AU Foulum is part of Aarhus University in Denmark – the largest biogas test centre in the world. In March this year, an N2 Unit was installed at the biogas plant to assess N2 Applied’s technology alongside the AU Foulum biogas plant’s existing operations for additional value creation and reduced emissions.
The plant in Foulum consists of four reactors of 15 L, four reactors of 200 L, two reactors of 10 m3, two reactors of 30 m3 and the main digester of 1200 m3 with the capacity to treat approximately 80 tonnes of raw materials daily. The N2 Unit at AU Foulum is currently treating a fraction of the total digestate generated.
Biogas technology is not a recent innovation. Yet in many regions of the world, it is a technology system that generates significant interest due to its ability to make use of raw materials that would otherwise have very limited value. Such as improving the nutrient use efficiency of slurry and waste food products, abating a considerable amount of greenhouse gases and further processing of waste food products.
This collaboration at AU Foulum is also related to the GUDP MAG project, which stands for ‘Metoder til reduktion af Ammoniaktab og øget metanudbytte fra biogasGylle’, or: Methods for reducing ammonia loss and increased methane yield from biogas digestate. This project investigates and assesses further introduction and development of the processes and techniques that can reduce ammonia emissions related to biogas operations. The selection and management of feedstock, post-processing of digestate, and the use of low emission-application techniques in the field will be investigated. This project receives funding from the Green Development and Demonstration Program (GUDP) under the Danish Agency for Agriculture and, in addition to Aarhus University, involves SEGES, Samson Agro and Biogas Danmark. In addition, learnings from the collaboration will be highly relevant to aid the future development of biogas operations and the treatment of digestates both within Denmark and internationally.