CDB 4014: PLANT DESIGN PROJECT 1 (PDP 1)

SEMESTER JANUARY 2020

TITTLE 3:

Plant Design for Biogas Production for Heat, Electricity and Chemical Liquid Fuel
Production from Farm Waste

Group 25

Deepak Loong Kwek Hwa 23650

Norhafizah binti Mansor 24054

Mohamad Haikal Farish bin Faizal 23748

Nur Syuhada binti Ishak 23683

Yap Xi Ying 23643

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI PETRONAS

JANUARY 2020
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Depletion of finite energy sources over years thus lead to the study on potential
renewable energy sources. Therefore, biomass upgrading into sources of energy is seems to
be a promising route to the energy field in substituting the non-renewable energy. The
primary objective of this project is to propose a plant design to produce biogas and
biofertilizer as the co-product from pig manure as the feedstock. Having a plant capacity of
116 million of pig manure as the feedstock per year, this design biogas plant managed to
produce 416,670 m3 per hour of methane which will be uploaded to the energy grid as
electricity supplier and 733,853 kg/day of digestate which will be sell as fertilizer. The
biofertilizer is having a market availability because by 2020, Kampar become an agricultural
hub in Perak. Therefore, the biofertilizer is the best fertilizer compare to chemical fertilizer
due to its Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium (NPK) value. The plant design develop through
this project must meet the economic viability while retaining high yield of production.
Throughout the design project, economic evaluation is primary and therefore,

Throughout the designing of this biogas plant, safety and environmental aspects are
taken into consideration where requirement and regulations to be comply was studied such as
EQA 2014, OSHA 1994, Factory and Machinery Act 1967 and the National Land Code 1956
(Act 56) before commissioning the plant. Process flow diagram and piping instrumentation
diagram (P&ID) of the design plant were produced through simulation using ASPEN PLUS
software following the proposed instrumentation and control strategy of the production
process. HAZOP was conducted to strengthen the safety measures of the design plant.

Having a feedstock of 116 million kg/year of pig manure, the design plant generated
RM 2060 million per year as its annual income from product selling. Considering the OPEX
of the plant, it cost RM 23 million for the variable operating cost and RM 753 million for
fixed operating cost. For the CAPEX, the plant cost up to RM 2264 million. Based on the
calculation of economic potential (EP), 2 years are needed for the plant to break even.
According to Sinnot (2005), the investment can be considered to be low risk when the break-
even is less than 2 years. Hence, this plant design project meets the aspects economically and
can be commissioning safely.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Background of the Design Project ............................................................................................ 4

1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................... 5

1.3 Objectives................................................................................................................................ 6

1.4 Scope of Study......................................................................................................................... 7

CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................................... 8
LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Physical and Chemical Properties of Feed ................................................................................ 8

2.2 Characterization of Product .................................................................................................... 11

2.2.1 Biogas ................................................................................................................. 11

2.2.2 Biofertilizer ........................................................................................................ 13

2.3 Anaerobic Digestion .............................................................................................................. 14

2.4 Process Route Alternatives in the Plant .................................................................................. 17

2.5 Market Study of the Products ................................................................................................. 18

2.5.1 Product Price and Market Demand.................................................................. 18

2.6 Feasibility Study on Site Location .......................................................................................... 20

2.6.1 Selection Criteria ............................................................................................... 20

2.6.2 Options for Plant Site Location ........................................................................ 24

2.7 Plant Location Evaluation ...................................................................................................... 25

CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................................. 28
PRELIMINARY HAZARD ANALYSIS ...................................................................................... 28
3.1 Summary of previous accidents on similar type of plants ........................................................ 28

3.2 Identification of material and chemical hazard ....................................................................... 32

3.3 Inherent Safety Design ........................................................................................................... 33

3.4 Identification of any requirement/ compliance by local safety regulations and design guidelines
.................................................................................................................................................... 34

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN ANALYSIS ......................................................................................... 36

4.1 Preliminary Reactor Optimization .......................................................................................... 36
 4.1.1 Process Description ........................................................................................... 38

4.1.2 Block Flow Diagram .......................................................................................... 39

4.2 Reactor Selection ................................................................................................................... 40

4.2.1 Mode of Operation ............................................................................................ 41

4.2.2 Reactor Type ..................................................................................................... 43

4.2.3 Reactor efficiency .............................................................................................. 44

4.3 Process Screening .................................................................................................................. 49

4.3.1 Separation Process: Biogas Upgrading Technology ......................................... 49

4.3.2 Working Principle of Amine Scrubber Technology ......................................... 52

4.3.3 Technology Ranking for Biogas Upgrading Methods ...................................... 53

4.4 Economics Evaluation............................................................................................................ 54

4.4.1 Biogas Upgrading Technology .......................................................................... 54

4.4.2 Plant Economics Evaluation ............................................................................. 55

4.5 Process Flow sheeting ............................................................................................................ 63

CHAPTER 5 .................................................................................................................................. 64
HEAT INTEGRATION AND PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM .................................................... 64
CHAPTER 6 .................................................................................................................................. 70
PROCESS CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTATION ................................................................. 70
6.1 Process Control and Instrument .............................................................................................. 70

6.2 Types of Control Strategies .................................................................................................... 72

6.2.1 Feedforward Control......................................................................................... 72

6.2.2 Feedback Control .............................................................................................. 73

6.2.3 Cascade Control ................................................................................................ 74

6.2.4 Ratio Control ..................................................................................................... 75

6.3 Design Steps Involved in Biogas and Liquid Fertilizer Plant................................................... 76

6.4 Implementation of control Strategies ...................................................................................... 77

6.5 Process Flow Diagram ........................................................................................................... 82

6.6 Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID) ......................................................................... 83

CHAPTER 7 .................................................................................................................................. 84
SAFETY AND LOSS PREVENTION .......................................................................................... 84
7.1 Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP)............................................................................ 84

7.2 Plant Layout .......................................................................................................................... 96

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION........................................................................... 100

APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................. 101
References .................................................................................................................................... 104
 List of Figures

Figure 1:Process of Biogas Formation ................................................................................. 11

Figure 2:Different feedstock nutrient composition ............................................................... 13
Figure 3: Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process and its products .............................................. 14
Figure 4: The flexibility of Biogas....................................................................................... 18
Figure 5: Maps of the plant location .................................................................................... 21
Figure 6: Mobility on the train access .................................................................................. 22
Figure 7: Land Development Focus at Kampar. ................................................................... 25
Figure 8: Approximate location of Pig Farms (Red Mark) ................................................... 26
Figure 9: Distance from selected location to Kampar Train Station ..................................... 27
Figure 10: Road Connections at Kampar District ................................................................. 27
Figure 11: Biogas Plant Process Flow Diagram ................................................................... 37
Figure 12: Two-stage reactor configuration. ........................................................................ 44
Figure 13:Type of waste and factors affecting efficiency for Two-Stage Anaerobic Digester
........................................................................................................................................... 48
Figure 14: Typical Composition of Natural Gas .................................................................. 49
Figure 15: Process Flow Diagram of Amine Scrubber Technology ...................................... 52
Figure 16: Process Flow Diagram of Amine Scrubber Technology ...................................... 52
Figure 17:Mass Balance of the Whole Plant ........................................................................ 64
Figure 18: Feedforward control ........................................................................................... 72
Figure 19: Feedback control ................................................................................................ 73
Figure 20: Cascade control .................................................................................................. 74
Figure 21:Ratio control ....................................................................................................... 75
Figure 22: Design steps involved in biogas and liquid fertilizer plant .................................. 76
Figure 23: PFD of the whole plant ....................................................................................... 82
Figure 24: P&ID of the whole plant..................................................................................... 83
Figure 25: Purposed Plant Layout........................................................................................ 99

1
 List of Tables

Table 1:Pig manure composition ........................................................................................... 9

Table 2: Pig Manure Composition in Problem Statement ....................................................... 9
Table 3:Complete Pig Manure Composition ........................................................................ 10
Table 4: Biogas composition depending on raw materials .................................................... 12
Table 5: Water Tariff Perak. ................................................................................................ 22
Table 6: Bulk water tariff from Perak Water Board. ............................................................ 22
Table 7: Similar biogas production accident happened ........................................................ 28
Table 8: The ISD Strategies with Explanation ..................................................................... 33
Table 9: Comparison between batch and continuous operation process ................................ 41
Table 10: Reactors with different stages. ............................................................................ 44
Table 11: Inhibitor Limit for Hydrolytic/Acidogenic Reactor.: ............................................ 46
Table 12: Methanogenic/Acetogenesis Reactor Inhibitors.................................................... 47
Table 13: Type of waste and factors affecting efficiency for Two-Stage Anaerobic Digester.
............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 14: Type of waste and factors affecting efficiency for Two-Stage Anaerobic Digester.
............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 15: Comparison of Biogas Purification Technologies. ............................................... 50
Table 16: Efficiency of Various Amine ............................................................................... 51
Table 17: Biogas Upgrading Cost in Various Technologies. ................................................ 54
Table 18: Equipment costing Source: Aspen+ Simulation ................................................... 56
Table 19: Fixed Operating cost ............................................................................................ 58
Table 20: Variable Operating Cost ...................................................................................... 59
Table 21: Bio-fertilizers market price .................................................................................. 60
Table 22: Annual Income from product selling .................................................................... 60
Table 23: Justification of each unit / instrument used in the process .................................... 70
Table 24: Control strategy of mixer ..................................................................................... 77
Table 25: Control strategy of anaerobic digester 1 ............................................................... 77
Table 26: Control strategy of anaerobic digester 2 ............................................................... 78
Table 27: Control strategy of biogas holder ......................................................................... 78
Table 28: Control strategy of solid-liquid separator ............................................................. 79
Table 29: Control strategy of phase separator ...................................................................... 79
Table 30: Control strategy of liquid fertilizer storage ........................................................... 80

2
Table 31: Control strategy of absorber................................................................................. 80
Table 32: Control strategy of desorber................................................................................. 81
Table 33: Control strategy of methane holder ...................................................................... 81
Table 34: Control strategy of carbon dioxide holder ............................................................ 81
Table 35: Guide word used with meanings in HAZOP analysis ........................................... 84
Table 36: The study nodes for biogas production plant ........................................................ 84
Table 37: The HAZOP analysis for each node..................................................................... 86
Table 39: MSDS sheet....................................................................................................... 101

3
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Design Project

Over the years, supply of fossil fuel as an energy source started to decline. Therefore,
as a substitution, biogas, a clean and renewable form of energy is introduced as an alternative
fuel mainly used for cooking, heating and electricity supply. Prior to the biogas production,
its pre-determinant factors play a vital role in order to achieve the maximum yield of methane
gas production. The pre-determinant factors of the biogas production process include
feedstock type; reactor design and operational parameters such as pH, carbon to nitrogen ratio
(C/N), surface area and biomass loading rate. Even though many studies have been done to
understand the effect of these factors, there are limited work done in Malaysia and Philippine
to design and fabricate a household scale biodigester system for biogas production from food
waste, animal manure and other organic waste.

The continuous generation and poor disposal of waste from livestock industries is the
major cause of pollution of water sources, soil, and air. Therefore, profitable alternatives such
as biogas production through the waste as the feedstock are required for their correct disposal
and use. Besides, from waste-to-wealth perspective, organic waste such as animal manure is a
potential precursor for value-added products. Therefore, this waste can be treated through the
anaerobic digestion which is a biological process in which the microbes break down the
biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen and one of the products is biogas. The
production of biogas as a greener energy provider and generating biofertilizer for agriculture
is very beneficial to the environment. However, any associated capital and operational cost of
this technology can be offset by the economic prospect of the products.

The pig population in Malaysia is around 1.4 million with 544 farms which is self-
sufficient in terms of local demand for pork. With increasing of the pig population, a large
amount of waste is generated especially in term of manure. This situation could lead to
unhealthy environment and increasing of flies. Hence, the abundance of pig manure waste
should be treated and convert into energy sources such as heat and electricity which it can be
sell or utilize by the farm aside from protecting the environment from the pollution.

4
1.2 Problem Statement

From the New Straits Times newspaper established on 2018, State Health, Consumer
Affairs, National Integration and Human Resource Committee chairman A. Sivanesan stated
that pig farming system in Perak is to be improved, a switch from conventional to modern
methods by the end of next year. However, the Federal Government has now extended the
period until 2021. From the Department of Veterinary Services Perak, there are 114 pig farms
at several districts in the state namely Sitiawan, Kerian, Kinta, Kampar, Manjung and Hilir
Perak. There are four criteria set by the department in order for the pig farm to operate-
closed farm system, zero waste sewage management system, a minimum distance of 200
meters from residential areas, school, clinics and public amenities.

The large number of pig farms in Perak state indirectly contribute to large number of
farm waste. This might be an environmental issue in future if there is no step to be taken in
order to handle the farm waste issue. The pig manure is seen to be an opportunity and can
generate money through its conversion into more valuable product which is methane gas in
this case. Therefore, government should help the farmer out on how they could improve their
pig farm management.

However, out of 114 farms in the state, only Dindings Farms Sdn Bhd was equipped
with biogas conversion plant for now where it converts methane gas from the pig manure into
electricity. The purpose of the biogas plant is to convert the waste from the farm to produce
its own electricity and heat or renewable natural gas, and thus save money. Aside, the biogas
plant existence can reduce the greenhouse gas emission from livestock effluent and energy
consumption. In addition, the farm can enjoy the benefits of its digestate which is an organic
fertiliser. Therefore, our project is mainly focus on the pig farm in Kampar where biogas
plant should be set up due to its location preference which will be justify in depth in the
report.

