JP2005211713A - Methane fermentation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a methane fermentation apparatus constituted so as to prevent the excessive accumulation of ammoniacal nitrogen in a methane fermentation tank to at the time of stop of the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus smoothly and restart a system. <P>SOLUTION: In the methane fermentation apparatus is mainly constituted of a pretreatment tank 10 provided so as to grind and crush organic waste to perform treatment such as dilution or the like, the methane fermentation tank 11 for subjecting the organic waste supplied from the pretreatment tank to methane fermentation and a waste fluid treatment tank 12 for treating the waste fluid discharged from the methane fermentation tank, a means for circulating the treated fluid of the waste fluid treatment tank to the methane fermentation tank is provided and, when the difference between the electric conductivity value in the methane fermentation tank by an electric conductivity meter 30 and the electric conductivity value in the waste fluid treatment tank by an electric conductivity meter 31 exceeds a predetermined value, the treated water in the waste fluid treatment tank is circulated to the methane fermentation tank to be adjusted to a predetermined value in its electric conductivity. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a methane fermentation apparatus that treats organic waste using anaerobic microorganisms, and that can suppress a decrease in methane fermentation treatment capacity when the system is restarted, and can be brought to a stable state quickly. .

  Most organic waste such as garbage and digested sludge is incinerated or disposed of in landfills. However, due to problems such as dioxin generation due to incineration, tightness of landfill sites, and bad odors, treatment methods with less environmental impact are available It has been demanded. In order to solve these problems, a system has been developed in which organic waste is subjected to methane fermentation, and the generated methane gas is generated using a fuel cell or a gas engine.

  This methane fermentation is an energy-saving treatment method because it can decompose organic waste into biogas and water, greatly reducing the amount, and anaerobic power is not required because it is anaerobic. There is an advantage that methane gas can be recovered as energy.

  In methane fermentation treatment, organic waste is pretreated such as by crushing, crushing, and diluting, and then this pretreated organic waste is put into a methane fermentation tank and fermented with methane bacteria under anaerobic conditions. Thus, organic waste is converted to methane gas. Various processing methods and fermenters have been proposed depending on the properties of the input raw materials and operating conditions.

  On the other hand, the fermentation residue which consists of the fermentation residue which could not be completely decomposed and fermented in the methane fermentation treatment process, and the sludge of miscellaneous cells grown in the methane fermentation tank is discharged from the methane fermentation tank. Since this fermentation waste liquid contains a high concentration of nitrogen compounds such as ammonia, it is subjected to denitrification treatment and purification to a water quality level that can be discharged into sewers and rivers.

  In methane fermentation, when fermentation is stable, a certain amount of biogas is produced if a specified amount of organic waste such as garbage is input. However, the fermentation state also fluctuates due to fluctuations in the fermentation temperature and the amount of dust input, and this fluctuation causes a reduction in fermentation performance. The reason why the fermentation performance is reduced is that the activity of the anaerobic bacteria group mainly related to methane fermentation is reduced, and as a factor of the decrease in activity, there is generation of an inhibitor such as ammonia in addition to pH and temperature. Therefore, a technique for controlling the fermentation state so that the concentration of ammonia, particularly ammoniacal nitrogen, is not more than a predetermined concentration is known.

  For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses that when organic wastewater is subjected to methane fermentation, the organic wastewater is diluted so that the concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen in the tank is 2000 mg / L or less.

  In Patent Document 2 below, the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the methane fermentation tank for treating organic waste is detected by a detection unit, and water is poured into the fermentation tank so that this concentration is 5000 mg / L or less. Supplying and diluting is disclosed.

Furthermore, the following Patent Document 3 discloses that waste water denitrified in a waste water treatment tank is injected into raw garbage as dilution water to reduce the ammonia concentration in the methane fermentation tank.
Japanese Patent Publication No.7-115030 JP 2003-39039 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-57661

  As described above, ammonia, which is one of the substances inhibiting methane fermentation, inhibits the activity of bacteria involved in methane fermentation and significantly reduces the fermentation performance. In the above prior art, the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the methane fermenter is reduced to less than the activity inhibition concentration by anaerobic bacteria, so that the ammonia nitrogen concentration is lowered with diluted water.

  However, when the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped, that is, when the supply of organic waste into the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped, the anaerobic bacteria that are active in the methane fermentation tank as nutrients are killed. The Since ammonia is generated with the death of the anaerobic bacteria, ammonia nitrogen is gradually accumulated in the methane fermentation tank.

