About Lanes Farm Energy
Lanes Farm Anaerobic Digester is a large renewable energy generation plant near Pontefract, Yorkshire.
The site is being constructed through 2019, with core technology and equipment including the AD Plant, GUU, CHP, Boiler & Pasteuriser supplied and installed by Weltec.
The Process
Step One
Step Two
The contents of the tank are held at a constant temperature of 40C, and all oxygen is excluded from the tank. This provides a perfect environment for bacteria that break down the feedstock to produce a mix of methane and carbon dioxide called biogas. The liquid in the tank is regularly mixed to ensure that everything is fully digested, and that lumps of material don't form inside the tank.
Step Three
The biogas produced in step two is collected and passed to a specialised cleaning unit. This removes the carbon dioxide from the gas, leaving almost pure methane. The methane is then blended with a small amount of propane, and injected into the national gas grid.
Step Four
A little liquid is removed from the digestion tanks every day and pasteurised to remove pathogens which could harm the environment. The liquid is then passed through a separator, which removes any solid particles. The remaining liquid is passed to a large lagoon for storage. The solid and liquid parts are both valuable as fertilisers, and will be reused on local farms.