5
1.3 Objectives

The objective of this project is to design a biogas or bio-fertilizer plant with pig
manure as the main feedstock. The design must be economic and effective in its process to
convert the pig manure into biogas also another value-added product. The design should
cover all the followings aspects:

a) Recovery process of any material that can recover and treatment or conversion of
wastewater of the effluent.

b) Production of at least two products (ex: biogas, liquified biogas, organic fertilizer, liquid
fuel) from pig manure as the major raw material. At least two chemical reactions to convert
pig manure into a product must be shown. The process shall contain feed and final product
purification sections.

c) Site selection for a new plant with appropriate plant capacity.

d) Plant design must give top priority to environmental concerns.

e) Recovery and recycling of the reactants and intermediates should be maximized, if

possible, to have zero waste (close loop).

f) Minimization of energy consumption to the extent of economically justified.

g) Plant operation should be simple and safe to operate, which follows the HSE guidelines.

h) Capital investment and running costs for the recovery plant and new process should be
included in the economic case.

6
1.4 Scope of Study

The location selection of the designed biogas plant in this project is at Dinding Farms
Sdn.Bhd, in Kampar Perak. The study conducted in designing this biogas plant is obtained
from journal findings either in experimental laboratory data or also real industrial
applications.

Towards the completion of this designed biogas plant, scopes of works conducted
include the followings:

1. Study on the market availability of the feedstocks which is the pig manure and
potential marketable products.
2. Recognize the composition of the feedstocks to decide on the reaction involve.
3. Identify alternatives process route in product manufacturing which is economical yet
produce high yield of products.
4. Developing the complete mass and energy balance calculations for the whole
designated plant.
5. Design of the whole biogas process plant in Process Flow Diagram (PFD) and do
simulation in Aspen Plus.
6. Conducting heat integration using HINT software and Piping and Instrumentation
Diagram (P&ID) by using VISIO software.
7. Study on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and develop the Hazard and
Operability Study (HAZOP) of the process plant.
8. Study on the economic analysis on the capital expenditures (CAPEX), operating
expenses (OPEX) and profit of the designated process plant.

7
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Physical and Chemical Properties of Feed

Panichnumsin, Nopharatana, Ahring and Chaiprasert (2010) stated that swine manure
consists of all thirteen of the essential plant nutrients that are used by means of plants. These
encompass nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg),
Sulfur (S), Manganese (Mn), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Chlorine (Cl), Boron (B), iron (Fe),
and molybdenum (Mo). The nutrient content (lb / 1,000 gal) in swine manure varies
depending on the age of the animals, ration, temperature, methods used to collect and store
manure, and the moisture content.

Based on the case study, the pig manure composition does not consist of fully 100%
composition. Meaning that there must be the other chemical contain in the pig manure.
Therefore, based on the literature review, the table below shows the another 34.92% of pig
manure consist of 5.42% Hydrogen, 26.07% oxygen gas, 0.08% Sulphur and remaining
3.35% Phosphorus. The reason why the remaining is 3.35% phosphorus is because Nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium, or NPK, are the “Big 3” primary nutrients in commercial
fertilizers.

Each of these fundamental nutrients plays a key role in plant nutrition (Fertilizer
Institute, 2014). The second of the Big 3, phosphorus, is linked to a plant’s ability to use
and store energy, including the process of photosynthesis. It’s also needed to help plants
grow and develop normally. The table below is the reference of the feedstock composition
of our biogas plant. Since Thailand is also an Asia country, hence it become our main
reference assuming they are consuming same type of food. Thus, the pigs are expected to
produce the same content of manure. Therefore, Table 3 showed our finalized feed
composition of the pig manure for this project.

8
 Table 1:Pig manure composition

Sources: Research by The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King
Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Thungkru, Bangkok 10140, Thailand

Table 2: Pig Manure Composition in Problem Statement

Components Value
Protein (%) 19.13
Carbon (%) 41.09
Potassium (%) 1.05
Sodium (%) 0.05
Nitrogen (%) 3.06
Calcium (%) 0.45
Magnesium (%) 0.25
Moisture (%) 70
pH 7.8
C/N Ratio 13.43
Energy Value (MJ/kg) 16.3
Total 65.08 (without the C/N ratio, moisture, PH)

9
 Table 3:Complete Pig Manure Composition

Parameter Value
Hydrogen (%) 5.42
Oxygen Gas (%) 26.07
Sulphur (%) 0.08
Phosphorus (%) 3.35
Protein (%) 19.13
Carbon (%) 41.09
Potassium (%) 1.05
Sodium (%) 0.05
Nitrogen (%) 3.06
Calcium (%) 0.45
Magnesium (%) 0.25
Total 100%

10
2.2 Characterization of Product

2.2.1 Biogas

There are two products of this designed biogas plant which are biogas and
biofertilizer as the co-product. Biogas comprises of methane (CH4), carbon
dioxide (CO2), sometimes small amount of nitrogen, hydrogen and hydrogen-suphide
(H2S) gases. Biogas can be produced from farm and food waste through anaerobic
digestion process. The process of biogas formation through anaerobic with presence
of microbes can be seen in Figure 1:

Figure 1:Process of Biogas Formation

11
 Biogas can be produced from different sources of feedstocks which are
agricultural, sewage treatment by-product and landfill. Each field having different
composition of constituents and can be referred from the Table 4 below based on
literature review:

Table 4: Biogas composition depending on raw materials

Sources: University of Miskolc, Department of Combustion Technology and Thermal Energy

3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros

For this project, pig manure is used as the feedstock from agricultural field. Therefore,
the expected methane (CH4) gas produced at the end of this project is between 60-70% and
30-40% of carbon dioxide (CO2) as the primary composition.

12
 2.2.2 Biofertilizer

As mentioned earlier, biofertilizer is the co-product of this biogas plant. The

biofertilizer is the unreacted organic matters which is not converted into biogas and can be
collected at the bottom part of the digester which is called as digestate. Biofertilizer is
believed to help crop plants to produce nutrients which acts like a chemical fertilizer.
However, this biofertilizer is more environmental because of its composition. During the
fermentation activity in the reaction in order to produce biogas as the main product, there are
several chemical compounds unreacted which are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK)
occur in a state of slurry.

Taking into account the nutrient content of the digestate, biofertilizer is produce as co-
product as substitution to chemical fertilizer. Market availability of the biofertilizer is
presence since by 2020, Gopeng is going to be an agricultural hub. Hence, the biofertilizer
demand is going to be high. The value of the biofertilizer is depending on the type of
feedstock. The NPK components are the most crucial element in classifying the fertilizer
because the price is depending it.

Those unreacted chemical properties in the process are readily available for growing
plants, as well as residual carbon, phosphorous and trace nutrients, and they can thus be
returned to the agricultural land as fertilizer and soil-improvement medium (BORDA, 1997).
Samuil et al. (2009) suggested that organic fertilizers, if applied rationally to grasslands can
entirely replace chemical fertilizer.

Figure 2:Different feedstock nutrient composition

13
2.3 Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a process where organic wastes are broken down with
the help of microbes in the absence of air. The gases given off through AD is methane gas
which is useful as a biogas. The AD process normally operated in a sealed tank called
digester. The organic matter which undergoing the AD process is known as substrate or
feedstock. The unconverted organic matter is known as digestate which is rich in nutrients
comprising of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium (NPK) suitable for fertilizer production. In
AD process, the key parameters are on the C:N ratio, hydraulic retention time (HRT),
temperature, pH and organic loading rate.

Figure 3: Anaerobic Digestion (AD) process and its products

There are four major steps occur in anaerobic digestion, which are hydrolysis,
acidogenesis, acetogenesis and lastly methanogenesis. Below is the description on each stage
of anaerobic digestion:

Stage 1: Hydrolysis

(C6H10O5) n + n H2O → n C6H12O6 + n H2

In hydrolysis severing of chemical bonds through addition of water occur. The overall
process of hydrolysis is slow and will limit the rate of the digestion process. The equation
above shows the process of hydrolysis, where cellulose is broken down into glucose with
hydrogen gas through the addition of water. The usefulness of this reaction relates to the fact

14
that the C6H12O6 produced can further undergo successive reactions to produce valuable
organic compounds. Some of the products formed from the hydrolysis stage (such as H 2 and
CH3COO-) can be directly used by methanogens, while others, consisting of relatively larger
molecules, are converted to smaller molecules such as acetic acid CH3COOH. The CH3COO-
and H2 produced in the hydrolysis stage are both used by fermentative microorganisms in the
next stage where higher chain organic compounds such as VFAs are formed.

Stage 2: Acidogenesis

C6H12O6 ↔ 2 CH3CH2OH+ 2 CO2

C6H12O6 + 2 H2 ↔ 2 CH3CH2COOH+ 2 H2O

C6H12O6 →3CH3COOH

This is the fermentation stage, where soluble compounds formed in the hydrolysis
stage are degraded and converted into CO2 and H2 through the bacteria known as acidogenic
bacteria.

Stage 3: Acetogenesis

CH3CH2COO- + 3H2O ↔ CH3COO- + H+HCO3- + 3 H2

C6H12O6 + 2 H2O ↔ 2 CH3COOH+ 2 CO2 + 4 H2

CH3CH2OH + 2 H2O ↔ CH3COO- + 3 H2 + H+

The waste product of acetogenesis is the H2 gas formed in the acidogenic stage of the
AD process hence this stage is also known as the dehydrogenation stage. This is true because
the metabolism of acetogenic bacteria is inhibited by the H2 gas produced. However, the H2

15
gas can be consumed by CH4 producing bacteria to function as hydrogen-scavenging bacteria
that can convert some of the bacteria to CH4.

Stage 4: Methanogenesis

CH3COOH →CH4 + CO2

CO2 + 4 H2 → CH4 + 2 H2O

2 CH3CH2OH + CO2 → CH4 + 2 CH3COOH

In this stage, bacteria convert CH3COOH and H2 into CO2 and CH4. The first
Equation shows the conversion of CH3COOH (Ethanoic Acid) into CH4 and CO2. The CO2
formed is reduced to CH4 through H2 gas in the second Equation and, the third Equation,
shows the production of CH4 by decarboxylation of CH3CH2OH (Ethanol)

16
2.4 Process Route Alternatives in the Plant

17
2.5 Market Study of the Products

2.5.1 Product Price and Market Demand

The biogas market is Malaysia can still be considered as new. According to Jain
(2019), the biogas industry in Malaysia only picked up its pace in 2016 after the government
proposed requirement of oil palm effluent by 2020 as part of National Transformation
Programme.

Talking about potential market firstly, biogas can be used to produce electricity. The
electricity produced by burning the biogas can be sell to power grid. Under the 11 th Malaysia
Plan with the strategy from Malaysia National Development Strategy, by 2020 the Malaysian
Government targeted to have approximate 250MW of electricity generation from biogas. But
according to Jain (2019) by 2018, the production of electrical energy form biogas plant only
max at 68MW with 73MW of electrical energy is at the kick-off stage. Thus, 104MW of
electrical energy is still needed to be produce.

For the project, the market for biogas production shows bright promises. This is due
to the the target of Malaysian government to achieve the desired electrical energy from
biogas production, 250MW of electricity. Other than the usage of biogas as electricity, the
biogas produced by the plant can also be sell as feedstock.

Figure 4: The flexibility of Biogas

(Source: Economic and Market Value of Biogas Technology)

Due to the skyrocketing advancement of technology in biogas industry, according to
Yousuf et al (2017), the biogas (desulfurized and cleaned) is widely use in Combined Heat

18
and Power Plant (CHPs). In Perak company such as Tenaga National Berhad (TNB), GB3
Sdn. Bhd. and Segari Energy Ventures Sdn. Bhd. are among company that utilize biogas as
their feedstock for their electricity generation.

Moving on to the second product of the plant, solid fertilizers. According to

Department of Agricultural Perak (2015) under the Dasar Pertanian Negara (DPN3), Perak
government agreed to involve in a High Impact Project (HIP). The project is to make a
Taman Kekal Pengeluaran Makanan (TKPM). In this permanent food production area, corps
such as fruits, paddy, coconut and vegetables are being focused. With agriculture as one of
the key players of income in Perak, the needs to use fertilizers is crucial in order to have a
more efficient yield.

Other than local supply of fertilizers, according to Tohit (2015) the Chairman of
Fertilizers Association of Malaysia, in 2013, 5,45 million tons of fertilizers are used with the
value of RM 5,44 billion. From this value in 2013, 1 172 760 metric tons of nitrogen
fertilizers are imported fertilizers. For compound fertilizers, 412,255 metric tons with the
value of RM 694,61 million are imported from various country such as China, Germany and
Taiwan.
The needs to import such a huge amount of fertilizers shows that the supply of
fertilizers in Malaysia is currently insufficient. Therefore, for the solid fertilizers produce by
the plant, the market value is secured by the high demand of fertilizers in Malaysia and also
the continuous need of fertilizers at the TKPM area.

