Study of the Limit of the Technological Transition in the Field of Methanisation in Senegal (from Laboratory Scale to in-Situ Biodigester)

Abstract

The Anaerobic digestion in Senegal is of particular interest to the scientific community given the availability of substrates and their distribution throughout the country. However, from a technological point of view, the existing installations seem to be obsolete, which does not allow to reproduce the results of the laboratory tests. Thus, the present study aims to take stock of the situation in relation to the studies carried out in laboratories and those concerning the actual monitoring of the bio-digesters in situ. In fact, most experimental bio-digesters operate under optimal implementation conditions with strict control of input and output parameters. However, this is not the case for reactors installed in the field, as these so-called bio-digesters are exposed to real environmental conditions with a periodic variation of the physic-chemical parameters in the reactors throughout the day. This leads to a differential behavior of the micro-organisms, thus affecting their performance. This results in lower yields for those digesters operating under real environmental conditions.