Hey Morgan,

A brief discretion of the project,
Developing a working small-scale anaerobic digester with a membrane separation technology to collect separated carbon dioxide and methane that is an economically viable system for small farms. This allows for the farms to lower their carbon emissions, and decrease the need for natural gas extraction, by utilizing natural sources of cattle manure. And can be utilized on the UIUC research cattle farms.

Small-scale anaerobic digestion with membrane filtration is possible for small farms. Illinois specifically does not have any prominent sources of natural gas production, thus, a lot is transported in. By showing that small-scale systems are possible, this can be utilized on the many small farms that are in Illinois to decrease reliance on importing methane, which has leakage issues in the pipeline. The system also allows for capturing carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released from composting, the byproduct creation of fertilizer, and the main point of capturing methane for usage. The project's deliverables would be the small-scale anaerobic digester and then a feasibility study on whether a membrane separation technology would be cost-effective and feasible for the system.

It appears they are building their own and operating it out of a lab.

Codie Sterner

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FYI – this is the student application.  Are there code concerns for this project?  Thanks! Morgan

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Good morning Morgan,

Some questions:

• Can ‘small’ be defined?  Pictures?  Dimensions?
• Will the equipment be inside or outside?  If inside, I think we would want a plan indicating the location, and what else is in the building.  Methane is a flammable gas – and CO2 is considered an asphyxiant.  An outside install is less risky than an inside install.  If outside, we would want a site plan.
• “Canisters” of Methane and CO are listed.  What type of volume is proposed?  (Again, outside versus inside is the key factor – if outside, how close will any structures be located?
• Any power requirements?
• Has Safety and Compliance been informed?  Betsy Richardson might have some comments.

katie sperl

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Hi Katie,

That was what I was thinking too. I think it might be a Lab-scale digester like 5/10 L, but they have not specified where they will be building or operating the digester and the team did not define the “scale” of this project. Their faculty advisor, Jiajun He, is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering with a background in Chemistry and a focus on Energy.

I was wondering if they have talked to DRS also.

I agree that Betsy or Colleen should be included. However, if it is a Lab-scale reactor, I don’t know if Betsy or Colleen would be needed.

Thank you,
Sarthak