Compendium of projects undertaken for major internship at excellent renewable Pvt. Ltd

Student name: Ms Reva R
Guide: Dr V V N Kishore
Year of completion: 2011
Host Organisation: Excellent Renewable Pvt. Ltd.
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Klaus Peter Hankel

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Abstract: Excellent Renewable Pvt. Ltd is a technology provider cum EPC consultant in biogas industry. The company has researched and implemented many small and medium sized biogas plants and is in the verge of entering the large-scale biogas plant market. The six projects undertaken during this internship will aid in the growth of the company. The projects undertaken were
• Development of standard procedures to construct and operate a biogas plant • Designing a substrate selection process for biogas plant • Integration of PLC and instrumentation in a biogas plant • Develop a supply-chain framework for a biogas plant • Thermal performance evaluation of a paraboloid solar cooker • Integrated energy planning of Muni Seva Ashram

Standard procedures for construction and operation of a biogas plant specify the stepby-step instructions to be followed for any operation in a biogas plant. It gives an overview of the life cycle of a biogas plant and the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders of the project. Having a documented set of procedures will ensure efficient utilization of time and material while implementing a project. It would assist the project management team to determine the health of the project at any given point in time.

The quality of the available substrate can’t be pre-planned and hence there is a need for a system that will determine the quantity of substrate to be processed to ensure maximum methane yield. Substrate selection process utilizes linear programming concepts to determine the quantity-wise mix of substrates, which would provide the maximum methane yield in a biogas plant. Such a system is imperative for a biogas plants processing multiple substrates.

Process scheduling, monitoring and optimization are possible in a biogas plant utilizing an intelligent control system. Integrating of PLC and instrumentation in a biogas plant will improve the performance of a biogas plant and prevent unnecessary downtime. Monitoring the process parameters will also prevent the occurrence of process imbalance inside the digester.

The performance of a biogas plant is directly dependent on the quality and quantity of feedstock available for processing. By defining a supply chain framework, the nonavailability of a particular feedstock can be forecasted and it gives the project management team time to act on it. It given an idea of expected feedstock for the coming months and the performance of biogas plant based on that. The decision whether or not to go for another feedstock becomes easier once these values are known.

Paraboloid solar cookers are an efficient solution to replace firewood used for cooking. An ideal solar cooker will raise the temperature of the vessel and its contents very quickly and maintains them at steady state temperature. The suitability of a paraboloid solar cooker for a given region can be determined by measuring its thermal performance. The 80 cm dia paraboloid solar cooker tested for its performance gave satisfactory results.

Energy planning is necessary of determining the optimal mix of resources required for supplying the energy demand in a region. Integrated energy planning carried out for Muni Seva Ashram gave the quantities of biogas of biogas to be generated if firewood and diesel are to be replaced as energy resources.

Keywords: Substrate selection process; Integrated energy planning, Paraboloid solar cooker, Supply chain management, Process automation of biogas plants, Project life cycle of biogas plants.