External Gas Mix Installation for Bioreactor Turbulence
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing biogas production methods, particularly anaerobic processes, face inefficiencies in mixing and processing organic materials, leading to suboptimal biogas yield and prolonged reaction times, often requiring energy-intensive hydrolysis processes and internal tank maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A gas mix installation that uses a shredder-type pump and venturi device to create a gas-liquid mixture, injecting the mixture into bioreactors at high pressure to induce three-dimensional turbulence, enhancing biogas production by increasing methane content and reducing reaction time without additional equipment or additives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If internal stirring implements (vanes) are used in the bioreactor tank, then mixing efficiency is improved, but device complexity and maintenance difficulty increase due to internal equipment requiring access into the tank
Solution Approach 1:
The stirring function is extracted from internal tank equipment and transferred to an external pump system. The pump is mounted outside the tank and circulates liquid through suction and injection pipes, eliminating the need for internal vanes or stirrers that require access into the tank for maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
A liquid circulation system acts as an intermediary between the external pump and the bioreactor contents. The pump circulates liquid through pipes that connect to the tank interior, transferring the mixing action indirectly without requiring internal mechanical components.
2Productivity
If hydrolysis processes are added to break down lignocellulose, then biogas yield is improved, but energy consumption increases due to additional processing steps
Solution Approach 1:
Hydrolysis is performed preliminarily on selected portions of the basic material before it enters the main bioreactor process. This pre-treatment breaks down difficult-to-decompose components like lignocellulose into simpler compounds that bacteria can more easily convert to biogas, increasing overall yield without requiring continuous energy-intensive processing throughout the entire system.
3Productivity
If the pump ejects liquid at higher pressure through the injection pipe, then stirring action and biogas production are improved, but the volume of liquid injected is limited by pump capacity
Solution Approach 1:
Gas is introduced into the liquid stream at the pump inlet, creating a gas-liquid mixture. This phase transition allows the injected substance to expand in volume significantly, enabling much larger volumes of material to be introduced into the bioreactor while maintaining the same pump power output. The gas bubbles provide additional stirring action and increase the total volume of injected mixture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly increases biogas yield and reduces reaction time by creating optimal turbulence and hydrolysis conditions within the bioreactor, eliminating the need for internal maintenance and improving methane content from 60% to over 65%, while using less energy.
Implementation Method 1
the substantially liquid base material inside the tank is ejected from the pump at a higher pressure whereby the injection of material inside the tank will create movement in the content of the tank
Implementation Method 2
By furthermore providing a gas pipe to the injector pipe the higher pressure in the liquid on the injection side of the pump will suck gas into the liquid stream and thereby mix it with the liquid
Implementation Method 3
due to the buoyancy of the gas contained in the injected liquid the gas will percolate towards the top of the tank thereby in addition to creating a horizontal circulation in the liquid inside the tank about a vertical axis
Implementation Method 4
This will provide a much larger volume of injected liquid/gas into the tank such that the main pump's capacity is surpassed by the addition of gas whereby a larger volume will be put into motion inside the bioreactor tank. Furthermore, due to the buoyancy of the gas contained in the injected liquid the gas will percolate towards the top of the tank thereby in addition to creating a horizontal circulation in the liquid inside the tank about a vertical axis, the injected mixture will create circulation around a horizontal axis as well. This three-dimensional turbulence in the liquid inside the bioreactor tank will ensure that the materials in the basic material used for decomposition and thereby generation of biogas is optimized at all times
Data Source
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Figure 5
AI summary
Gas mix installation (5) for use in connection with tanks (1) for biogas reactors wherein the gas mix installation comprises: . - a main pump (8) having respectively a suction side and an injection side, where said pump (8) is arranged externally of the tank (1) . - a liquid suction pipe (6) connecting the interior of the tank to the main pump's (8) suction side; . - an injector pipe (7) connecting the interior of the tank (1) to the pump's injection side; . - a gas pipe (10) connected between the injector pipe and a source of biogas (9); where said gas pipe (10) is connected to the injector pipe (7) externally of the tank (1).