The KomBio digester system reactor from tank and systems solutions provider Lipp, in the UK, is an economical solution for energy production at biogas plants and stabilisation of sewage sludge.

Last year, the UK government stated that it will be reducing funding for a number of feed-in tariff
(FIT) scheme payments to ensure that the UK continues to make progress towards its climate
goals, in an efficient, cost-effective manner – delivering intended savings of almost £700-million by 2020/21.

The reducing FIT payments place a heavy burden on amortising the initial capital cost as well as the ongoing energy generated from anaerobic digestion (AD), says Lipp marketing and sales manager Martin Grant.

However, the favoured technology path ahead is still not clear and with ever reducing FIT payments,
innovative but cost-effective renewable technologies will be a key factor of success, he points out.

Being able to maximise the efficiency of the AD process, using the least amount of energy to sustain efficient digestion and biogas release, will have a big impact on the net return on investment, and therefore payments received, Grant mentions.

The KomBio reactor has been in use in many countries for over 20 years and is suitable for small and large plants and it complies with water utility industry standards.

KomBio digester systems have modular designs with the digester chamber volumes ranging from between 100 m3 and 2 500 m3 for each unit. The units have integrated gas accumulators and all the necessary functional and safety elements in each case.

The combination of digester and gas accumulator provides a compact solution and saves on land requirements, expensive pipeline construction and additional containers.

“Lipp has installed AD systems in 80 different countries. The innovative KomBio solution is perfect to operate within the future renewable-energy challenges of the UK AD market,” Grant highlights.

Moreover, Lipp also supplies tank solutions for wastewater, potable water and industrial processing industries. It provides anaerobic digestion tanks, gas accumulator tanks, storage tanks, pressure vessels and silos employing the Lipp system with its unique dual-seam tank technology. Lipp’s division in Germany has over 40 years of development and innovations, and over 50 000 tanks installed worldwide.

Meanwhile, Lipp has been successfully audited and approved by UK utilities industry supplier management community Achilles, as part of the approved UVDB client supply base covering the UK Utilities Sector. The quality approval provided gives additional recognition to Lipp’s product and delivery standards alongside the recognition they have already attained in Europe with its Technischer Überwachungsverein (TUV) standards. In Germany, Lipp is recognised as a specialised supply company according international service corporation TÜV SÜD to article 19 of the German Water Resources Act, paying particular attention to the durability of its products, professional project execution and a high-quality workmanship throughout its build process.

The achieved TÜV SÜD approval covers Lipp’s manufacturing and welding standards having achieved welding manufacturer approval according to DIN EN ISO 3834-2, where Lipp is an approved welding manufacturer in tank, machine and steel construction according to DIN EN ISO 3834-2, ensuring professional welding operations and also welding applications up to EXC3 class according to DIN EN 1090-2.