  Therefore, when the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped for a long period of time, ammonia nitrogen accumulates inside the methane fermenter and inhibits the activity of anaerobic bacteria. As it gets worse, the amount of anaerobic bacteria killed becomes more severe over time.

  That is, by stopping the supply of organic waste and stopping the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus, anaerobic bacteria in the methane fermentation tank gradually die and decrease as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the ammoniacal nitrogen concentration in the methane fermenter gradually increases. On the other hand, even in the waste liquid treatment tank, the bacteria are killed and reduced as shown in FIG.

  Therefore, by stopping the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus, there is no supply of organic waste that the anaerobic bacteria use as nutrients, so the anaerobic bacteria are killed or reduced. And with the death and reduction of anaerobic bacteria, ammonia nitrogen in the methane fermenter gradually accumulates to a high concentration. As a result, in the methane fermentation treatment, only organic waste corresponding to the amount of load commensurate with the number of bacteria can be treated, so that the treatment capacity at the time of restarting the system is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the increase in the concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen in the methane fermenter also inhibits the growth of anaerobic bacteria, and it takes a lot of time to move the methane fermentation apparatus to a stable state. Become.

  In addition, in the waste liquid treatment tank, since the supply of nitrogen compounds such as ammonia that nourishes the bacteria that perform the denitrification treatment is lost, the bacteria that perform the denitrification treatment die or decrease. As a result, the waste liquid treatment capacity is lowered, and there is a possibility that the treated water is drained in a state where the denitrification treatment is insufficient.

  Therefore, in order to effectively restart the methane fermentation apparatus, the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the methane fermentation tank is set to a predetermined amount or less even while the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped. Need to control.

  However, the prior art discloses a method for controlling and adjusting the ammonia nitrogen concentration inside the methane fermentation tank to be equal to or less than the amount of activity inhibition by anaerobic bacteria during startup of the methane fermentation apparatus. There is no disclosure regarding the control and adjustment methods while the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped.

  Therefore, the object of the present invention is to control the increase in ammoniacal nitrogen accumulated by stopping the methane fermentation apparatus, so that methane fermentation at the time of restarting the methane fermentation apparatus can be effectively and quickly performed stably. An object of the present invention is to provide a methane fermentation apparatus that can be used in a state.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a methane fermentation of a pretreatment tank for pulverizing, crushing, and diluting organic waste, and a pretreated organic waste supplied from the pretreatment tank. In the methane fermentation apparatus mainly composed of a methane fermentation tank and a waste liquid processing apparatus for processing fermentation waste liquid discharged from the methane fermentation tank, means for circulating the processing liquid of the waste liquid processing apparatus to the methane fermentation tank When the supply of organic waste is stopped, the treated water of the waste liquid treatment tank is circulated to the methane fermentation tank.

  According to the present invention, even when the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped, the treated water treated in the waste liquid treatment tank is circulated to the methane fermentation tank, and the fermentation liquid in the methane fermentation tank is treated with the waste liquid treatment. By diluting with the treatment liquid in the tank, it is possible to prevent excessive concentrations of ammonia nitrogen from accumulating inside the methane fermentation tank, so that inhibition of anaerobic bacteria activity is suppressed, and the anaerobic bacteria are killed and reduced. Can be suppressed. In addition, since ammonia is supplied to the waste liquid treatment tank, nutrients can be replenished to the bacteria to be denitrified, so that the reduction of the bacteria in the waste liquid treatment tank can be suppressed. it can.

  In the present invention, an electrical conductivity meter is provided in both the methane fermentation tank and the waste liquid treatment tank of the methane fermentation apparatus, and the difference in electrical conductivity between the methane fermentation tank and the waste liquid treatment tank is measured. When the difference exceeds a predetermined value, it is preferable that the treated water in the waste liquid treatment tank is circulated to the methane fermentation tank.

  Since the salt concentration in the liquid is displayed as electrical conductivity, the ammonium ion concentration as a base is reflected as electrical conductivity. However, for example, Na, K, Ca, Mg, and the like, which are included in organic waste such as raw garbage that is input to the methane fermentation treatment system from the beginning, also affect the salt concentration. Therefore, in order to accurately convert the ammonia nitrogen content present in the methane fermenter as the electrical conductivity, the salt concentration present in the organic waste from the beginning is measured as the electrical conductivity, and the above fermentor measurement is performed. Must be removed from the value. In this case, the electrical conductivity in the waste liquid treatment tank reflects the salt concentration contained in the organic waste from the beginning because ammonium ions are reduced by denitrification. Then, the electrical conductivity value in a waste liquid processing tank is calculated | required as a processing tank measured value, and the electrical conductivity value correlated with the ammoniacal nitrogen concentration in a methane fermentation tank is obtained by subtracting from a fermenter measured value.

