Room: Poster Area
Date: Thursday, 21 May 2026
Time: 09:00 - 10:00 CEST
Session code 4CV.1
Biogas and biomethane production
Development of a Pilot-Scale Two-Stage Anaerobic Digestion System for Manure-to-Biogas Conversion
Short Introductive summary
Growing environmental challenges and the transition toward sustainable energy have intensified research into biogas production from renewable substrates such as liquid manure. Conventional single-stage continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) often exhibit high specific costs and limited efficiency when processing this water-rich feedstock. This study aims to develop and evaluate a pilot-scale two-stage anaerobic digestion system combining a CSTR and a fixed-bed reactor. The configuration separates solid and liquid residence times, reducing hydraulic retention while improving methane yield per reactor volume. Laboratory-scale tests demonstrated up to a 35% increase in specific methane yield compared with a conventional single-stage system, confirming the potential of the two-stage design. The pilot-scale implementation seeks to validate these results under practical conditions, offering a highly automated and transferable technology for small-scale farms, thereby improving both economic and environmental sustainability in manure-based biogas production.
Presenter
Maria GARÇÃO
University of Hohenheim, GERMANY
Presenter's biography
Chemical Engineer and PhD candidate at the University of Hohenheim, Germany, specializing in renewable energy systems and biogas production. Research focusing on optimizing pilot-scale anaerobic digestion processes to enhance efficiency and scalability.
Biographies and Short introductive summaries are supplied directly by presenters and are published here unedited
Co-authors:
A. Lemmer, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, GERMANY
Session reference: 4CV.1.3