German biogas plant is 85 percent efficient

[Fledermaus]

According to Michael Stelter, a researcher at IKTS, the biogas plant includes a pretreatment process that reduces the time it takes agricultural waste to break down so it can be fermented. The biogas plant also includes a fuel cell that converts biogas to heat and electricity.

Using an enzymatic hydrolysis pretreatment, the biogas plant technology increases the amount of biomass available for fermentation, Stelter said. The technology also reduces the amount of time it takes for the biomass to decompose and ferment into biogas by 50 to 70 percent. Fermentation time is reduced from 80 to 30 days, he said, and the plant generates 30 percent more biogas than conventional technologies.

Fraunhofer researchers have also optimized converting biogas into electricity using a high-temperature fuel cell with an efficiency of 40 to 55 percent, compared to 38 percent efficiency for a conventional gas engine. Stelter said the 1.5-kilowatt fuel cell, which operates at 850 degrees Celsius (1,562 degrees Fahrenheit), can also be used for direct heat or the heat can be fed into a district heating network. He said capturing the heat with the electricity increases the efficiency of the biogas plant to 85 percent. By comparison, because it’s difficult to capture the heat from a conventional gas engine, the overall efficiency of a gas engine remains at 38 percent.

http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2423

[SurfingScientist]

1. This proves that Germans are not only efficient, ...

and that we know our shit, but that we are even efficient when it comes to shit!!! :toast:

(Sorry, can never resist a cheap shot when I see one!!!)