Case History
CARIONI HEIRS’S FARM
An innovative and efficient Made in Italy biogas plant, perfectly integrated in the company’s production cycle. Built by IES AGRI&FARM, it’s able to feed into the national grid up to 999 kWe per hour and meet the needs of 3,000 families, without waste and without odours, in favour of the environment and the community.
The biogas plant is an investment capable of efficiently concluding the company’s self-sufficiency cycle. At the same time, thermal energy for housing heating needs and quality natural fertilizer are also produced. In this way, the cycle is perpetuated over time, with a high level of efficiency.
Carioni heirs’s farm has a long family history, which began back in 1920. It has over 1600 animals, more than 800 hectares of land on four distinct areas in Lombardy.
TECHNICAL DATA SHEET // 999 kWe
Installed power 999 kWe
| INSTALLED POWER | 999 kWe | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| DOUBLE-STAGE MESOPHILIC PROCESS | |||
| Pre-tank: | n.1 | Ø 10 m | h=2m |
| Fermenters: | n.2 | Ø 24 m | h=6m |
| Post-fermenter: | n.1 | Ø 26 m | h=6m |
| Covered storage tank: | n.1 | Ø 32 m | h=6m |
| Open storage tank: | n.1 | Ø 32 m | h=6m |
| Biomass feeder: | n.2 | stirrers | 60mc |
| DAILY FEEDING PLAN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cattle sewage: | 60 mc | ||
| Cattle manure: | 14 ton | ||
| Corn silage: | 30 ton | ||
| Ryegrass silage: | 20 ton | ||
| ENERGY EFFICIENCY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual electricity production: | 8.200.000 kWh | ||
| Annual production of biogas: | 4.100.000 mc | ||
| Average concentration of methane (CH4) in biogas: | 52-54 % | ||
| COGENERATION GROUP | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | AB Energy | ||
| Model: | Ecomax 10 Bio | ||
| ENGINE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer: | GE Jenbacher | ||
| Model: | J 320 GS-C25 | ||
Biogas is one of the most widely used alternative sources of renewable energy production.
Biogas is the product of microbial degradation of organic substances in the absence of oxygen, a process commonly called anaerobic digestion. It is a mixture of gases, mainly composed of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2).
Slurry from the barn, together with corn and triticale silage, is daily put into the two mainly digesters. Here they remain for about 100 days and then pass into the covered storage tank. The process is therefore of “double-stage” type and takes place at a temperature of 38-42 degrees (mesophilia). The “double-stage” technology allows a safe and elastic fermentation process but, above all, guarantees adequate retention times.
The covering of the storage ensures a complete degradation and therefore an efficient exploitation of the biomass used. Moreover, it also allows a greater reserve of biogas and a better desulphurisation (removal of H2S). Desulphurisation is biological, by injection of very small amounts of oxygen. The internal structure and a desulphurisation network offer an excellent surface for the colonisation of the desulphuriser bacteria. The biogas produced is conveyed to the cogenerator, which produces electricity and thermal energy.
The electricity is transferred to the public grid, the heat is reused partly for the fermentation process, partly for the district heating of barns and offices. At the end of the fermentation process the digestate is obtained: a liquid material, completely odourless, with very high agronomic value, with improved characteristics compared to the raw material.
The digestate undergoes a process of solid/liquid separation: the solid that has the consistency, appearance and smell of a “soil-humus”, is distributed in the fields with a manure spreader or sold to specific users such as flower-gardeners.
TO THE BENEFIT OF WATER, AIR AND SOIL QUALITY.