  Therefore, the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the methane fermentation tank can be grasped by monitoring the difference in the electric conductivity value. When the difference in electrical conductivity exceeds a predetermined value, the ammonia nitrogen in the methane fermentation tank is reduced to a predetermined value or less by adopting an apparatus configuration that circulates the treated water of the waste liquid treatment tank to the methane fermentation tank. In addition, the circulation operation can be performed at an appropriate timing.

  According to the present invention, when the supply of organic waste is stopped and the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped, the treated water of the waste liquid treatment tank is circulated to the methane fermentation tank, Accumulation of excess ammonia nitrogen in the fermenter can be suppressed, so that it is possible to stabilize and operate the equipment more quickly without losing the methane fermentation processing capacity as much as possible when the system is restarted. Become.

  In addition, by measuring the electrical conductivity in the methane fermentation tank and in the waste liquid treatment tank and controlling the device to circulate the treated water when the difference between these values exceeds a predetermined value, an appropriate circulation of the treated water is achieved. Timing can be set.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the methane fermentation treatment apparatus of the present invention.

  This methane fermentation treatment apparatus is mainly composed of a pretreatment tank 10, a methane fermentation tank 11, and a waste liquid treatment tank 12, which perform processing such as pulverization, crushing, and dilution of organic waste. The pipe from the pretreatment tank 10 is connected to the methane fermentation preparation tank 11 via the supply pump 20, and the pipe from the methane fermentation tank 11 is connected to the waste liquid treatment tank 12 via the fermentation waste liquid extraction pump 22. ing. A pipe from the waste liquid treatment tank 12 is connected to the methane fermentation tank 11 via the treated water supply pump 21 so that a part of the treated water from the waste liquid treatment tank 12 can be returned to the methane fermentation tank 11.

  The waste liquid treatment tank 12 only needs to be capable of denitrification treatment, for example, an activated sludge tank for performing a biological treatment method for removing organic substances and nitrogen by microorganisms, or a catalyst that burns with air after aeration treatment of ammonia. An apparatus that performs an ammonia stripping method that renders nitrogen gas harmless can be used.

  Furthermore, a pipe for taking out the generated biogas is connected to the upper part of the methane fermentation tank 11, and this biogas is collected by a gas holder (not shown).

  An electrical conductivity meter 30 is connected to the methane fermentation tank 11, and an electrical conductivity meter 31 is connected to the waste liquid treatment tank 12, and the electricity in the methane fermentation tank 11 and the waste liquid treatment tank 12. Conductivity can be measured. Here, as the electrical conductivity meters 30 and 31, conventionally known ones can be used and are not particularly limited.

  The measured values from the electrical conductivity meters 30 and 31 are configured to be input to a controller 40 that is a computing unit.

  Next, a methane fermentation treatment method using this treatment apparatus will be described. The organic waste is pulverized, crushed and diluted in the pretreatment tank 10 and pretreated. The pretreated organic waste is supplied to the methane fermentation tank 11 via the supply pump 20, and methane fermentation is performed. The methane fermentation tank 11 is provided with a fixed filter bed or the like filled with immobilized microorganisms on which anaerobic microorganisms such as methane bacteria (not shown) are attached and supported. Here, methane fermentation of pretreated organic waste is performed. The organic waste is decomposed by anaerobic microorganisms. It is preferable to perform the temperature in methane fermentation at 50-60 degreeC. According to this, since the fermentation with a high-temperature methane bacterium having higher activity can be performed, the decomposition rate of the organic waste can be further improved. In addition, the fermentation waste liquid of the same quantity as the organic waste supplied for every fixed time is extracted from the bottom part of the methane fermentation tank 11 with the fermentation waste liquid extraction pump 22, and is sent to a waste liquid processing tank. As a result, the inside of the methane fermentation tank 11 is always filled with a certain amount of fermentation broth. Biogas produced by fermentation is collected in a gas holder (not shown) and is effectively used as a fuel for a power generator such as a fuel cell power generation device or a gas engine, or boiler. And the fermentation waste liquid in a methane fermenter is transferred to the wastewater treatment tank 12, and after processing an undecomposed organic component and soluble nitrogen, it is drained as treated water.