19
2.6 Feasibility Study on Site Location

2.6.1 Selection Criteria

The location of the plant plays important roles and have huge impact on the
production smoothness and running cost of the plant. The site location is the very first
step in planning to set up a plant. In choosing the plant location, seven factors need to
be considered:

1. Availability of raw materials

2. Supply of Labor
3. Availabilities of Utilities (Transportation, Water, fuel, power etc.)
4. Suitability of climate & land
5. Local community consideration
6. Political strategic consideration
7. Distance of potential market

Based on the eight factors above, Kampar Perak have been chosen as the
location of the plant. Kampar district covers 670 km2 area with population density of
147.7km2. Firstly, according to Health Exco of Perak Sivanesan (2019), currently
there are 109 pig farms in Perak mostly at Kampar, 40 pigs farm. According to
Jabatan Verterinar Negeri Perak (2018), currently there is about 540,000 standing
population of Pigs at Perak. By average about 190,000 pigs are the standing
population of Pigs at Kampar. According to Andersen (2015) on the average a pig
will produce 4.5litre of manure per day. This translated to 855,000 liters of pig
manure produced at Kampar daily. With the huge amount of pig manure produced,
the availability of the raw materials for the plant is secured.

Next, the supply of labor at Kampar currently standing at good condition.

According to Majis Pembandaran Taiping (2010), the total number of people in
Kampar is 90,313 with 44,674 are men with 23,396 age under 40 years old. In
addition, Department of Statistic of Malaysia (2018), stated that, Kampar have
fertility rate of 1.9 with unemployment rate of 3.3. The statistic shows that for the

20
availability of labor for the plant is secured by a huge number of population and also
anchored by a fairly decent fertility rate.

Next focusing on availabilities of utilities. The first utility and the most important is
transportation. Transportation in Kampar that are suitable for the plant are by road and train.
Road connection at Kampar have a very good coverage area. Extending from the northeast
part to the most west park of the land. The map below shows the road connection availability
at Kampar.

Figure 5: Maps of the plant location

Other than roads, the availability of train track creates another method of
transportation. The train connection in Kampar connect from Hatyai, Thailand, Tumpat
Kelantan and Johor Bahru. Other than the easiest to transport the raw materials, the train
track connection widens the market for the products.

21
 Figure 6: Mobility on the train access

Next, utility that are needed to run the plant are water. The water supply at Perak is
govern by Perak Water Board (PWB). According to the latest tariff provided by PWB, the
water supply by PWB can be divided into three band:

Table 5: Water Tariff Perak.

Band Volume (m3) Price (Rm/m3)

1 0-10 1.20
2 10-20 1.40
3 >20 1.61

The plant uses water to change the Total Solid of the pig manure. Therefore, with the
estimated pig manure produce, bulk amount of water is totally needed for the plant. Other
than the standard industrial tariff, the Perak Water Board also offers the buying of water in
bilk orders. The price rates are as followings:

Table 6: Bulk water tariff from Perak Water Board.

Band Volume (m3) Price (Rm/m3)

1 0-20 0.60
2 >20 0.69

22
 Based on the two table above, the bulk water supply is cheaper but when buying in
bulk, a storage tank is needed to store the water bought. The return of investment comparison
for the water supply will be discuss more in costing discussion. The Perak Water Board have
a very good history with water supply. Backed by the good track record of PWB, the supply
of water for the plant is readily available for usage.

The needs of energy to run the plant is crucial. Due to the development in the Kampar
area, the supply of electricity from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) can easily be obtained.
According to the latest tariff provided by TNB, the cost for per kW of electrical energy
supply for industrial usage is RM0.37sen. But under the Sustainable Energy Development
Authority Malaysia (SEDA), the price of the electricity supply can be lowered to RM0.3685
per kWh. This will benefit the plant in long run operation. One of the companies benefit from
the SEDA is CAM Resources Sdn Bhd in 2016 (Naqib, 2016). Other than TNB, the methane
produced from the pig manure can also be consider as an energy source for the plant.

23
 2.6.2 Options for Plant Site Location

The next factor to consider is, the suitability of climate and land. Perak is blessed with
equatorial climate. The equatorial climate eliminates the needs of extra utilities such as heater
to keep the temperature of the raw materials in optimum range. Other than that, Kampar
located on the outside of Ring of Fire. This eliminates the risk of the plant to be damage from
natural disaster such as earthquake. In addition, the Kampar land is flat. This is ideal for the
construction and the easiness of transportation of the raw material and products.
Local community consideration refers to how the project will impact the community
in the area of the project, in this case is Kampar. According to Department of Statistic
Malaysia, the unemployment rate of youth at Kampar is at 3.3%. The establishment of the
plant will sure add job opportunity for the locals and will improve the tax collection for the
local authorities. The pig manure produced at Kampar district alone is estimated at 855,000
liters per day. This produced manure can be sold to the plant instead of being dumped. The
plant location is also close so the transportation cost would be cheaper, compare to if want to
sell the manure to the closest biogas plant which is at Sitiawan.

The political strategic consideration can also be seen by the support given by the
Malaysian government. According to Jain (2019), abundance financial support for the project
(biogas) can be obtain thru namely Green Technology Financing Scheme, Domestic and
Investment Strategic Fund. Other than that, the possibilities to find stakeholders for the plant
can also be obtain thru Malaysian Biomass Industries Confederation, Malaysian Industry-
Govermernt Group and BioTechCorp.

Lastly, the plant location needs to consider the nearness to the potential market. The
plant target to produce biogas and solid fertilizers. For biogas produced, according to TNB
(2019), currently only two gas-fired power station available in Perak, both at Pantai Remis.
The distance needs to be covered for transportation is estimated to be 88km (Google Map).
With the availability of transportation such as lorry and train, the transportation to the
possible market can be covered easily. Next for solid fertilizers, according to Menteri Besar
of Perak, Dato Faizal Azumu (2019), Perak are targeting to be a major contributor to
Malaysia’s agricultural sector. To achieve this, the supply of fertilizers, seeds and basic
infrastructures need to be secured by the local government. With this target in mind, the
fertilizers market for the plant is practically evergreen for the plant

24
2.7 Plant Location Evaluation

Exact plant location:

The exact plant location will be located at 35350 Air Kuning Kampar. The plant location
was chosen based on three factors:

1. Availability of land
2. Closeness of Pig farms
3. Easiness of transportation (Train & Road)

Figure 7: Land Development Focus at Kampar.

For land availability, Air Kuning is part of the focused land for development by Kampar
local government. The opportunity for the land usage and availability will be fully supported
by the local government since the plant project will benefits the locals.

25
 Figure 8: Approximate location of Pig Farms (Red Mark)

Air Kuning is also chosen due to its approximately close location to pig farms (Red
Marks). In 20km radius, almost 7 farms can be located with approximate population of
80,000 pigs.

26
The last factor is the transportation. Based on the picture available in Google Map, from Air
Kuning, the distance from the plant location to the closest train station is only 11.87km. Other
than train, the location is also covered with veins of road for easiness of transportation either
in raw material transportation or the transportation of products.

Figure 9: Distance from selected location to Kampar Train Station

Figure 10: Road27Connections at Kampar District

 CHAPTER 3

PRELIMINARY HAZARD ANALYSIS

3.1 Summary of previous accidents on similar type of plants

Table 7: Similar biogas production accident happened

Accidents Root Cause Consequences Lesson Learnt

1. Incident in UK (2009) This due to operational error since One died due to inhalation the Must develop the specific safety
One worker died due to breathing the operator applied the wrong step toxic gas released from the standards and improve the safety
the gas inside digester. This to fix the digester. Therefore, the digester. culture. The risk awareness in
because the worker tried to harmful gas was release from the production of biogas also must be
loosen up a crust that since it broken digester. adopted to prevent any fatal
prevents the digester from accident happened in the future.
working properly. Incident
happened during the anaerobic
digestion for the biogas
production.

2. Incident in India (2009) Maintenance error means the The victims as fell into the thick The lesson learnt concern on the
The same incident regarding the incident happened when the slurry while one of them was safe explosion at the first place after

28
production of biogas from workers operates the equipment for with great difficulty. There were analyses on the details past
anaerobic digestion. There was an maintenance. This error happened two workers died including the accident report by Multi –
explosion happened which at the because of the welding and cutting welders. They were died because Correspondence analysis (MCA).
stage of commissioning, the huge the outlet steel pipe. of being thrown away by the From MCA, they stated that the
masonry ad RCC anaerobic explosion when the time they explosions seem to be correlated
digester exploded because of stand nearby the incident point. with the maintenance and design
some of the outlet steal pipe was error. A few maintenance errors
being welded or heated by a seem to be associated to welding
welder. The reactor was partially or other maintenance operation
charged for trial operations with carry out during the plant
animal dung and other waste operation without the measure to
during the week of before the avoid the flammable mixture from
incident. At the upper space of being ignited. This was stated after
the reactor, the gas being going through the accident reports
accumulated and there was
explosive mixture building up.
This explosion was heard
thousand feet away very severely.
There were a lot of peoples who
on that time standing on the roof
and working nearby the roof

29
 during the caving roof structure.
This resulted with explosion.

3. Incident in Mexico (2009) The cause is due to not wear the The person in charge affected The safety protocol must be issued
This happened from the waste- PPE Personal Protective Equipment where they died due to before allowing the maintenance
water treatment of biogas during the cleaning process. This intoxicated. The number of and in particular welding
production. There were six reason why the workers can be victims were 6 persons had died operations. This to ensure avoiding
workers died during their exposed to the harmful gases easily while 3 being hospitalized. any accident happened during
cleaning time at the bottom of the and died because the intoxicated. working process.
underground water tank due to
intoxicated. However, there were
also 3 workers being hospitalized.
This intoxicated was because they
inhale the gas fumes from organic
waste

30
4. Incident in Germany (2007) Still unknown Two operators were injured. Plus, The lesson learnt is that it is
This accident was happened there were a few items of important that in plant should have
during the anaerobic digestion of construction equipment badly the specific accident reporting
biogas production. There was an damaged while the building in the system in order to collect the
anaerobic digester with about 20 immediate vicinity was partially useful data to improve the safety
m high and 17 m wide ruptured destroyed. There was a few 100L and the effective design safety
then it spread the debris up to 200 of fuel oil poured out of an over barriers in biogas facilities.
m around the plant. tuned tank. The property damage
came to around 1.5MV and
business interruption loss around
1MV

31
3.2 Identification of material and chemical hazard

When designing the chemical plant one of the important aspects need to take account
is the potential hazard of chemicals and materials used in any process in this biogas
production. All of these information and data need to compile so that the nature of the
materials handled and set up or plan strategic safety measures especially in handling and
storing materials can be understands. This hazard analysis is to ensure that the biogas process
operated safely and can prevent accident to be happened in the future. Below is the chemical
and material use from feed, products and by-products and intermediate in biogas production
plant.

i. Methane
ii. Carbon dioxide
iii. Hydrogen Sulfide
iv. Ammonia
v. Nitrogen
vi. Hydrogen
vii. Diethanolamine (DEA)

The summary of Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for all components mentioned
will be included in the APPENDIX.

32
 3.3 Inherent Safety Design

Inherent safety design is important to reduce the possibility of consequences of an

accident by considering inherent safety aspects such as substitute hazardous chemicals,
reduce inventories, lower pressure and temperatures, safe location, siting, plant layout and
transportation. Below is the ISD Strategies Table for the biogas production process:

Table 8: The ISD Strategies with Explanation

ISD
Examples with explanation
Strategies
Minimize • Minimizing the size storage tank to decrease the volume of the chemical in the
storage tank therefore it can reduce the risk of high hazardous chemical exposure.
• Remove the intermediate storage that contains the hazardous material so this can
reduce the volume of the hazardous materials and the severity of accident. Plus,
maintenance requirement will be less.
• Decreasing the pipeline size to allow less chemical flow in the pipeline. Thus, the
severity of accident can be less.
Substitute • Replace in Diethanolamine (DEA) amine scrubbing unit with Methyl
Diethanolamine (MDEA) due to MDEA is less toxic, flammable and corrosive
rather than DEA (Songoldazeh, Soleimani & Ravanchi, 2014).
Moderate • Operate the plant with less severe operating condition by lowering the temperature
and pressure of the reactor and absorption column.
• Separate the high hazardous operation units from any ignition sources, large
concentrations of people and other equipment to avoid those things will be affected
if any accident happen to the hazardous unit.
• Lessen the pipelines number to decrease the likelihood of hazardous materials leak
and release.
Simplify • The complex design is being simplified to reduce the human error because of the
difficulty to run the process
• Fewer vessels, pumps, flanges, instruments, valves, less piping in the process
design to lessen the likelihood of accident

33
3.4 Identification of any requirement/ compliance by local safety regulations and design
guidelines

The following are local safety regulations and design guidelines required by the Malaysian
government for biogas plant to operate.

A. Environmental Quality Act 1974 - Environmental Quality Clean Air Regulations

(2014)
This act objective to address, prevent and control pollution and environmental quality
at the national level. Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of
Human Resource and Environment Department responsible for administering and
regulating this act. This act comes into force on 15 April 1975. Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) must be done by the corporation to provide information on the
pollutants released by the company before gaining the permit or license. The license
fees may be different according to the biogas production location, the amount of
waste release and group of pollutants discharge. This act enables to control biogas
plant pollutant emission by obeying this law. This act requires the approval from the
Director General of Environmental Quality of Department of Environment (DOE) if
there are activities that may release any substances that can gives harm to the
environment. The approvals are as below:
• Site suitability assessment
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Written permission to construct a prescribed premise under Section 19 of EQA
act.
• Written approval for installation of incinerator, fuel burning equipment and
chimney under the Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations, 1978
• License to use and occupy prescribed premises and prescribed conveyances
under Section 18 of the EQA.

B. Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994

The aim of OSHA 1994 is to make sure the safety, health and welfare of the workers
in the workplace in a good condition. In order to make sure the safety of the workers,

34
 there must be safety officers being hired. The plant must follow this act for the
wellbeing of its employees. Thus, safety measures need to be taken to fulfil this law.
(CIMAH, 1996). All companies require to establish and document on these:
• Safety and health policy,
• Duties of the employer, employees and the safety and health officers,
• The safety and health committee of companies, and
• Occupational safety and health inspections and officers.

C. Factories and Machinery Act 1967

This act deals with the safety, health and welfare of workers and installation of
machineries in a safe manner. Through this law, the inspector must be hired so that
they will be responsible to ensure the working environment in the factory is safe since
they have the right to inspect or examine the factory any time. The details in this act
are:
• Dangerous occurrences, types of serious bodily injuries and industrial
diseases.
• Powers of Inspectors, obstruction and offences.
• Requirements for machineries such as boilers, unfired pressured vessels, gas
cylinders and etc.
• Duties of person employed, person in charge and certificate of competency

D. The National Land Code, 1956 (Act 56)

This act classifies the land based on its intended type of use. Section 117 of the Act
means the land that used for the aim of industry which this being interpreted as the
building of facilities of the following purposes:
• Manufacture
• Smelting
• The production or distribution of power
• The assembling, processing, storage, transport or distribution of goods, or
other commodities
• And such other purposes as the State Authority may prescribe

35
 CHAPTER 4

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN ANALYSIS

4.1 Preliminary Reactor Optimization

Traditionally, through the anaerobic digestion, the pig manure which is the feedstock
for the biogas plant contains carbon, among other things biodegrades into the biogas, a
compound of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). This biological process normally
expedited at a process temperature of 38°C (mesophilic) or 52°C (thermophilic) in the plant's
digester. As the feedstock, the biogas plant receives all kinds of organic waste - typically
livestock manure and organic industrial waste.

In the preliminary step before the anaerobic digestion, the semi-dry manure and waste
are mixed with water in the plant's receiving tank before being heated to 38-52°C and
pumped into the digester in which the biogas is produced. Normally, the biomass stays in the
digester for 2-3 weeks and the fermented slurry can subsequently be used as crop fertilizer
through sedimentation tank as the collection point. This fertilizer is believed to be improve in
qualities such as less odour inconveniences when spreading the slurry and significant
reduction of green-house gasses.

Typically, the biogas is utilized to produce electricity and district heat in the
plant's gas engine (CHP unit). The electricity is sent into the power grid and the heat is used
by local consumers. Furthermore, biogas can be upgraded to natural gas and injected into the
natural gas grid or be used as fuel for transportation.

36
 Figure 11: Biogas Plant Process Flow Diagram

As for this project, students are required to design a biogas plant which receiving pig
manure as the main feedstock aside of others co-feedstock. The biogas plant should be design
as the most cost economic yet effective process by maximum yield production of biogas and
other value-added product. Aside of that, the design should give top priority to the
environment and its safe operation.

37
 4.1.1 Process Description

First and foremost, the pig manure will undergo screening process where the purpose
is to remove any possible “foreign particles” such as woods before the process fluid is
pumped into the digester. For the screening process, basket strainer is used instead of y-type
strainer because basket strainers are generally used where high flow capacity is required.

Next, the pig manure which hold moisture contains of 70% and thus classifies them as
a slurry manure are collected and transferred to the plant’s equalization tank through pipeline
to be mixed with process wastewater of the farm. As the co-feedstock, the mushroom residue
is added as an inoculum in order to increase the production rate of the biogas by providing
the best state for the anaerobic digestion activities to take place.

Next, the process fluid is pumped into the anaerobic digester for the anaerobic
digestion to take place. The process fluid is heated to 38-52 °C where thermophilic and
mesophilic organism best growth temperature and thus biogas is produced. The biomass stays
in the digester for 2-3 weeks and the fermented slurry will be pumped into a sedimentation
tank for biofertilizer, as the co-product of this process.

The biogas produce is collected in a biogas holder and further biogas purification will
be require since the biogas is not mainly contains methane and carbon dioxide, but also small
amounts of other gases such as hydrogen sulphide which is hazardous if exposed at high
concentration for a long period of time. As to fulfil the cost economic biogas plant design,
amine scrubbing method is proposed to remove carbon dioxide since raw biogas from
anaerobic digestion has a methane content of 50 to 60% and a carbon dioxide content of 40 to
50% on a molar basis (Bortoluzzi, Gatti, Sogni, & Consonni, 2014).

Amine scrubbing using monoethanolamine (MEA) seems to be the best option. In

most industrial application, removal of CO2 is efficient using amine as the chemical solvent
for the scrubber method compare to water. Amine is commonly used because of rapid
reaction rate and low cost. Besides, it is believed to have a better performance in capturing
CO2 due to its good absorption capacity and low generation energy.

38
 4.1.2 Block Flow Diagram

Pig Manure

Equalization Reactor 1 Reactor 2 Biogas Holder

Tank
Water

Amine
Scrubber

Methane Holder

Biofertilizer Biogas

39
4.2 Reactor Selection

For the anaerobic digestion to take place efficiently and yield high value of methane,
the design criteria should be taken into consideration. Anaerobic biodegradation of organic
materials proceeds with the absence of oxygen but with presence of anaerobic
microorganisms. A series of bio-metabolism steps are performed in an aerobic digestion
system including hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis. The first step is
known as hydrolysis, breaks down high molecular weight constituents such as lipids,
carbohydrate, and protein into smaller soluble organic which are fatty acid, glucose, and
amino acid by exo-enzymes. The second step, acidogenesis works by transforming the
products of the hydrolytic process into volatile fatty acids (VFAs) such as propionic acid,
butyric acid, acetic acid and ethanol by the action of the acidogenic bacteria. The third step
(acetogenesis) transforms most products of acidogenesis into acetic acid (CH 3 COOH),
hydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (CO2 ). Lastly, the methanogenesis the one that plays the
most important role in generating methane gas by methanogens by converting H2 and CO2
into CH4.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) system can be classified into two typical types which are
single stage where all digestion steps undergo in one reactor and multi-stage where various
reactors require for digestion steps to take place. The single stage is less complex than the
multi-stage digester and from the study conducted, the access production of ammonia in
multi-stage will potentially inhibit the microorganism activities and thus reduce the methane
production. The efficiency of the AD system operations does not only rely on its type but also
depend on other factors. Besides, an optimum temperature, pH, and nutrients supply are also
crucial as the growth factors for the microbes to biodegrades the manure into biogas.
Therefore, multi-stage requires more monitoring procedure compare to single stage.
Nevertheless, the operating parameters of the AD system are the vital factors which are on
the retention time (RT) and organic loading rate (OLR).

40
 4.2.1 Mode of Operation

These systems also can be distinguished by either continuous mode or batch operation
mode. Bailey and Ollis (1986) define that in order to decide on the modes of AD reactor,
bases of biomass production, substrate utilization and product yield is usually assessed. The
table below show the comparison between the batch and continuous process operation in
anaerobic digester.

Table 9: Comparison between batch and continuous operation process

Parameters Batch Continuous

Definition Batch process refer to a process that A continuous process refers to a

consist of a sequence of one or more processing that involves moving a
steps that should be performed in a single work unit at a time between
defined order. A finite quantity of every step of the process without
product is produced at the end of the any breaks in time, substance,
sequence, repeated in order to sequence or extend. The flow of
produce another product batch. products or material is continuous.

Product Collection One-time collection Continuous collection

Conversion High conversion determined by the High conversion is achieved for

reactant leaving in the reactor for energy recovery and recycle of
long periods of time. materials including extensive
integration of unit operations

Retention Time Longer Shorter

Size of Reactor Larger Smaller

Production Amount Small quantities of products are Large quantities of products are
obtained. Production rate is usually obtained
less than 5x105 kg/year (source:
Samidha,2018)

Cost of factory Lower cost Higher cost

equipment

41
 Shut Down Times Often Rare

Workforce Small workforce Small workforce needed if fully

automated

Labour Cost Higher cost Lower cost

Based on Table 9 above, continuous mode of operation fits the anaerobic reaction
process compare to batch. Furthermore, in a continuous operation, microorganisms are
suspended in the digester through continuous mixing, which offers good substrate–sludge
contact with slight mass transfer resistance. Batch reactor have slightly longer retention time
compare to CSTR. However, it does not affect the methane production of CSTR since it
produces higher value of methane compare to batch digester. From literature review, the yield
of methane through CSTR is 4 times higher than batch which is 0.284 m3 per unit volume
meanwhile batch digester production is 0.0764 m3 per unit volume. In addition, the batch
operation will require more manpower due to its periodically cleaning activity compare to
continuous operation. Besides, continuous operation is vital for continuous build-up of
product to ensure the reactor to be fill up with feedstock for the reaction of hydrolysis,
acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis to take place. On the basis of the capacity,
both type of reactors is capable to cater the throughput of our project. Therefore, cost
economic is the other factor to be taken into consideration. From the study conducted, CSTR
cost higher by 6 times the value of batch digester which is $33.8 compare to batch which is
$5.98 per unit volume.

42
 4.2.2 Reactor Type

For continuous reactor, there are two types which are Plug Flow Reactor (PFR) and
Continuous Stirred Type Reactor (CSTR). From the comparison and study conducted, CSTR
showed higher performance in manure treatment of Volatile Solid (VS) and biogas
production compare to PFR. Plus, since CSTR mixing mode is in axial and radial, it has
identical concentration in any point of the digestion process compare to PFR which only have
radial mode of mixing. Therefore, the concentration distribution of CSTR is uniform compare
to PFR. In terms of gas production, CSTR achieved higher productivity and gas yield which
is 9.8% - 25.9% higher than PFR. Therefore, it can be concluded that mixing in CSTR could
enhance the mass transfer between microorganism and substrates which eventually will
improve the effects of organic matter removal and methane production. Hence, CSTR was
recommended of the anaerobic digestion of pig manure.

43
 4.2.3 Reactor efficiency

The chosen reactor is CSTR reactor with two-stage of operation. This is due to
the optimal growth characteristics of the stages are different (Trzcinski et.al 2017).
The stages are divided by reactors:

Table 10: Reactors with different stages.

Reactor Process Reactor

1 Hydrolysis & Acidogenesis Hydrolytic/Acidogenic
2 Acetogenesis & Methanogenesis Methanogenic/Acetogenesis

Figure 12: Two-stage reactor configuration.

(Source: A review of anaerobic digestion systems for biodegradable waste: Configurations,

operating parameters, and current trends)

44
The efficiency of the reactors depends on few factors:

1. Total Solid
2. pH Value
3. Temperature
4. Retention time
5. Inhibitors and Nutrients

The hydrolytic/acdogenic reactor:

In the first stage of the reactor, the task of the reactor are to maximize the production
of Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA). The first stage need to be done as fast as possible to avoid
problem such as overloaded of raw materials. Thus, above factors need to be optimise in
order to obtain highest efficiency.

Firstly, the total solid. According to Kristensen and Jørgensen (2009) & Rosgaard et.
al (2007), too high solid content of the feed stock will result in too high viscosity for the
reactor. This high in viscosity will increase the energy consumption for mixing process,
thus increase the production cost. Other than energy, the catalytic conversion for the first
reactor will also decrease (Kristensen and Jørgensen, 2009)

Next, due to the involvement of microorganism, the pH value for each stage plays
crucial role in the efficiency. From literature, multiple test was conducted and the best pH
value for the operation of the first two stage were found to be at 6.0 (Turovskiy & Mathai,
2006) & (Chu et. Al, 2008). For acidic condition and alkaline condition of the first stage, test
for its efficiency were also conducted by Moestedt et al. (2016) and Zhang et al (2005). It
was found out that at acidic condition, the hydralic retention time (HRT) took up to 15 days
for the reactor while at alkaline condition (pH 7.0 to 11.0) the formation of VFAs were
proven decrease compare when pH value is at 6.0.

Thirdly for temperature, the possibility of temperature were divided into two,
mesophilic (20-45 °C) and Thermophilic (50-60°C). He, Sun and Zou (2012) stated that the
rate of conversion for the first reactor for two-stage anaerobic digester is proportional to the
temperate. The higher the temperature, the higher the rate. But according to Kim et al
(2003), the thermophic temperature have higher destructive power in killing the pathogens in

45
the reactor. Thefore, the mesophoilic temperature were chosen due to better stability, better
efficiency and needs of lesser energy.

The retention time for the first reactor depends a lot on the temperature setting of the
reactor, since the temperature will highly affect the rate of reaction. Based on the chosen
mesophilic temperature, Pavan et al (2000), strongly suggest that the retention time should be
from two to three days.

Lastly for the first reactor, according to Deublein and Stenihauser (2011), the
nutrients demand of Carbon and Nitogen (C/N ratio) for the first reactor should be in range of
10 to 40 and trace elements would not affect the efficiency of the reactors. In ddition for
inhibitors, the concentration of organic acids and free ammonia will inhibit the
microorganism (Van et al,2019). In order to maximise the efficiency of the first reactor, the
below limit of VFAs and ammonia concentration need to be carefully observed.

