic
Digestion/Nutrient
Recovery

Anaerobic Digestion/ Nutrient Recovery

Problem: Food scraps and green waste are generating significant odor emissions
at composting facilities.
Proposed Solution: Anaerobic digestion has a proven track record at digesting food
scraps and a combination of wastes while at the same time reducing odors. While
AD doesnt reduce the nutrient content leaving the reactor, nutrient recovery
technologies can be used to recover nutrients in sellable form. Wastewater
treatment sludge, green waste, food scraps and a mixture of green waste and food
scraps underwent AD (37C) followed by nutrient recovery (aeration at 55C).

Results
Biogas Production:

Highest specific methane

potential occurred on food
scrap digestion due to high
degradability.
Doubling of biogas production
also occurred when yard
waste and food scraps were
anaerobically digested
compared to yard waste alone
(lignocellulosic material in yard
waste)

1000

Specific biogas production (mL Biogas/g VS)

The specific methane potential

allows for comparison with
other studies.

800

600

400

200

YW
FS
YW+FS

0
0

10

20

Time (hours)

30

40

Results
Nitrogen (TAN) and Phosphorus (TP)
Removal:

100

YW effluent
FS effluent
YW+ FS effluent

The nutrient recovery (aeration

experiments) indicated that high TAN
removal rates are achievable for
organic waste, although slightly lower
than the nitrogen removal rates for
dairy manure.

TAN removal (%)

80

40

20

0
0

Additional processing time might raise

the recovery rate for green waste and
food scraps, though at a higher
energy requirement.

10

12

14

Aeration time (hour)

70

60

50

TP removal (%)

TP removal was slightly lower than

that achieved in previous studies
using dairy manure, likely due to the
form of P in the various wastes.

60

40

30

20

10

0
0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Days of settling of digested YW+FS effluent

3.5

Modelling
High solids Anaerobic
Digestion and
Pyrolysis

Modelling High Solids Anaerobic Digestion (HSAD)

Objective: CFD modeling studies can be less

expensive than direct experiments, and are
particularly helpful when it is difficult to
experimentally detect the mixing parameters.
In this study, modelling was developed for a high
solids anaerobic digestion system that combines
two stages (HSAD+UASB) to be able to
anaerobically digest food scraps.
To test the new two-stage model, the pH, VFA,
and biogas production were modeled and then
experimentally verified.

Results

Biogas production, volatile fatty

acid, and pH were modelled
and experimentally determined
to further validate the model.
Good agreement (P<0.05) and
stable AD was observed for
both the model and the
experiments.

Results

To illustrate how this tool could be used, the reactor was scaled up by
altering the UASB height or cross-sectional area. As the cross-sectional
area was increased, CH4 production increased in the upper zone of the
HSAD reactor.

Moving Forward from 2011- 2013

During this biennium (2013-2015), researchers at WSU and CSANR have

continued our overall shift of focus from a focus on dairy-based AD to a
more comprehensive effort focused across the spectrum from dairy / farmbased to regional organics recycling centers.
Composting is currently diverting the majority of food scraps in the state
but is continually running into management challenges when composting
food scraps.
The incorporation of AD, pyrolysis, and nutrient recovery with composting
is an attractive option to resolve odor issues at compost yards as well as
produce multiple products (e.g. renewable energy, soil amendments,
compost). It also provides an opportunity to reduce GHG emissions, odor
emissions, pathogens and nutrient overloading.

Current work:
2013-2015 Scope of Work
Project 1: Comprehensive
research needs assessment
Project 2: Assessing the
capabilities of the bio-refinery
vision
Project 3: Extension, outreach and
project management
Project 4: Applied proof of concept
seed research

Project 1: Comprehensive Research Needs Assessment

What different organics processing technologies are you
or have you been actively involved with using, supplying,
researching, promoting, etc.? (234 respondents)

Project 2: Assessing the capabilities of the bio- refinery

vision

Project 2: Assessing the capabilities of the bio- refinery

vision

Project 3: Extension and Tech Transfer

http://csanr.wsu.edu/program-areas/w2f/ - with links to all of our

program publications

AD Systems Technical Manual

Anaerobic digestion
AD fundamentals
AD systems
Dairy biorefinery concept
Environmental credits from AD
systems

Renewable natural gas (RNG)

RNG approaches
Economics of AD and CHP/RNG
Nutrient recovery (NR)
Rationale for NR
NR technologies

Environmental credits carbon

credits.

Economics of NR

Developing a high quality feasibility

study for AD systems projects

Fiber

Co-digestion
Project considerations for codigestion

NR Products

NR Products fiber
Black= done
Green= in review/publication

Co- digestion substrates

Orange= in process

Permitting for co- digestion

Red= next up.