  During normal operation, methane fermentation is performed according to the above procedure. However, when the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped for reasons such as periodic inspection, repair, and failure, the following operation for maintaining the methane fermentation apparatus is performed.

  Next, the maintenance operation of the methane fermentation apparatus during operation stop will be described. As described above, the electrical conductivity meter 30 is installed in the methane fermentation tank 11, and the electrical conductivity meter 31 is installed in the waste liquid treatment tank 12, and the electrical conductivity in the methane fermentation tank 11 and the waste liquid treatment tank 12 is measured. It is configured so that it can be measured. The measured values are input to the controller 40, respectively.

  Then, the controller 40 calculates the difference between the electrical conductivity in the methane fermentation tank and the electrical conductivity in the waste liquid treatment tank, and activates the treated water circulation pump 21 when the difference in electrical conductivity exceeds a predetermined value. Thus, control is performed such that a part of the treated water is transferred to the methane fermentation tank and the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the methane fermentation tank is set to a predetermined value or less.

  Next, arithmetic processing and control by the controller 40 will be described with reference to FIG. After stopping the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus, first, in step S1, the electrical conductivity in the methane fermentation tank 11 is measured using the electrical conductivity meter 30, and the measurement result is input to the controller 40 as a measured value. In step S <b> 2, the electrical conductivity in the waste liquid treatment tank 12 is measured using the electrical conductivity meter 31, and the measurement result is input to the controller 40 as a measured value. The processes of step S1 and step S2 are performed in parallel at substantially the same time.

  Next, in step S3, the difference between the measured values output by the electrical conductivity meter 30 and the electrical conductivity meter 31 output in the steps S1 and S2 is calculated, and whether or not the calculated value difference is less than a predetermined value. Judgment is made. If the difference between the calculated values is less than the predetermined value, the circulation operation is stopped in step S4, and the process returns to step S1. However, when the difference between the calculated values is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S5, the processing liquid circulation pump 22 is operated to supply a part of the processing water into the methane fermentation tank 11, and the methane fermentation tank 11 Then, the process returns to step S1. Since the electrical conductivity in step S1 and step S2 is observed in real time while the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped, this circulation operation is performed until the difference between the calculated values becomes a predetermined value or less.

  Thus, by circulating the treatment liquid of the waste liquid treatment tank to the methane fermentation tank, the ammonia nitrogen in the methane fermentation tank can be kept at a predetermined concentration or less, and further, it stays in the methane fermentation tank by the circulation operation. Since the ammoniacal nitrogen being transferred is transferred to the waste liquid treatment tank, nutrients are supplied to the bacteria that perform the denitrification treatment, and the reduction of the bacteria in the waste liquid treatment tank can be suppressed.

  Moreover, it is preferable to control so that it will circulate when the difference between the electrical conductivity in the methane fermentation tank and the electrical conductivity in the waste liquid treatment tank exceeds a predetermined value, and the difference in electrical conductivity is 8 mS / cm to 10 mS. When it exceeds / cm, and more preferably 9 mS / cm or more, it is preferable to transfer a part of the treated water to a methane fermenter and circulate it. By maintaining the difference in electrical conductivity below 9 mS / cm, the concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen in the methane fermenter can be reduced to 2000 mg / l or less, which is said to inhibit the activity of anaerobic bacteria. It is possible to keep it below the concentration.

  As described above, in the present invention, when the supply of organic waste is stopped and the operation of the methane fermentation apparatus is stopped, the electrical conductivity value resulting from the ammonia nitrogen in the methane fermentation tank becomes a predetermined value or more. By controlling the wastewater treatment tank to be circulated to the methane fermenter from time to time, it is possible to prevent excessive ammonia nitrogen from accumulating in the methane fermenter, so methane fermentation during system restart Without impairing the processing capacity as much as possible, the apparatus can be stabilized and operated promptly. In the present invention, the electrical conductivity in the methane fermentation tank 11 and the waste liquid treatment tank 12 is preferably measured in real time.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail by way of examples. In addition, this invention is not limited to a following example.

  The methane fermentation tank used in the present invention used a 10-liter fermentation tank, and the waste liquid treatment tank used a 20-liter treatment tank. As an electric conductivity meter, a conductivity meter ES-51 made by HORIBA was used.

  Moreover, about the number of microbes in a methane fermentation tank and a waste liquid processing tank, it measured with the following measuring methods.

