SIMULATION OF BIOGAS PRODUCTION FROM THE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION PROCESS
Silva, M. I1; De Bortoli, A. L1
1 Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
doi:10.20906/CPS/CILAMCE2017-0362
Resumo
In the last years, with the increase in the cost of oil and with its reserves decreasing worldwide, the need for alternative sources of energy using local resources has increased rapidly. One of the resources available that has great potential for development and viability is the biomass, most abundant raw material in the world, consisting of substances of organic origin (plant, animal and microorganisms). Unlike fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, biomass is renewable in a short period of time. From the process, called anaerobic digestion, which is biological degradation of biomass, can be obtained a gas of great relevance for power generation, the methane. This product is the main chemical component of the biogas (biofuel) that can be used for power generation, thermal and mechanical energy. The anaerobic digestion is a complex process, consisting of several stages, that occurs, in the absence of oxygen, performed by a well-organized community of microbial populations. This process can be divided into four phases of biodegradation: hydrolysis, acidogenisis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis. The mathematical model is obtained according to the number of chemical reactions presented in each stage of the process. This modeling provides a set of ordinary differential equations that must be solved numerically, because of the coupling set of equations. In this work, we present the process of anaerobic digestion, including chemical reactions and the mathematical model. We simulated this process, by solving numerically the system of ordinary differential equations. In addition, the system of equations is simplified to get an analytical solution. The numerical results and analytical values obtained compare reasonably with data found in the literature.
Palavras-chave: Anaerobic digestion; Biomass; Biogas; Chemical kinetics; Simulation