Temperature Control of a Pilot Anaerobic Digestion Reactor

Abstract

Results of analysis and design and implementation of a temperature controlsystem for a practical pilot anaerobic digestion (AD) bioreactor fed with dairywaste are presented. A dynamic model of the reactor temperature is used asthe basis for theoretical results, including simulations. Controller functionsinclude on-off control, proportional plus integral (PI) control, andfeedforward control. Various PI controller tuning methods are compared. Theneed for adaptivity of PI settings is investigated. Results for asimulated full-scale reactor are given.

Keywords

• Anaerobic digestion
• Bioreactor
• Biogas
• Temperature control
• PI control
• On-off control