Energy Generation from bio-wastes in a brewery – A case study

Sturm, Dr Barbara; Wang, Dr Yaodong; Ammar, Dr Yasmine; Roskilly, Professor Tony

Abstract

Environmental concerns over increasing green house gas emission and tightening legislative requirements and financial constrains are currently changing the industrial world. As a result, many companies are seeking solutions to reduce their fossil fuel consumption, emissions, waste and costs in order to make their business sustainable. In breweries a large amount of heat is required for the process; consequently a large oil fed boiler is usually in operation on site to meet the demand. There also is a need for cooling, particularly after fermentation and in the storage areas, presently supplied via electrical air conditioning units and chillers. This equipment is not particularly energy efficient and is heavily reliant upon fossil fuels for operation. The process also produces a large quantity of solid waste which is currently disposed of. Additionally the brewery investigated is located very close to a cattle farm. The slurry produced there can be used to top up the waste grain and produce enough biogas to provide the energy required for the whole process. In this study, a combined biogas generation with a tri-generation (heat, power and cooling) system is proposed to offer a solution to supply the energy required for the production of beer in a small scale brewery. An anaerobic digester is used to digest the bio-wastes from the brewery and the slurry from nearby farms, to generate biogas as the energy source for the tri-generation system. The tri-generation system is composed of an internal combustion engine with a generator, a waste heat recovery system and an absorption cooling system.

Citation

Sturm, D. B., Wang, D. Y., Ammar, D. Y., & Roskilly, P. T. (2010, August). Energy Generation from bio-wastes in a brewery – A case study. Paper presented at 9th International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies, Shanghai, China

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: 9th International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies
• Conference Location: Shanghai, China
• Start Date: Aug 24, 2010
• End Date: Aug 27, 2010
• Deposit Date: Nov 5, 2019
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1141565