[Method for measuring the number of bacteria in the methane fermentation tank and waste liquid treatment tank]
5 ml of a part of the digested liquid was collected from the methane fermentation tank 11 and the waste liquid treatment tank 12, and diluted 10 times with ultrapure water. After dilution, the solution was passed through a filter paper having a pore diameter of 20 μm, filtered, and then subjected to ultrasonic dispersion for 15 minutes.

Next, a pH buffer solution consisting of KH ₂ PO ₄ was added to adjust the pH to 8.

  To 200 μl of the digested solution after pH adjustment, 24 μl of 5-carboxyfluorescein diacetate (5-CFDA, manufactured by Funakoshi Co., Ltd.), which is a fluorescent reagent, was added and mixed well again to prepare a measurement sample.

  3 μl of this measurement sample was hung on a preparation having a depth of 0.02 mm with a bacterial measurement board, and observed with a fluorescence microscope. The excitation wavelength of the fluorescence microscope was blue of 380 to 420 mm, and the fluorescence emission wavelength was 500 to 550 nm. Observation images were analyzed with commercially available software (Optimas 6.5, manufactured by MEDIA CYBERNETICS), and the number of bacteria was counted.

Example 1
Methane fermentation was performed using the methane fermentation apparatus shown in FIG.

  And after operation stop of an apparatus, the electrical conductivity in the methane fermentation tank 11 and the waste liquid processing tank 12 is always measured with the electrical conductivity meter 30 and the electrical conductivity meter 31, and electrical conductivity is according to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the difference between the measured values of the meter 30 and the electric conductivity meter 31 was 9 mS / cm or more, control was performed so that a part of the treated water in the waste liquid treatment tank was circulated to the methane fermentation tank.

  6 and 8 show changes over time in the number of bacteria in the methane fermentation tank 11 and the waste liquid treatment tank 12 obtained by the above measurement method. Further, FIG. 7 shows a change with time of the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the methane fermenter obtained by the ion chromatography method.

  From the results of FIGS. 6 and 7, it is possible to prevent excessive retention of ammonia nitrogen by keeping the electrical conductivity value due to the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the methane fermentation tank at 9 mS / cm or less, The amount of anaerobic bacteria killed in the methane fermentation tank can be suppressed.

  In addition, by circulating the treatment water in the waste liquid treatment tank and the fermentation liquid in the methane fermentation tank, ammonia nitrogen will be supplied into the waste liquid treatment tank, so that nutrients are replenished for the denitrifying bacteria. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the killing of bacteria that perform the denitrification treatment.

  The methane fermentation treatment apparatus of the present invention is preferably used for treating organic waste such as manure, garbage, food processing residue, and the like.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the methane fermentation processing apparatus used for this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the arithmetic processing by the controller 40, and a control method. It is a time-dependent change of the number of anaerobic bacteria in the methane fermentation tank at the time of the methane fermentation apparatus stop in the conventional apparatus. It is a time-dependent change of the ammonia nitrogen concentration in the methane fermentation tank at the time of the methane fermentation apparatus stop in the conventional apparatus. It is a time-dependent change of the number of microbes in the waste liquid processing tank tank at the time of the methane fermentation apparatus stop in the conventional apparatus. It is a time-dependent change of the number of anaerobic bacteria in the methane fermentation tank in the Example of this invention. It is a time-dependent change of ammoniacal nitrogen concentration in the methane fermentation tank in the Example of this invention. It is a time-dependent change of the number of microbes in the waste liquid processing tank tank in the Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Pretreatment tank 11 Methane fermentation tank 12 Waste liquid treatment tank 20 Supply pump 21 Treated water circulation pump 22 Fermentation waste liquid extraction pump 30, 31 Electrical conductivity meter 40 Controller

Claims (2)

From a pretreatment tank for pulverizing, crushing, and diluting organic waste, a methane fermentation tank for methane fermentation of pretreated organic waste supplied from the pretreatment tank, and a methane fermentation tank In a methane fermentation apparatus mainly composed of a waste liquid treatment tank for treating discharged waste liquid,
A means for circulating the treatment liquid of the waste liquid treatment tank to the methane fermentation tank is provided, and when the supply of organic waste is stopped, the treatment water of the waste liquid treatment tank is circulated to the methane fermentation tank. A methane fermentation apparatus characterized by that. When an electrical conductivity meter is provided both inside the methane fermentation tank and inside the waste liquid treatment tank, the difference in electrical conductivity between the inside of the methane fermentation tank and the waste liquid treatment tank is measured, and when the difference exceeds a predetermined value The methane fermentation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the treated water in the waste liquid treatment tank is circulated to the methane fermentation tank.

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