Table 11: Inhibitor Limit for Hydrolytic/Acidogenic Reactor.:

Inhibiter pH Limit
Organic acids (VFAs) 6.0-7.0 31g-COD/L
Organic Acids (VFAs) 5.0-5.5 40-50 g-COD/L
Ammonia 6.0-7.0 4051-5734 mg NH3-N/L

(Source: A review of anaerobic digestion systems for biodegradable waste:

Configurations, operating parameters, and current trends)

46
The methanogenic/acetogenesis reactor:

In the second stage of the reactor, the task of the reactor is to produce biogas.
According to Dinh et al. (2019), the operating conditions for the second reactor
(Acetogenesis & Methanogenesis process) need to be strictly complied. This is due to, the
biogas mainly methane is produced at the second reactor.

Based on the factors stated above, the total solid (TS) inlet for the second reactor
based in literature max out at 10% for maximum yield (Ross and Martin 2004). Next for pH
value Dinh et al (2019), stated that the optimal pH condition for methanogens and acetogens
are close to each other at 7.0 and 8.0. In addition, the third and fourth phase of the process are
alkalization process. Due to the sensitivity of pH towards the efficiency and yield, Dinh et al
(2019) said that the process needs to be stop and the pH need to be adjusted to the optimal pH
when the pH of the reactor dropped below 6.5.

Just like the first reactor, the temperature of the second reactor plays significant role
in obtaining maximum efficiency. Thus, setting the reactor to its optimum temperature is a
must. A study conducted by Li et al. (2014) and Pavan et al. (2000) found out that, at
mesophilic temperature (35-37oC) to get 710mL-CH4/g-VS requires 15 days of retention time
while at thermophilic temperature (55oC) only requires 12.5 days. Thus, by going with
thermophilic temperature for the second reactor, the total retention time can be greatly
reduced.

Lastly for nutrient and inhibitors for second reactor, according to Dinh(2019) the
factors of inhibitors are acetate concentration and free ammonia (FAN). The ceiling
concentration are given in the table below:

Table 12: Methanogenic/Acetogenesis Reactor Inhibitors.

Inhibitor Ceiling concentration

Acetate 3 g/L
Ammonia 100-250 mg/L

In conclusion, with the known factors affecting the efficiency of the two-stage
anaerobic digester keep in its optimum value and suggestions, the efficiency of the digesters
can max out at 60.7% if the pig manure or biowaste is used as its feed (Schievano et al 2012).

47
Attached below is the compiled data of type of waste utilization and its retention time in two-
stage anaerobic digester.

Figure 13:Type of waste and factors affecting efficiency for Two-Stage Anaerobic Digester

48
4.3 Process Screening

4.3.1 Separation Process: Biogas Upgrading Technology

Pure biogas produced from the co-digestion of pig manure composes of mainly 50-
60% of CH4, 40-50% of CO2, water saturated and traces of other contaminants. The presence
of other ingredients such as carbon dioxide, water vapor and small amounts of nitrogen and
oxygen are compounds that lower the energy value of biogas. Every cubic meter of biogas
that contained 65% of methane have caloric value at 6.5 kWh, otherwise for biogas that
contained 97% of methane have 9.7 kWh of caloric value (Papacz, W, 2011). Even though
the uses of biogas are diversity including for production of electricity, heat and natural gas as
a substitution for energy due to limited sources of fossil fuel, substances which are water,
CO2 and sulphur need to be eliminated to enable the use of biogas by cogeneration (Ioan B.
and Minciuc E., 2003).

The objective of this project is to make the biogas energy utilisation as efficient as
possible. Therefore, further purification process is required for the abatement of CO 2 content
in the biogas in order to make the biogas suitable for natural gas substitution. Since the
product of the biogas produced in this process is going to be sell as power supply, therefore
the spec of natural gas should be meet where the methane content is 80%-90% and 20% of
carbon dioxide. There are several conventional methods of biogas upgrading which are
mainly include absorption with organic amine solution, membrane separation and pressure
swing adsorption (PSA).

Figure 14: Typical Composition of Natural Gas

49
 Table 13: Comparison of Biogas Purification Technologies.

Parameters PSA Water Scrubbing Amine Solution

Pre-cleaning Yes No Yes

Pressure (bar) 4-7 4-7 1

Methane loss <3%, <1% <1%

Methane content >96% >97% >99%

Electricity
(kWh/Nm3) 0.25 <0.25 <0.15

Heating consumption
(C) Not Not 160

The main objective of this project is to design the most economical and reliable
biogas plant with maximum product yield. In industrial application, the commonly used
technology in removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) from the natural
gas is amine gas treating or also known as amine scrubbing. This technology is classified as
chemical absorption method where amine solution is the chemical solvent used. This
scrubbing technology use aqueous solutions of various alkylamines or can simply referred as
amines to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from natural gas.

There are various amines used in the gas treating which are the alkanolamines
group; Monoethanolamine (MEA) the primary amines, Diethanolamine (DEA) the secondary
amines, and Methyldiethanolamine (MDEA) the tertiary amines. Tertiary amines have higher
CO2 absorbing capacity than primary and secondary amines because they cannot form
carbamates. However, they are not an option for removal of CO2 because of their slow
reaction with CO2. Besides, for an excellent chemical absorbents selection, it includes high
CO2 capacity, fast absorption and stripping rates, low corrosivity and degradation rates, low
volatility, and low heat of absorption resulting in lower energy consumption for reversing the
reaction and stripping the CO2 (Blomena. E, 2009).

50
 In addition, the choice on which amine was selected to use is dependent on what gases
to be treated. From literature review conducted, for removal of only CO 2 gas, at low pressure
operations, DEA is proved to be the most ideal choice compare to MDEA and MEA.
Furthermore, DEA has lower heat of reaction with CO2 which is around 70kJ/mol CO2
(Meihong Wang,2016). In this biogas plant project, the upgrading of the product is focusing
more on removal of CO2 compare to H2S gas. DEA is much less reactive to sulphur
components and the reaction are not particularly corrosive (Galindo et al.2012). Hence, DEA
is an ideal option for removal of CO2 in the biogas.

Table 14: Efficiency of Various Amine

Type of Amine Efficiency of CO2 Removal Efficiency of H2S Removal

(%) (%)

MEA 32 20

DEA 20-25 20-25

MDEA 30-55 30-55

From the table above, MEA is proven to have the higher efficiency of CO2 gas
removal compare to the rest of the amines aqueous solutions. However, in industrial
application of removing CO2, DEA is the most popular secondary alkanolamine used. It has
plenty advantages such as high reactivity towards CO2, low solvent cost and reasonable
thermal stability (Aaron.D, 2005). Based on simulation conducted, the removal of CO2 is
98% where the entering CO2 gas is initially 215.5 kg/hr reduced to 2.664 kg/hr.

51
4.3.2 Working Principle of Amine Scrubber Technology

Figure 15: Process Flow Diagram of Amine Scrubber Technology

Figure 16: Process Flow Diagram of Amine Scrubber Technology

An amine scrubber technology is mainly comprised of absorber and desorber column.
Lean DEA solvent is fed at the top of the absorber column and the biogas is feeds from the
bottom part. Having a counter-current flow between MEA solvent and the treated gas, the
CO2 is absorbed by DEA solvent and then called as rich amine. The lean amine and rich
amine flow through the heat exchanger, where heating of rich amine and cooling the lean
amine take place. Rich amine is then further heated by the reboiler in the desorber column.
The steam rising through the desorber liberates CO2 and thus regenerate the amine. The
removed CO2 gases flow out of the top of desorber column are route for CO2 utilization.

52
4.3.3 Technology Ranking for Biogas Upgrading Methods

Pressure Swing Adsorption Membrane

Technology Ranking Amine Solution Water Scrubbing
(PSA) Separation
CO2 Removal Efficiency 2 4 2 N/A
CAPEX 3 3 4 1
Operating Flexibility 3 3 4 1
Reliability 3 4 1 1
Environment Friendly 3 2 4 2
Average 14 16 15 5

53
 4.4 Economics Evaluation

4.4.1 Biogas Upgrading Technology

In any industry, the main driving factor is the economic and it is crucial as the
survival factor of the company. Economic includes information in investment cost, operation
cost and specific cost in every stage of biogas upgrading process. For the economic
consideration of a biogas plant, the scale of its plant is the most important factor (Peterson,
2009). Since European countries had first explore on the biogas project, therefore the cost
data source in this study is the footnote from their biogas plant. It can be seen in Table 9
below, the main cost of biogas plant operation. Besides, the economic factor such as
investment cost, operational cost and maintenance cost is another taken into consideration for
choosing biogas purification system. In addition, technical factor such as pilot plant
experience, supply of utility water, amount of methane release, and contractor experience
should also be highlighted (Persson,2003).

Table 15: Biogas Upgrading Cost in Various Technologies.

Cost Water Scrubbing PSA Amine Solution Membrane Separation

Investment Cost
($/year) 265,000 680,000 353,000 233,000-749,000

Maintenance Cost
($/year) 100,000 187,000 134,000-179,000 81,750-126,000

Cost per
Nm3/biogas
upgraded 0.13 0.25 0.17-0.28 0.12-0.22

54
 From Table 9, even-though water scrubbing technology gave the cheapest cost out of
all the other technologies, yet amine solution method is chosen. This is due to high reliability
and efficiency of DEA as a chemical solvent in removing CO2 and was proven by most of
industrial application.

4.4.2 Plant Economics Evaluation

Prior to commissioning an operating plant, economics analysis should be conducted to

determine whenever the project should be continued or halted. To conduct the analysis, one
of the available ways of doing the analysis is by utilizing the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)
and Operating Expenditure (OPEX) as the measuring parameters.

Capital Expenditure (CAPEX):

Capital Expenditure or CAPEX is the initial cost for the construction which includes to buy,
maintain, or improve assets (Business Dictionary, 2017). The CAPEX can be divided into
three parts which are maintenance expenditure, expansion expenditure and Initial
expenditure.

Operating Expenditure (OPEX):

For Operating expenditure (OPEX), OPEX is used to determine the ongoing expenses for the
operation of the plant, which includes the electricity usage. Costs such as operating cost and
fixes cost are include in OPEX.

55
Initial cost:

To calculate the initial cost, the equipment cost is needed. Therefore, the detailed P&ID is
needed. In this project, the piping, valves, controller price is not considered. There are 9
major equipment being use and all of the equipment’s costing were obtained from Aspen+,
economic evaluation.

Table 16: Equipment costing Source: Aspen+ Simulation

Equipment Equipment Unit Cost Per Unit Total unit cost

Number ($) ($)
Mixer B1,B12,B11, 6 293,000 1758000
B16,
B4,B4(Stripper)
Splitter B1, B9 2 293,000 586000
CSTR Reactor CSTR1 1 110,800 221600
CSTR Reactor CSTR2 1 134,450,000 134450000
Separator B15,B5 2 23,200 46400
Heater B2,B2(AS),B6 3 14,200 42600
Compressor B8 1 473,200 473200
Tank MIX,TANK, 2 25,000 50000
BIO-HOLD
Absorber ABSORBER 1 99,900 99900
Stripper STRIPPER 1 261,300 261300
Total $ 137878200
Investment
RM 579,088,440

56
Physical Plant Cost (PPC)

PPC is calculated to estimate the piping, instruments, electrical power use, equipment
erection cost, supporting facilities and land cost. According to literature, the factor that
usually being utilized to estimate the PPC is 3.4. Therefore, the factor of 3.4 are used to
estimate the Physical Plant Cost for this project.

𝑃𝑃𝐶 = 𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 ∗ 3.4

𝑃𝑃𝐶 = 𝑅𝑀 579,088,440 ∗ 3.4
PPC= 𝑅𝑀 1,968,900,696

Working Capital

Working capital refers to the expected cost required for the plant until the plant break
even. In working capital, the estimated capital use is for maintenance, wages, start-up, raw
materials and so on. According to Sinnott (2005), typically 15 to 20% of fixed capital
investment will be approximately the cost required as working capital. Hence, the indirect
cost is calculated using a factor of 0.15:

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝑃𝑃𝐶 ∗ 0.15

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝑅𝑀 1,968,900,696 ∗ 0.15
Working Capital = 𝑅𝑀295,335,104.40

Total CAPEX

Total CAPEX is obtained by adding the value for Working capital cost and physical plant
cost

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑥: 𝑅𝑀 1,968,900,696 + 𝑅𝑀295,335,104.40

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑥 = 𝑅𝑀 2,264,235,800.40

57
Operating Expenditure (OPEX)

According to Sinnot (2005), Operating expenditure are very important in determining the
economic feasibility of a plant, as utility and power requirement of a plant sometimes take up
to 50% of initial expenditure. Aside from this, Sinnot (2005) also stated that, the factors in
Operating Expenditure are Fixed Operating Cost and Variable Operating Cost.

Fixed Operating cost

In fixed operating cost, the needs of capital are factored by factors such as the maintenance
cost, operating cost, laboratory cost, plant overheads, insurances, taxes and supervision cost.
The factor for this cost was taken from literature and can be seen in the table below.

The capability to estimate the labour cost is hard to be estimated due to the changes of
workers needed according to the operation. Due to this, the labour cost was taken from
Cenergi Pantai Remis Power Plant. The power plant currentll run the operation by having 2
eniginners, 2 supervisors,8 shifting operator on a 120acres land. From the footprint, the plant
is expected to have a ten-times bigger, therefore the assumed salary will be at least 10 times
the cost from Cenergi Pantai Remis Power Plant. Total labor cost: $ 1,440,400 (Cenergi
Pantai Remis Power Plant)

According to Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), the corporate tax

rate for company on the first RM500,000 chargeable income is at 18%, whereas the tax rate
increases up to 28% on subsequent income. But due to the unknown income, the rate for
taxes are taken from Sinnot (2005) which is fixed at 1%. The other factors such as insurance,
maintenance and supervision are also taken from Sinnot (2005).

