Micro-biomethanation

The biomethanation is a natural process that produces methane by bacterial action. Bacteria transform organic waste in an anaerobic atmosphere (no air, no oxygen) by the combined action of micro-organisms.

If the right conditions are met, biogas is produced, mainly consisting of methane (60% CH4, 40% CO2) which, in this case, is a non-fossil fuel.

The gas is then transformed via a cogeneration motor in electricity and heat. In parallel to this supply of energy, digestate is also produced for use in agriculture as high value fertilizer.

MITIS is actively working on adapting its μ10 machine to be used as the cogeneration motor of biomethanization settings. Therefore, MITIS partners with ANATIS (Belgium) to develop and commercialize a new cogeneration unit. ANATIS develops small and medium power agricultural biomethanation units (from 10 electrical kW for small units up to between 100 and 1,000 electrical kW for medium-sized units). The objective is to offer standardized installations of professional quality, irrespective of the power supplied.

A pilot unit is under development. This pilot is a biomethanation system installed in a farm located in Durbuy (Belgium) integrating ANATIS technologies and coupled to a cogenereration micro gas turbine developed by MITIS. The control unit of the microturbine monitors and leads the whole ANATIS systems, like pumps, sensors, etc. The heat which is produced by the cogeneration is straightforward used to heat the tanks (and ensure the bacterial action), while the electricity can feed the agricultural exploitation and the residual heat is used to heat the farm’s buildings.