Renewable energy from anaerobic digestion plants

How is energy produced from waste? Using innovative technology, our plants convert organic or agricultural waste into biomethane.

Manuele Lesa, sales engineer at the ATZWANGER site in Palmanova, explains the capabilities of anaerobic digestion plants.

There are:

• Plants for the treatment of organic waste

• And plants that utilise agricultural biomass, e.g. by-products such as olive-pomace, manure, silage or straw.

   

“When it comes to waste management, we at ATZWANGER are extremely flexible and can adapt to our customers’ requirements,” emphasises the expert. “Depending on the raw material, we use dry, wet or semi-dry processes. We can convert organic waste – i.e. bio-waste – into biomethane and valuable fertiliser. In any case, we make the most of every type of waste.”

Large plants for organic waste

Two waste recycling plants are currently in the final stages of construction: for AMA (Azienda Municipale Ambiente SpA) in Rome (link news), organic waste digestion plants are being built, each of them will process and convert 100,000 tonnes of organic waste from separate collection into compost – i.e. fertiliser and methane. “We’re right on schedule, much to the satisfaction of our clients,” says Lesa.

For these plants, ATZWANGER relies on fully enclosed systems with precise control of the biological processes. “We work with innovative odour control systems,” explains the experienced technician, “which enable us to prevent odour emissions.” And, of course, the organic waste that is delivered has already been suitably processed and cleared of any contaminants and impurities.

Biomethane from agricultural by-products

Four innovative plants for the utilisation of agricultural biomass are also currently being built – another area of expertise of ATZWANGER. The aim is to produce biomethane, which will be fed into the public gas network.

Such a plant essentially consists of four sections:

• the preparation and feeding of the biomass,
• the anaerobic digestion,
• the conversion of biogas into biomethan

• the separation of the fermentation residue into solid and liquid fractions, and their possible further processing

   

“The solid end products can be used as fertiliser in agriculture, but they must be stored and treated appropriately for this purpose,” explains Lesa. “Biogas, too, must be converted into biomethane of the appropriate quality before it can be fed into the grid.”

This creates a valuable cycle: agricultural by-products and organic waste are transformed into precious resources. Innovative technology makes a tangible contribution to the energy transition.