Cost estimation sinnot 2005: Factor from fixes operation cost (CAPEX)

CAPEX: 𝑅𝑀 2,264,235,800.40
Cost Factor to CAPEX Cost (RM)
Maintenance 0.10 226,423,580.04
Corporate Tax 0.01 22,642,358.00
Insurance 0.01 22,642,358.00
Supervision 0.20 452,847,160.08
Labor 6,048,000
Total fixed operating cost 753,245,814.13
Table 17: Fixed Operating cost

58
Variable operating cost

In variable operating cost, the cost of the raw material (pig manure), water, and the
estimation of utility cost were calculated. For the utilities, the utilization of electricity was
obtained from Aspen+ energy saving calculation. The annual consumption of manure was
also taken from Aspen+ simulation.

RM Price (RM/kg) Annual

consumption Annual Price
(kg/yr) (Rm/yr)
Pig Manure 0.18 116,888,695.00 21,039,965.10
Water 0.69 462,543.36 319,154.9
Utilities 1072.034 Kw/hr RM0.202/kwh 1,896,986
(estimated)
Total Cost 23,256,105.60

Table 18: Variable Operating Cost

Total Cost

To calculate total cost, total OPEX must be added with total CAPEX. Total OPEX
includes fixed operating cost added with variable operating cost, and total CAPEX is the final
cost.

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑂𝑃𝐸𝑋 =RM 23,256,105.60+RM753,245,814.13

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑂𝑃𝐸𝑋 = 𝑅𝑀 776,501,919.74

Using an estimation for the plant expectancy to be 15 years, the annual CAPEX and OPEX
were calculated below

𝑅𝑀776,501,919.74
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑂𝑃𝐸𝑋 =
15

Total Annual OPEX= RM51,766,794.65/ year

2,264,235,800.40
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝐴𝑃𝐸𝑋 =
15

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑛𝑛𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝐴𝑃𝐸𝑋 = 𝑅𝑀150,949,053.36

59
 Total cost = 𝑅𝑀150,949,053.36 + RM51,766,794.65

Total Cost = RM 202,715,848.01/year

Annual Income:

To estimate the plant prfit, the net income from the products must be calculated. The
feasibility for the plant operation will be represent by the positive value of the net income. IN
this project the methane, and bio-fertilizers were the main end products. Due to this, the plant
operation annual income will be calculated based on this product.

According to Gas Malaysia berhad (GMB) the price for methane is RM32.69 per MMBTU.
This is translated to approximately RM0.42/m3 of methane produced. But, due to the
fluctuation of the methane market, the lowest price were considered.

For the bio-fertilizers, the price depends on the NPK ratio. Table below is the summary of
the pricing:

N:P:K Ratio Price (RM)

12-12-17 1.435
15-15-15 1.968
20-20-20 3.075
150-150-350 5.74
Table 19: Bio-fertilizers market price

Based on this two information, the profit for the plant were calculated and represent in the
table below:

Product Price Prod per Hour Annual Income (RM)

Methane 0.10$ per m3 416,670 m3/hr 1,533,012,180.00

Digestate 1.968 733853kg/day 527,141,287

(RM/Kg)
Total 2,060,153,466.96

Table 20: Annual Income from product selling

60
Economic Potential

Economic Potential is used to systematically evaluate the profitability of plant. The

economic potential is divided into three parts which each part informed the designer of the
plant on the main factor of the cost of the plant. By knowing these factors, the plant costing
can then be reduced. Therefore, the calculation is given below:

Economic Potential 1 (EP1) = Product Income – Raw Material Cost

EP1 = 2,060,153,466.96− 21,039,965.1

EP1 = RM 2,039,113,501.86

Economic Potential 2 (EP2) = EP1 – Utility Cost -OPEX

𝐸𝑃 2 = 𝑅𝑀 2,039,113,501.86−RM 23,256,105.60-RM755,545,212.44
EP 2= RM 1,239,355,476.52

Economic Potential 3 (EP3) = EP2 – CAPEX annual cost

𝐸𝑃3 = RM 1,239,355,476.52- 51,766,794.65

EP3 = RM 1,187,588,681.87

Since EP3 is positive value, the plant can generate RM1Billion annually. This is largely due
to the huge amount of raw materials taken as raw materials. Other than an interesting
investment opportunity, the plant will greatly help in the reduction of the environmental
problem arise from the pig manure farms in Kampar.

The risk for the investment done by the investors can be predicted by the Break Even
Point. The calculations are:

𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝐴𝑃𝐸𝑋
𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 =
𝐸𝑃2

2,264,235,800.40
𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 =
1,239,355,476.52

𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 = 1.83 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 ~ 2𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

61
 Based on the calculation above, 2 years are needed for the plant to break even. According
to Sinnot (2005), the investment can be considered to be low risk when the break-even is less
than 2 years. The depreciation of the asset can be calculated by using the straight-line
depreciation expenses formula:

B − SV
Dt =
𝑛

B= Physical Plant Cost, S=Salvage value, 3% from ficed capotal cost (literature), n= total
plant life
1,968,900,696 − (0.03 ∗ 2,264,235,800.40)
Dt =
15

𝐷𝑡 = 𝑅𝑀 126,731,574.80

EP2= RM 1,302,225,598.42– 126,731,574.80

EP2 = RM 1,175,494,023.62

2,264,235,800.40
𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 =
RM1,175,494,023.62
𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑃𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 = 2.04 ~ 3 years

According to an article by BrightHub:

“For a specialized asset such as a machine that is devoted to producing one particular
line of goods, the above considerations regarding obsolescence should be taken into
account, and the depreciation period should be shortened if necessary. The danger is
that if the asset, though still in good operating condition, falls out of use because
demand goes down, it will continue to be depreciated while it is no longer of use in
earning profits. In a high-tech industry, where new models appear every year or two,
depreciation periods of machines and equipment are always likely to be low because
of these considerations.”

Based on the statement above, the break-even point of 3 years can be considered as
good for the equipment’s since new technology appears every year or two.

62
4.5 Process Flow sheeting

63
 CHAPTER 5

HEAT INTEGRATION AND PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

5.1 Manual Mass balance of entire plant

Figure 17:Mass Balance of the Whole Plant

In Figure 17, the general layout as well as the overall mass balance of our plant is
depicted in said figure. Our process starts with our raw material, the pig manure mixed
together with water at a 1:1 ratio for ideal concentration and viscosity of slurry. Once, the
slurry is produced, it goes into Reactor 1, where the bacteria will begin the process of
Hydrolysis and Acidogenesis. After a sufficient retention time, the slurry is moved on
towards the second reactor, where the final 2 stages of the process will occur. Once the slurry
is digestated by the bacteria, the final product consists of 2 phases. The first being the gas
phase which is our biogas and the other phase will be the liquid part which is the digestate
which we will use as our liquid fertilizer. The biogas is put through a series of purification
steps before it reaches our desired specification.

64
 5.2 Mass Balance of the Reactor

Composition of pig
manure
H2 (gas): H2 (gas):
30kg carbohydrates CH4: 16.29 + 3.92 = 20.21kg
3.72 + 1.37 = 5.09 kg 5.09 + 4.86 + 3.73 = 13.68 kg
30kg proteins CO2: 9.16kg

30kg Lipids

10 kg inert H2 (gas): H2 (gas):

X: 0.808 CH4: 16.29 + 3.92 = 20.21kg
3.72 + 1.37 = 5.09 kg 5.09 + 4.86 + 3.73 = 13.68 kg CO2: 9.16kg

X: 0.808

Composition of pig Hydrolysis Acidogenesis Acetogenesis Methanogenesis

manure
Unreacted:
30kg carbohydrates
Hydrolysis Acidogenesis 20 kg recycle Acetogenesis Methanogenesis 6.05 kg Acetate
30kg proteins
11.2 kg water
30kg Lipids
Converted: Unreacted: VFA: Unreacted: 3.72 kg
20 kg14.90 kg VFA
recycle Unreacted: Acetate:
10 kg inert Monosaccharide
24.24 kg 5.76 kg carbs 8.23 + 10.4 5.76 kg Carbs 12.38 kg 4.61 Carbs 12.38 + 10.81
Monosaccharide Acetate + 8.31= 31.5 kg 3.72 kg Amino
5.76 kg protein = 18.63 kg 5.76 kg Protein 4.61 Protein Acid
24.24 kg Amino 3.722 kg LCFA
5.76 Lipid Acetate: 5.76 kg Lipid 4.61 Lipids 8 kg Inert
Acid
2.86 kg VFA
7.64 + 7.84 24.24 kg LCFA 19.392 LCFA
24.24 kg LCFA
4.61 kg Carbs Unreacted:
= 15.48 kg 4.65 kg 3.72
10 kg inert Monosaccharide Monosaccharide 4.61 kg Protein 6.05 kg Acetate
Unreacted:
4.65 kg Amino Acid 3.72 Amino Acid 4.61 kg Lipids 11.2 kg water
5.76 kg carbs 10 kg Inert 8 kg Inert
VFA: 14.90 kg VFA
5.76 kg protein
Converted:
8.23 + 10.4 12.3865 kg
5.76 Lipid 3.72 kg
24.24 kg Acetate
Monosaccharide = 18.63 kg Monosaccharide

Acetate: Acetate:
24.24 kg Amino 3.72 kg Amino
5.3 Energy Optimization

One of the crucial steps in this design project is the heat integration of the plant. Here, the
objective of performing heat integration is to reduce the overall number of heaters and
coolers used within the plant. Hence, the utilization of heat exchangers enables hot streams
and cold streams to exchange heat between them. Optimizing the performances of the heat
exchangers will also lead to significant cost savings in the operation side. For our project, the
streams are identified and taken from the simulation done using Aspen Plus. Hint software is
used to perform heat integration simulation to simulate streams to be exchanged.

5.3.1 Energy Optimization and Pinch Analysis

The purpose of pinch analysis is to reduce the number of hot and cold utilities
while optimizing heat recovery. The method that was used in order to conduct he
pinch analysis is the Pinch Technology method which is able to determine the
minimum cooling and heating while a Problem Table Algorithm (PTA) method or
Composite Curve method is used to determine energy recovery. The steps involved in
the Pinch Analysis are:
1) Identifying the streams with temperature difference
2) Obtaining relevant data such as Target temperature, Supply temperature and
Enthalpy from the simulation software, Aspen Plus.
3) Calculation of heat capacity of the specified stream
4) Determination of optimum Δ Tmin
5) The actual temperatures are converted into T*
6) The grid representation is developed.
7) Utility consumption of the heat exchangers are calculated and a comparison
is made between before and after optimization.

66
5.3.2 Grid Representation
The grid representation diagram is constructed from matching possible hot and
cold streams from the operation. Heat is added to the streams above pinch
temperature whereas heat removal is eligible below pinch temperature. Possible
matches are constructed by using thermal data from Apen Plus. The
temperatures with heat loads matched using heat exchanges and heating and
cooling utilities. Based on the grid representation diagram below, stream 2 will
exchange heat with stream 3. An additional cooler is added to stream 1 and
stream 3 in order to achieve the desired temperature after exchanging heat.

Figure 19: Grid Representation

67
5.3.3 Composite Curve Method
According to graph below, it is shown that hot utility is the difference between the two top
peaks of hot and cold stream lines, 0 kW. Cold utility is 938.5 kW which is the difference
between the two bottom peaks of the hot and cold stream lines.

Figure 20: Composite Curve

68
5.3.4 Grand Composite Curve Method
Based on the grand composite curve, it is observed that the pinch temperature is at 387.2K.

69
 CHAPTER 6

PROCESS CONTROL AND INSTRUMENTATION

6.1 Process Control and Instrument

P&IDs are crucial in engineering design of piping system and process plant. It is necessary to
include equipment such as valves, controllers, instrumentation reduces to the P&ID. P&ID is
designed for the maintenance of equipment used and adjust the process variables (Anderson,
2018).

Table 21: Justification of each unit / instrument used in the process

Unit / Process Justification

Pig manure tank A proper location to store pig manure before mixing it with
water in equalization tank.

Water storage tank A proper location to store water before mixing it with pig
manure in equalization tank.

Mixer The pig manure and water with ratio 1:1 is mixed to increase
the overall moisture content. The flowrate sending the pig
manure and water need to be controlled at a specific set
point to avoid any overflow or insufficient flow.

Anaerobic digester The digester is operated in continuous flow. Hence, the

flowrate of mixture of pig manure and water need to be
controlled to prevent any overflow and insufficient flow.
The pressure, temperature and pH of anaerobic reaction
which involve microbes have to be controlled for optimum
yield of biogas.

Biogas holder To store biogas coming out from anaerobic digester.

Phase separator To separate the phase of fluid or mixture to gas and total
liquid.

70
Pump To control the desired pressure and flowrate of the stream.

Compressor To control the desired temperature of the stream.

Heater To heat up the stream to desired temperature.

Cooler To cool down the stream to desired temperature.

Absorber To extract methane gas (CH4).

Desorber To extract carbon dioxide gas (CO2).

Liquid fertilizer storage A proper location to store liquid fertilizer.

