First Biogrinder for India's biogas industry

December 2019

The reference at a glance

Project

Biogrinder for Source Facility

Technology

Biogrinder (Type RBG)

Operating site

Punjab, India

Industry

Recycling

Application

Organic waste processing of rice straw, empty coconut shells and fruit / vegetable waste

Solution

Biogrinder from BHS after testing different shredding solutions

India generates a large amount of agricultural waste, including crop residues. As burning organic waste is considered to be a major cause of air pollution, the government of India has been offering incentives to mitigate the pollution problem and convert rice straw that is widely available in India into biogas. “Especially in northern part of India, rice straw will be an important raw material for biogas production”, says Neelesh Desai, Managing Director of BHS-Sonthofen India.

Source Facility, an Indian operator of biodigesters, purchased a Biogrinder for its biogas plant near Chandigarh in the state of Punjab. Before choosing a machine from BHS to process rice straw, empty coconut shells and fruit/vegetable waste, they tested shredding solutions from local providers. The results were unsatisfying, as these machines were not capable of handling multiple materials. “It was very important to Source Facility to have the freedom to allow a broad spectrum of feed materials”, Desai comments. In addition, the machine offers both excellent size reduction and defibration, which is critical for the biogas production process.

The biogas is produced by micro-organisms during fermentation. The more defibrated the material, the more surface the bacteria have to colonize. Inside the machine is a rapidly turning, star-shaped rotor with a vertical shaft and massive crushing tools. Homogenizing the material, the machine prepares it optimally for the next process step.

The Biogrinder was put into operation in late 2019 and the customer is very satisfied with the increase in Biogas production. “So far, there are only few biogas plants in India, but many companies are planning to set up new plants,” says Desai. With the Biogrinder, BHS-Sonthofen is offering an easy-to-maintain, particularly durable machine for efficient substrate processing.”