Conceptual Design of Anaerobic Digestion Plant for Marine Biomass Utilization

Abstract

Marine biomass such as seaweed and fishery waste is a potential energy source although it has not yet been practically utilized. This study focuses on anaerobic digestion for the utilization of various organic wastes as energy resources. We introduce marine biomass utilization system, which consists of biomass transportation, anaerobic digestion, and energy conversion, and propose three scenarios varying with waste biomass supplier. The purpose of this paper is to understand digestion characteristics of seaweed, fishery and vegetable waste, and tamarind, which is raw material for the chemical product and the residue in the production process, through batch-processing experiments. Also we investigate feasibility from the economic and environmental viewpoints. The results indicate that each biomass has each digestion characteristics and especially seaweed, fishery, and tamarind have high carbon recovery rate. Among three scenarios, the case including tamarind is the most feasible. Anaerobic digestion can replace energy and products derived from fossil fuels as more environmentally friendly alternatives, however, it has big obstacle in the economically feasible operation.