Methane holder A proper location to store methane gas (CH4).

Carbon dioxide holder A proper location to store carbon dioxide gas (CO2).

71
6.2 Types of Control Strategies

Process control is important to a plant as it enables automation, ensures safety and energy
efficient. The parameters such as flowrate, temperature, pH and pressure of each reactor or
stream can be controlled by process control strategy. Th process control also allows the
industry to maintain the plant to operate within specific and more precise limit. Other than
that, by using process control, quality and safety can be ensured while maximizing the
profitability. (Anon., 2017). Four control strategies which are feedforward control. feedback
control, cascade control and ratio control are discussed.

6.2.1 Feedforward Control

Figure 18: Feedforward control

Feedforward control is used as a controller when a disturbance cannot be controlled.
When the disturbances occur, the feedforward control takes its action and feed the stream to
the output of process.

The advantage of a feedforward control is a disturbance is measured and a

manipulated variable is changed before the output is changed. The disadvantage of feedback
control is the model including the dynamics and non-linearities must be exact. All the
instruments in P&ID must be calibrated correctly. Lastly, the disturbances other than
feedforward variable will not be controlled (robo, 2016).

72
 6.2.2 Feedback Control

Figure 19: Feedback control

Feedback control is used as a control action after an error exists. Feedback control is
needed to counteract disturbance signals that affect the output, improve system performance
in the presence of modal uncertainty and stabilize a plant that is open-loop unstable. One of
the advantages of feedback control are the result of any disturbance entering the process is to
make the controlled variable vary from the set point. Once the controlled variable varies from
the set point, the controller alters its yield to return the controlled variable to set point which
is its desired value.

The feedback control loop does not know and care which disturbance enters the
process. It only tries to maintain the controlled variable at set point and in this way
compensates for all disturbances. The feedback controller operates with minimum knowledge
of the process. The only information it needs is which direction to move and how much to
move is usually adjusted by trial and error. On the contrary, the disadvantages of feedback
control are it can compensate for a disturbance only after the controlled variable has deviated
from the set point and not able to give the controlled variable a timely control.

73
 6.2.3 Cascade Control

Figure 20: Cascade control

Cascade control is known as advanced multiloop control strategy. It improves the

process loop by adding a secondary and faster control loop to correct for a disturbance that is
already known. The output of a primary controller will manipulate the secondary controller’s
setpoint. The two controllers have its own process variable input and are cascaded together.
The primary controller has its own setpoint and its output is connected to second controller.
The second controller accepts the output of primary controller as its setpoint input. The
output of this second controller is the output of the process. Hence, the secondary controller
is a closed loop within the primary loop.

Cascade controller is used when the primary variable shows slow response to
disturbance and when process changes cause significant upset in the controlled variable.
Besides that, cascade controller is also used when disturbances affect another variable and is
related to the controlled variable closely.

74
 6.2.4 Ratio Control

Figure 21:Ratio control

Ratio control is a type of feedforward controller, where the disturbances are known
with their ratio is known at desired set point by controlling one of the streams. Ratio control
is used when two streams have to be mixed together in a certain ratio to a process. A standard
control system is used to control the flow on one stream. A transmitter is used as a set point
for second controller in second stream. The ratio of flow rate at one stream to the other can be
adjusted by the gain of second controller.

The benefit of ratio control is it allows two streams to link in order to produce a
desired ratio. Ratio control do not need complex model and it is simple enough. The
disadvantage of ratio control is it can only be used to control flow rate.

75
6.3 Design Steps Involved in Biogas and Liquid Fertilizer Plant

1. Identify the process variables and control objectives of the feed at the inlet stream.

2. Identify the process variables from the feed at inlet stream to the product at outlet
stream.

3. Choose the suitable control strategy for biogas and liquid fertilizer production.

4. Control the equipment of the plant by using the suitable type of controller.

5. Choose the right instrumentation and prepare the P&ID.

6. Controller tuning.

Figure 22: Design steps involved in biogas and liquid fertilizer plant

76
6.4 Implementation of control Strategies

The utilization of every control unit for production of biogas and liquid fertilizer are
summarized. The control objectives, manipulated variable, controlled variable and control
strategy for each unit are tabulated as follow.

Table 22: Control strategy of mixer

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

The ratio of pig

Mixer To control manure and water Feedforward
Flowrate
(M-101) flowrate of feed supply into the control
mixer

Table 23: Control strategy of anaerobic digester 1

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

To control The level of

flowrate of inlet mixture in Feedforward
Flowrate
stream and anaerobic digester control
recycle stream 1
Anaerobic
digester 1 To control
The pressure of Feedback
(R-101) temperature of Temperature
digester control
digester

To control pH of The pressure of Feedback

pH
digester digester control

77
 Table 24: Control strategy of anaerobic digester 2

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

The flowrate of
To control Feedback
mixture into
temperature of Temperature control
anaerobic digester
digester
2
Anaerobic
Feedforward
digester 2 To control The flowrate of
control,
(R-102) pressure of mixture in recycle Temperature
feedback
digester stream
control

To control pH of The pressure of Feedback

pH
digester digester control

Table 25: Control strategy of biogas holder

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

The flowrate of
To control biogas from outlet
Feedback
Biogas pressure of stream of Pressure
control
holder biogas holder anaerobic digester
2
(T-103)
The temperature Feedback
The level of biogas Temperature
of biogas holder control

78
 Table 26: Control strategy of solid-liquid separator

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

To control The flowrate of

Feedback
pressure of biogas enters the Pressure
control
separator separator

Solid-liquid To control The flowrate of

Feedback
separator temperature of biogas enters the Temperature
control
(C-101) separator separator

The flowrate of
To control the Feedback
biogas enters the Level
level of separator control
separator

Table 27: Control strategy of phase separator

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

To control
The pressure of Feedforward
flowrate of Flowrate
Phase digester control
separator
separator (C-
To control
104) The pressure of Feedback
temperature of Temperature
digester control
separator

79
 Table 28: Control strategy of liquid fertilizer storage

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

Liquid
fertilizer To control The level of liquid Feedback
Flowrate
storage flowrate of inlet fertilizer control

(T-106)

Table 29: Control strategy of absorber

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

To control
The level of biogas Feedforward
flowrate of Flowrate
in absorber control
Absorber absorber

(C-102) To control
The pressure of Feedback
temperature of Temperature
absorber control
absorber

To control level The pressure of Feedback

Level
of absorber absorber control

80
 Table 30: Control strategy of desorber

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

Desorber To control The pressure of Temperature Feedback

temperature of desorber control
(C-103)
desorber

To control level The pressure of Feedback

Level
of desorber desorber control

Table 31: Control strategy of methane holder

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

Methane To control The temperature of Pressure Feedback

holder pressure of methane holder control
methane holder
(T-104)

Table 32: Control strategy of carbon dioxide holder

Unit Control Manipulated Controlled Control

Objectives Variables Variables Strategy

Carbon To control The temperature of Pressure Feedback

dioxide pressure of carbon dioxide control
holder carbon dioxide holder
holder
(T-105)

81
6.5 Process Flow Diagram

Figure 23: PFD of the whole plant

82
6.6 Piping and Instrumentation Diagram (P&ID)

Figure 24: P&ID of the whole plant

83
 CHAPTER 7

SAFETY AND LOSS PREVENTION

7.1 Hazard and Operability Analysis (HAZOP)

HAZOP is a formal systematic rigorous examination to the process and engineering
facets of a production facility. It is also a qualitative technique based on “guide-words” to
help provoke thoughts about the way deviations from the intended operating conditions can
lead to hazardous situations or operability problems. Throughout this analysis, Hazards are
the main concern and plus it this analysis is important to reduce the Operability problems that
degrade plant performance (product quality, production rate, profit)

Table 33: Guide word used with meanings in HAZOP analysis

Guide Word Meanings

NONE No forward flow when there should be

MORE More of any parameter than there should be,

e.g more flow, more pressure, more
temperature, etc.

LESS As above, but "less of" in each instance

PART System composition difference from what it

should be

MORE THAN More "components" present than there should

be for example, extra phase, impurities

OTHER What needs to happen other than normal

operation, e.g. start-up, shutdown,
maintenance

Table 34: The study nodes for biogas production plant

84
Study Node Description
1 Anaerobic Digester 1 (R-101)

2 Anaerobic Digester 2 (R-102)

3 Absorber (C-102)

85
 Table 35: The HAZOP analysis for each node

HAZOP Study Node 1

Reactor (R-101)
Node 1
Intention Inlet to Anaerobic Digester (R-101)
Parameter Guide Deviation Possible Cause Consequences Existing Safeguard Action Required
Word

FLOW NO No flow of • Mixer (M-101) • No flow of pig • Flow Controller • Install the
pig slurry failure slurry in the • Flow open bypass.
• Pump (P-103) anaerobic Transmitter • Improve
failure digester 1 inspection
• No mixing of procedure by
pig manure including
and water routine
• Incomplete inspection
reaction check on
mixer (M-101)
and pump (P-
103)
• Installation
flow meter
LESS Less flow of Leak in pipeline. • Less flow of • Flow Controller • Install low
pig slurry pig slurry in • Flow flow alarm
the anaerobic Transmitter • Include routine
digester inspection on
• Yield of pig the pipeline
slurry

86
 undesired
• Incomplete
Reaction
MORE More flow of • Failure of mixer • Excess flow of • Flow Controller • Install high
pig slurry M-101 pig slurry into • Flow flow alarm
• Failure of the the anaerobic Transmitter • Include routine
flow controller digester 1 inspection of
• Level the mixer (M-
increased in 101)
reactor which • Include routine
results in inspection on
flooding flow controller
valve
TEMPERATURE LESS Low • Failure of the • Less • Temperature • Install low
temperature temperature production of Controller temperature
of pig slurry controller pig slurry due • Temperature alarm
to low rate of Transmitter • Include routine
reaction inspection on
• Deteriorate of temperature
the microbe controller
used in the valve
reaction
MORE High • Temperature • Reactor • Temperature • Install high
temperature controller overheated Controller temperature
of pig slurry failure • High • Temperature alarm
temperature Transmitter • Include routine
cause high inspection on
pressure build- temperature
up may lead to controller
pipeline or valve
internal reactor
rupture.

87
 • Deteriorate of
the microbe
used in the
reaction
pH LESS Low pH of Failure of pH controller Deteriorate the • pH Controller • Include routine
pig slurry microbe used in • pH Transmitter inspection on
reaction pH controller
valve
MORE High pH of Failure of pH controller Deteriorate the • pH Controller • Include routine
pig slurry microbe used in • pH Transmitter inspection on
reaction pH controller
valve

88
HAZOP Study Node 2
Reactor (R-102)
Node 2
Intention Inlet to Anaerobic Digester 2
Parameter Guide Deviation Possible Cause Consequences Existing Safeguard Action Required
Word

FLOW NO No flow of 3- Way Valve (V- • No flow of • Flow • Install the

digestate 103) failure digestate in Controller open bypass.
anaerobic digester • Flow • Improve
2. Therefore, Transmitter inspection
cannot preserve procedure by
the number of including
bacteria routine
• Reaction in the inspection
anaerobic digester check on the 3-
2 will be affected Way valve (V-
103)
• Installation
flow meter
LESS Less flow Leak in pipeline. • Less flow of • Flow • Install low
digestate digestate in the Controller flow alarm
anaerobic digester • Flow • Routine
2 Transmitter inspection
• Decrease the check on the

89
 bacterial activity pipeline
MORE More flow of • Failure of 3- • Excess flow of • Flow • Install high
digestate Way Valve digestate into the Controller flow alarm
(V-103) anaerobic digester • Flow • Include routine
• Failure of the 2 Transmitter inspection on
flow • Level increased 3- Way valve
controller in reactor which (V-103)
results in flooding • Include routine
inspection on
flow controller
valve
TEMPERATURE LESS Low • Failure of the • Less production • Temperature • Install low
temperature of temperature of biogas due to Controller temperature
anaerobic controller low rate of • Temperature alarm
digester 2 reaction Transmitter • Include routine
• Deteriorate of the inspection on
microbe used in temperature
the reaction controller
valve
MORE High • Temperature • Reactor • Temperature • Install high
temperature of controller overheated Controller temperature
anaerobic failure • High temperature • Temperature alarm
digester 2 cause high Transmitter • Include routine
pressure build-up inspection on
may lead to temperature
pipeline or controller
internal reactor valve
rupture.
• Deteriorate of the
microbe used in
the reaction

90
PRESSURE LESS Low pressure • Failure of • Rate of reaction is • Pressure • Install low
of anaerobic compressor low in anaerobic Controller pressure alarm
digester 2 (K-101) digester 2 • Pressure • Include routine
Transmitter inspection on
compressor
(K-101)
MORE More pressure • Failure of • Rupture of • Pressure • Install high
of anaerobic compressor internal reactor Controller pressure alarm
digester 2 (K-101) • Pressure • Include routine
Transmitter inspection on
compressor
(K-101)
pH LESS Low pH of pig Failure of pH Deteriorate the microbe • pH • Include routine
slurry controller used in reaction Controller inspection on
• pH pH controller
Transmitter valve
MORE High pH of pig Failure of pH Deteriorate the microbe • pH • Include routine
slurry controller used in reaction Controller inspection on
• pH pH controller
Transmitter valve

91
HAZOP Study Node 3
Absorber (C-102)
Node 3
Intention Inlet to Absorber
Parameter Guide Deviation Possible Cause Consequences Existing Safeguard Action Required
Word

