Journal
BIOMASS & BIOENERGY
Volume 24, Issue 3, Pages 239-248Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/S0961-9534(02)00134-4
Keywords
biogas production; solar-heated digester; livestock housing; economic analysis
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The possibility to cover the annual space-heating requirements of a typical swine nursery by the methane produced using a solar-assisted anaerobic digester of innovative design, is studied for two Greek areas. Simulation is used to predict the hourly temperature and relative humidity inside the early-weaned piglet unit, along with the heating energy requirements to keep indoor conditions within pigs' production space. The methane produced by the solar-assisted anaerobic digester is also calculated using a detailed simulation algorithm. The results showed that the methane produced from the solar-assisted anaerobic digester completely ensures not only full coverage of the annual space-heating requirements of the described piglet unit for both Greek areas, but also large methane surplus which could-be used in various other ways. A simple sensitivity analysis concerning the economics of the solar-assisted anaerobic dig ester indicated that its profitability strongly depends on to what extent the produced methane is used. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
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