Project 4: Applied Proof of Concept Seed Research

Task 4.1 Biochar to cap compost piles for emissions
reductions Garcia- Perez
Task 4.2 Magnetic beads to extract polyphenolic
compounds - Chen
Task 4.3 Scrubbing H2S from biogas with biochar - Frear
Task 4.4 Pre- market analysis for compost marketing Jensen

Project 4: H2S scrubbing with biochar

HSScrubbing
2500

H2S(ppm)

2000

1500

ACTIVATEDCARBON
T3001

1000

CONTROL
T3002
T400

500

Promising

0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Time(h)

Preliminary results showing the H2S retention of each material

1400

Thank you!

Center for Sustaining Agriculture

and Natural Resources
http://csanr.wsu.edu
http://www.facebook.com/CSANR

Contact:
Chad Kruger, Director, CSANR
cekruger@wsu.edu

The Climate Friendly Dairy of the Future

Or, perhaps, the Present?

Inland PNW GHG mitigation

potentials for manure
management range from 3.0
6.0 MMTCO2e / annually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ei49Z4oeUtY

Applied Research
Anaerobic Digestion

Liquid Food Scrap AD

Problem: Composting odors associated with accepting food scraps.
Solution: Squeeze the liquids out of food scraps and anaerobically digest them
to produce biogas, a source of renewable energy.
Research objectives: Bench-scale plug flow reactor was designed,
constructed, and used to digest dairy manure (a base, recalcitrant substrate)
with acetic acid (substitute to food scraps). Acetic acid was dosed at different
stages along the reactor to determine reactor stability.

Results
Biogas Production:
Inclusion of acetic acid at different ports
did not necessarily inhibit or overload the
digester.
Under some conditions (after stage 3),
biogas production tapered off, indicating
reactor instability.
VFA Accumulation:

Biogas Production vs time

Dosing at stage 3 did have a negative

impact on digester performance.
Results suggest a maximum threshold
that should be avoided when digesting
highly digestible substrates such as food
scraps.

VFA accumulation vs time

Applied Research
Anaerobic Digestion/
Torrefaction/Pyrolysis

Woody Waste: Torrefaction/Pyrolysis/ AD

Problem: Woody waste is difficult to digest because of lignocellulosic structure
Solution: Utilize thermochemical processes (torrefaction and pyrolysis) to
break down woody waste and separate out C1-C4 compounds that are suitable
for AD via condensers. Thereafter, utilize AD to produce biogas from the C1-C4
compounds.
Research objectives: Develop new knowledge and technologies to
anaerobically digest C1C4 molecules produced from pyrolysis and torrefaction
of various lignocellulosic wastes. Feedstocks investigated included wheat
straw, pea hay, sorghum, Arundo donax, and red fir wood chips.

Pyrolysis unit at WSU

Results
Biogas Production:
600

Further testing of pea hay

should seek to determine
why this specific material
was less inhibitory to the AD
process than other
lignocellulosic feedstocks.

500

Gas Yield (ml)

Pea hay had the highest

biogas production among
tested feedstocks.
At 4% pea hay
concentration, almost 500 ml
of biogas was produced after
24 days of AD.

50 hours
100 hours
150 hours
200 hours
250 hours
300 hours
350 hours
400 hours

400

Time

Optimal Concentration

300

200

100

0
0

0.5

1.5
2
2.5
Pea Hay - Concentration (%)

3.5

Results
Toxic Compounds:
The relationship between the
concentration of toxic
compounds produced during
torrefaction/pyrolysis
(hydroaxyacetalhyde and
phenolics) was investigated
to better understand how
they impacted the AD
process
Results indicated that as the
concentration of toxic
compounds within the
aqueous phase increased,
biogas decreased.
Study showed that fragmentation reactions (produces toxic
compounds), lignin reactions, and condensation reactions
must be controlled to reduce inhibition to AD process.

Pyrolysis Modelling
Objective: The objective of this project was to develop mathematical
models that accurately calculate the effective thermal conductivity and
mass diffusivity of wood in the radial and axial direction and that
describe the yield of products when a single biomass particle is
pyrolyzed in an auger pyrolysis reactor.
Validation of the mathematical model will be done by comparing the
results from COMSOL with previous studies from literature.
The parameters estimated by COMSOL were then integrated into a
model to describe the behavior of single biomass particles undergoing
pyrolysis. This model was then validated by comparing experimental
data and modeling results.

Results

One of the parameters investigated was the effective thermal

conductivity and was compared with literature data to verify the
accuracy of the model

Results

Thereafter, a single particle model was developed and

compared with experimentally determined data. As can be seen
by the following graph, good agreement between the model and
data occurred when looking at temperature profile vs. time

Results

Lastly, a model for the auger pyrolysis reactor was developed

and validated using the data obtained in a 1 kg/h auger
pyrolysis reactor. Data was collected from experiments
conducted for model validation purposes on a 1 kg/h Auger
reactor developed at WSU. And, good agreement was
determined.