FLOW NO • No flow of • 3-Way Valve • No flow of • Flow • Install the

biogas into the (V-101) failure biogas in the Controller open bypass.
absorber absorber, thus • Flow • Improve
no absorption Transmitter inspection
process occurs procedure by
• Biogas cannot including
be purified routine
inspection
check on 3-
Way valve (V-
101)
• Installation
flow meter
LESS • Less flow of Leak in pipeline. • Less flow of • Flow • Install low
biogas into the biogas in Controller flow alarm
absorber absorber thus it • Flow • Include routine
affects the Transmitter inspection
operating cost check on
per amine used pipeline
since large
amount of

92
 amine solvent
used to purify
small amount of
biogas
MORE • More flow of • 3- Way Valve • Excess flow of • Flow • Install high
biogas into the (V-101) failure biogas in Controller flow alarm
absorber • Failure of the absorber results • Flow • Include routine
flow controller in flooding Transmitter inspection
check on 3-
Way valve (V-
101)
• Inspection
check on flow
controller
valve
TEMPERATURE LESS Low temperature of • Failure of the • Low rate • Temperature • Install low
absorber temperature capacity of CO2 Controller temperature
controller removal • Temperature alarm
• Heat exchanger Transmitter • Include routine
(E-102) inspection
malfunction check on
temperature
controller
valve
• Include routine
inspection
check on heat
exchanger (E-
102)
MORE High temperature of • Heat exchanger • Absorber • Temperature • Install high
absorber (E-102) column Controller temperature
malfunction overheated • Temperature alarm

93
 • Temperature • High pressure Transmitter • Include routine
controller build-up may inspection
malfunction lead to pipeline check on heat
or internal exchanger (E-
absorber column 102)
rupture. • Include routine
inspection
check on
temperature
controller
valve
LEVEL LESS Low level of biogas Failure of level Low efficiency of CO2 • Level • Install low
controller absorption process Controller level alarm
• Level • Include routine
Transmitter inspection
check on level
controller
valve
MORE High level of biogas Failure of level Over flooding • Level • Install high
controller Controller level alarm
• Level • Include routine
Transmitter inspection
check on level
controller
valve
PRESSURE LESS Low pressure of Failure of pressure • Low efficiency • Pressure • Install low
absorber controller of CO2 Controller pressure alarm
absorption • Pressure • Include routine
Transmitter inspection on
pressure
controller
valve

94
MORE More pressure of Failure of pressure • Rupture of • Pressure • Install high
absorber controller internal Controller pressure alarm
absorber column • Pressure • Include routine
Transmitter inspection on
pressure
controller
valve

95
 7.2 Plant Layout

Plant Layout
In engineering, the layout of the plant plays a significant role in the performance of the
plant. According to Meller and Gau (1996), numerous researches had been done to further
improve the plant layout design. Based on these researches, the selected layout of the plant
selected will be block layout.

To help the facility production process, the flow of the layout must be considering the flow of
the production and also movement of the worker, for example Muslims worker need to
perform their prayer. According to Weizsacker etal (2009), a good plant layout can help
minimize material handling time and cost, eases of production, fully utilization of buildings
and lands and also adds up to the employee’s comfort and convenience.

In planning, the plant layout is a long-term commitment. The possibility such as plant
expansion need to be kept in mind. Other than the needs of expansion, the goals or objective
of the plant need to be fully stated since changing the layout after the plant have been
established is a hard work and can also leads to unnecessary spending. Therefore, the
objective for this plant layout project are:

Objectives:

➢ The utilization of spaces needs to be efficient

➢ Enough space for large plant capacity in term of production and storage
➢ Reduction of cost from material handling
➢ Reducing the probability of accident by efficient space utilization
➢ Efficient labour utilization
➢ Comfort and easiness of movement for workers
➢ Fully optimization of machineries with easiness of transport
➢ Easier supervision, control and maintenance

96
Based on these eight objectives, the plant decided to separate the plant layout into two parts,
the Block 1 and Block 2. The block is separated due to its function which, Block 1 is the
block consist of the main chemical processes which is the part with highest cost. Block 2 is
the block which consist the administrative buildings, car parking lot, and also utilities
building (gym, surau, hall etc).

Block 1:
For the capital cost, most of the capital cost is spend at Block 1. Block 1 also is the most
hazardous zone of the plant and is the required large area. The raw material, chemicals, units
and the products and by-product are presence here. According to the HAZOP study above,
the block 1 are bounded by strict rules, regulations and precautions to ensure the safety of the
worker and safety of the plant. Table below shows the units available in the plant.
Area Descriptions

Utilities Utilities for the plant supply the plant with its basic needs such as electricity,
steam, cooling and heating tower, compressed air and water for the unit
operation

Storage The Produced methane is temporary stored in the tanks before being
Tank transported out. Other than methane, the liquefied carbon dioxide is also stored
in a storage tank.

Reactor The plant has two reactors which have different operating conditions and
undergoing different reactions

Control The control room is where the operating conditions of the plant is monitored.
Room By utilizing the Distributed Control System (DCS), the plant monitoring can be
unified and be optimized under the same control room.

Future The needs of the expansion are coming from the opportunity for the plant to
Expansion increase its production. The area can also be use as a temporary storage for
Area physical equipment that needs maintenance

Mixer Mixers are used to mix the same chemicals from different stream

Condenser Condensers are needed for the condensation process to obtain liquified
methane and carbon dioxide

97
Block 2:
Block 2 is located away from the main processing area due to the risk of Block 1 posses to
workers. Other than that, block 2 need smaller area compared to block 1. The table below
show the expected utilities available at block 2.

Area Descriptions
Assembly Point Assembly point(s) is the point which the personnel will gather in case
any emergency happened. The location of this assembly point must be
well known for each worker and the guideline for the worker to reach
this assembly point must be clearly stated and brief.
Office Buildings Administrative works for the plant is also important for the plant
wellbeing. The location of the office building must be close to utilities
such as surau, canteen and gym
Security House To ensure the safety of the plant from unauthorised personnel, the needs
of security arise. From this security house, the movement of personnel
inside the plant can be observe. The movement in and out from the
plant is also under the jurisdiction of the security department.
Training Room The trainings for the plant safety and operation will be done here. For
easiness of the training, and the smoothness of training, the training
room should be close to surau and also canteen
Parking Area Parking spaces for employee and visitors
Hall The hall should be multipurpose. The hall can be also use for sports
activities such as badminton and dodgeball.
Canteen The canteen should always be clean and have enough supply of foods
and water for the workers. The location should be close to training
room, and office building.
Surau Place for Muslims staff to pray
Workshop Place where modifications and internal maintenance be done
Laboratory Samples of the liquid fertilizers were taken for quality control
Loading & Platform for load or unload stocks for canteen, lorries etc.
Unloading Bay
Warehouse For equipment storage
Clinic Clinic should be easily accessible for workers

98
 Figure 25: Purposed Plant Layout
The figure above shows the plant layout for the project. The location of the plant will
be at Paser Putih Perak. Based on the figure above, all facilities will be connected by a road.
The block 2 of the plant is the area which consist f the Administrative office, hall, canteen
and clinic. Due to the impotency of having a skilled worker, the training centre will be
located besides the HSE Department. By doing this, all training that will be conducted will
also be supervise by the HSE Department. The upper parts of the plant will be the Block 1,
which consist of reactors, storages, and control rooms. All of the facilities in block 1 will be
observe and maintain from the control room. Therefore, the control room need to be close to
the block 1 for easy monitoring.

99
 CHAPTER 8

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The project was designed to operate at optimum level of 330,000 kg of pig manure per day.
From this large input, the plant was expected to produce 416,670m 3 of methane and
733,853kg of biofuel daily. These products will be sold at RM0.42/m3 of methane and
RM1.968/KG respectively. From the economic analysis, the plant will generate RM1 Billion
profit annually with the break-even point of minimum 2 years. Other than an interesting
opportunity for investment, the treated pig manure will eliminate the problems of bad odour
and house flies for the people at Pasir Puteh, Kampar. Next the dependable of energy from
fossil fuel can also be reduced from the utilization of the methane to generate electricity. This
will also help Malaysia to achieve its target of generating 250MW of electricity from biogas
industry. In 2019, only 146MW of electricity were successfully generated from biogas
industry. With the market gap of 104MW electricity yet to be produced, the market security
is secured by the Malaysian government aim. With a positive impact of the project will bring
to the environment and a great prospect of economic potential, the project is definitely a
viable project. More detailed design for major equipment such as reactors and heat exchanger
will be discussed in the second part of the final year project.

Recommendations

1) A specified reactor for anaerobic digestion for the simulation in Aspen Plus is needed
since the reactions to obtain the products are complex.
2) Insufficient time to make a fully detailed plant operation. More time is needed for a
proper plant to be set up and options to be evaluated. 9 weeks is not enough time to
obtain a very detailed plant planning.

100
 APPENDIX

Table 36: MSDS sheet

Flammability Toxicity
Molecul Melting/
Boiling
Density ar Freezing Auto
Compound point Hazard classification
(g/L) weight Point Ignition Flash UE
(⁰C) LEL Inhalat
(g/mol) (⁰C) Temper Point L Oral Dermal
(%) ion
ature (⁰C) (%)
(⁰C)
326 Flammable gas,
gm/m3 Category 1
per 2
Methane 0.6784 16.04 -162 -183 537 -223 5 15 N/A N/A
hour
(mouse Gas under pressure,
) compressed gas

Carbon dioxide 1.977 44 -78.5 -56.5 N/A N/A N/C N/C N/A N/A N/A Liquefied gas

Flammable Gas,
356 Category 1.
Hydrogen ppm/4h
1.5392 34.08 -60.3 -86/-82.9 260 -82.4 4 44 N/A N/A
Sulfide
(rat) Acute Toxic, Category
2 (inhalation: gas)

101
 Flammable gas,
Category 2

Acute toxicity,
Category 3 (inhalation:
gas)

200pp
Ammonia 0.73 17 -33 -77.7 630 N/A 15 28 N/A m/4h N/A Skin corrosion
(rat) /irritation, Category 1B
Serious eye damage,
Category 1

Hazardous to aquatic
environment: Acute
Hazard, Category 1
Gas under pressure,
Nitrogen 1.2506 28 -195.8 -210 N/A N/A N/C N/C N/A N/A N/A
compressed gas
Flammable Gas,
>15000 Category 1
Hydrogen 0.089 2 -252.9 -252.9 566 N/A 4 75 N/A ppm/1h N/A
(rat)
Compressed gas

102
 Can cause serious or
permanent injury.
LD50
=780 LD50 = Health category 3
mg/kg 11.9 mL/kg
(Rat) (Rabbit)
Must be preheated
Diethanolamine N/A
1090 105.14 217 28 355 138 9.8 1.6 before ignition can
(DEA)
LD50 = LD50 = occur.
620 7640 µL/kg
Flammable gas
µL/kg (Rabbit)
category 3
(Rat )

Note
LEL : Lower explosive limit
UEL: Upper explosive limit
N/C: Not combustible
N/A: Not available / Not applicable

103
 References
Badiei, M., Asim, N., Yarmo, M. A., Jahim, J. M., & Sopian, K. (2012). Overview of Carbon

Dioxide Separation Technology. Power and Energy Systems and Applications.

http://doi.org/10.2316/p.2012.788-067

Ben-Mansour, R., Habib, M., Bamidele, O., Basha, M., Qasem, N., Peedikakkal, A., … Ali, M.

(2016). Carbon capture by physical adsorption: Materials, experimental investigations

and numerical modeling and simulations – A review. Applied Energy, 161, 225–255.

http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.10.011

Ben-Mansour, R., Habib, M., Bamidele, O., Basha, M., Qasem, N., Peedikakkal, A., … Ali, M.

(2016). Carbon capture by physical adsorption: Materials, experimental investigations

and numerical modeling and simulations – A review. Applied Energy, 161, 225–255.

http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.10.011

Chaffee, A. L., Knowles, G. P., Liang, Z., Zhang, J., Xiao, P., & Webley, P. A. (2007). CO2 capture

by adsorption: Materials and process development. International Journal of Greenhouse

Gas Control, 1(1), 11–18. http://doi.org/10.1016/s1750-5836(07)00031-x

Krishnaiah, D., Bono, A., Anisuzzama, S., Joseph, C., & Khee, T. B. (2014). Carbon Dioxide

Removal by Adsorption. Journal of Applied Sciences, 14(23), 3142–3148.

http://doi.org/10.3923/jas.2014.3142.3148

Songolzadeh, M., Soleimani, M., Ravanchi, M. T., & Songolzadeh, R. (2014). Carbon Dioxide

Separation from Flue Gases: A Technological Review Emphasizing Reduction in

Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The Scientific World Journal, 2014, 1–34.

http://doi.org/10.1155/2014/828131

104
Vega, F., Cano, M., Camino, S., Fernández, L. M. G., Portillo, E., & Navarrete, B. (2018).

Solvents for Carbon Dioxide Capture. Carbon Dioxide Chemistry, Capture and Oil

Recovery. http://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71443

Xu, G., Liang, F., Yang, Y., Hu, Y., Zhang, K., & Liu, W. (2014). An Improved CO2 Separation

and Purification System Based on Cryogenic Separation and Distillation Theory.

Energies, 7(5), 3484–3502. http://doi.org/10.3390/en7053484

105