Modelling anaerobic digesters in three dimensions: integration of biochemistry with computational fluid dynamics

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dc.contributor.authorGaden, David L. F.
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeSoliman, Hassan (Mechanical Engineering) Cicek, Nazim (Biosystems Engineering) Bagley, Dave (University of Wyoming)en_US
dc.contributor.supervisorBibeau, Eric L. (Mechanical Engineering)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-08-23T14:42:18Z
dc.date.available2013-08-23T14:42:18Z
dc.date.issued2013-08-23
dc.degree.disciplineMechanical and Manufacturing Engineeringen_US
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)en_US
dc.description.abstractAnaerobic digestion is a process that simultaneously treats waste and produces renewable energy in the form of biogas. Applications include swine and cattle waste management, which is still dominated by aerobic digestion, a less environmental alternative. The low adoption rates of anaerobic digestion is partly caused by the lack of modelling basis for the technology. This is due to the complexity of the process, as it involves dozens of interrelated biochemical reactions driven by hundreds of species of micro-organisms, immersed in a three-phase, non-Newtonian fluid. As a consequence, no practical computer models exist, and therefore, unlike most other engineering fields, the design process for anaerobic digesters still relies heavily on traditional methods such as trial and error. The current state-of-the-art model is Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1), published by the International Water Association in 2001. ADM1 is a bulk model, therefore it does not account for the effects of concentration gradients, stagnation regions, and particle settling. To address this, this thesis works toward the creation of the first three-dimensional spatially resolved anaerobic digestion model, called Anaerobic Digestion Model with Multi-Dimensional Architecture (ADM-MDA), by developing a framework. The framework, called Coupled Reaction-Advection Flow Transient Solver (CRAFTS), is a general reaction solver for single-phase, incompressible fluid flows. It is a novel partial differential and algebraic equation (PDAE) solver that also employs a novel programmable logic controller (PLC) emulator, allowing users to define their own control logic. All aspects of the framework are verified for proper function, but still need validation against experimental results. The biochemistry from ADM1 is input into CRAFTS, resulting in a manifestation of ADM-MDA; however the numerical stiffness of ADM1 is found to conflict with the second order accuracy of CRAFTS, and the resulting model can only operate under restricted conditions. Preliminary results show spatial effects predicted by the CRAFTS model, and non-observable in the bulk model, impact the digester in a non-trivial manner and lead to measurable differences in their respective outputs. A detailed discussion of suggested work to arrive at a practical spatially resolved anaerobic digestion model is also provided.en_US
dc.description.noteOctober 2013en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/22096
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectCFDen_US
dc.subjectbiochemistryen_US
dc.subjectcomputational fluid dynamicsen_US
dc.subjectanaerobic digestionen_US
dc.subjectwastewater treatmenten_US
dc.subjectopenFOAMen_US
dc.subjectbioreactoren_US
dc.subjectbioenergyen_US
dc.titleModelling anaerobic digesters in three dimensions: integration of biochemistry with computational fluid dynamicsen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
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