Digester health Monitoring

Manual or fully automated - for efficient biogas production THE IMPORTANCE OF BICARBONATE MONITORING Bacteria in anaerobic digester require a pH-value in the range of about 6.5 to 8 to efficiently produce biogas. Stabilization of the pH-value within this range is predominantly obtained (> 85%) by the release of large amounts of bicarbonate (a buffering compound) from the an­aerobic decomposition of organic wastes. Process interruptions, such as overfeeding, often result in increased concentrations of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and to decreasing amounts of bicarbonate as these acids consume the bicar­bonate. lf these interruptions continue, the supply of bicarbonate will become depleted leading to a rapid decrease in the pH-value and subsequently a reduction biogas production and in extreme cases, complete biological collapse leading to plant failure.