Comparison of Theoretical and Experimental Data of Energy Consumption when Heating the Substrate in a Biogas Reactor

Abstract

The purpose the work is to check the adequacy of the developed mathematical model for the dynamic analysis of energy costs during heating of the substrate by an electric heater placed on the outer wall of the bioreactor, by analyzing the discrepancies between theoretical and experimental data on changes in the temperature of the substrate during heating and mixing of the latter in the biogas reactor, as well as determining amount of energy spent on the process of heating the substrate. The working hypothesis of the research is that the use of the developed mathematical model for the dynamic analysis of energy costs during the heating of the substrate by an electric heater placed on the outer wall of the biogas reactor will ensure a high accuracy of the mathematical description of the process that takes place in a real object - a biogas reactor, the further use of which will allow to increase the energy efficiency of biogas production. The most important result of the research is the established adequacy of the mathematical model, which allows you to determine the amount of energy spent on thermostabilization of the anaerobic fermentation process and describes the process of changing the temperature of the substrate, the electric heating cable placed on the outer wall of the biogas reactor, the walls of the reactor, the mechanical mixer and objects that take part in thermostabilization of the anaerobic fermentation process. The significance of the research results presented in the work is that the deviation between theoretical and experimental data of the amount of energy spent on the process of heating the substrate in a biogas reactor with a volume of 40 liters, in the case of using an electric heating cable placed on the wall of the biogas reactor, is 4.3%.