An extraction manifold for extracting digestate from a covered lagoon digester includes a digester vessel being shaped generally as a rectangular prism lacking an upward facing face and having a floor sloping generally downward from an intake face to an extraction face of the digester vessel. The intake face and extraction face are oriented vertically, situated in opposed relation on a longer horizontal axis. Each effluent pipe terminates in an extraction nozzle on one end and an independently addressable actuatable valve on the opposite end. Each actuatable valve communicates with a manifold plenum such that actuation of the valve draws digestate from the floor in a region of the floor adjacent to the extraction face and in proximity to the extraction nozzle. A valve controller actuates valves to remove digestate from the region of the floor adjacent to the extraction face. The valve controller includes sensors to monitor biogas production.

Provided is a non-linear model predictive control (NMPC) system for automatic and optimum start-up of an anaerobic digestion (AD) system. The NMPC provides an optimum set of values of manipulated variables for controlling some of the key AD process variables during start-up. The NMPC based automatic start-up system was evaluated against a virtual AD process plant scenario involving a high rate AD reactor treating a readily biodegradable carbohydrate based substrate.

A portable and modular renewable energy microgeneration apparatus is disclosed that includes at least four modular units. The first modular unit includes a mixing tank and a chopper. The second modular unit includes a buffer tank, a liquor tank, and a pasteurization tank that pasteurizes waste that has been mixed with liquid from the liquor tank by the mixer, chopped into smaller sized components by the chopper, and pre-warmed by the buffer tank. The third modular unit includes a digestion tank that performs anaerobic digestion on pasteurized waste received from the pasteurization tank. And the fourth modular unit includes a gas storage tank that stores gas generated by the waste in at least one of the mixing tank, the chopper, the buffer tank, the liquor tank, the pasteurization tank, and the digestion tank. Each of the four modular units is both portable and modular.

A rapid and continuous separator or equilibrator to separate a gas from a liquid includes a venturi and injector, a mixer and a free overfall stream to separate a gas from a liquid. The injector introduces a carrier medium into the liquid which provides a reservoir for the gas to diffuse into as the liquid and carrier make a single transit through the apparatus. The separator was developed to enable real-time estimation of methane concentrations in ground water during purging. Real-time monitoring allows evaluation of trends during water well purging, spatial trends between water wells, and temporal comparisons between sampling events. These trends may be a result of removal of stored casing water, pre-purge ambient borehole flow, formation physical and chemical heterogeneity, or vertical flow outside of well casing due to poor bentonite or cement seals. Real-time information in the field can help focus an investigation, aid in determining when to collect a sample, save money by limiting costs (e.g. analytical, sample transport and storage), and provide an immediate assessment of local methane concentrations, Four domestic water wells, one municipal water well, and one agricultural water well were sampled for traditional laboratory analysis and compared to the field separator or equilibrator results. Applying a paired t-test comparing the new separator or equilibrator method and traditional laboratory analysis yielded a p-value 0.383, suggesting no significant difference between the two methods for the current study. Additional field and laboratory-based experimentation and potential modification of this device are necessary to justify use beyond screening at this time. However, early separator or equilibrator use suggests promising results and applications.

An extraction manifold for extracting digestate from a covered lagoon digester includes a digester vessel being shaped generally as a rectangular prism lacking an upward facing face and having a floor sloping generally downward from an intake face to an extraction face of the digester vessel. The intake face and extraction face are oriented vertically, situated in opposed relation on a longer horizontal axis. Each effluent pipe terminates in an extraction nozzle on one end and an independently addressable actuatable valve on the opposite end. Each actuatable valve communicates with a manifold plenum such that actuation of the valve draws digestate from the floor in a region of the floor adjacent to the extraction face and in proximity to the extraction nozzle. A valve controller actuates valves to remove digestate from the region of the floor adjacent to the extraction face. The valve controller includes sensors to monitor biogas production.

The invention relates to a method of purifying water contaminated with at least one wastewater substance, wherein the wastewater substance has at least one compound with a binding energy that is lower than the binding energy of a simple hydrogen-oxygen bond. The method comprises the following steps: Providing the contaminated water to a specified fill level in an ungrounded water reservoir within a reaction chamber; applying a high-frequency alternating voltage to precisely one flat cooled plasma electrode arranged at a specified distance above the fill level of the water reservoir at atmospheric pressure, such that a plasma forms in the high-frequency field between the plasma electrode and a surface of the water, the energy input of the plasma being sufficient to dissociate compounds with a binding energy that is lower than or equal to that of a simple hydrogen-oxygen bond; and measuring the concentration of the at least one wastewater substance.

Provided is a wastewater treatment process including: (a) circulating wastewater including biodegradable organic material, between an anaerobic digester (AD) and at least one microbial electrolysis cell (MEC), the MEC including an anode and a cathode; (b) applying voltage on said anode and said cathode; and (c) discharging from said AD biogas with a methane fraction of above 70% v/v. Also provided is a biological wastewater treatment system including wastewater inlet, and (i) an anaerobic digester (AD) comprising biogas outlet, and effluent outlet; and (ii) at least one microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) including an anode and a cathode; said AD and said at least one MEC being in liquid communication through liquid circulation lines configured for at least circulating wastewater between said AD and said at least one MEC.

A renewable energy microgeneration apparatus is disclosed that includes a mixing tank that mixes waste with a liquid, a buffer tank that receives and pre-warms the mixed waste, a pasteurization tank that pasteurizes on the pre-warmed mixed waste, a digestion tank that performs anaerobic digestion on the pasteurized waste, a de-watering device that separates liquid digestate and removes salt from the liquid, sensors that measure salinity and biogas quality, and a controller. The controller causes the transfer of digestate from the digestion tank to the pasteurization tank to the dewatering device, causes the de-watering device to separate the liquid and remove the salt from the liquid, monitors the salinity of the liquid and the quality of biogas using the sensors, and causes the mixing of the liquid with the waste and adjusts the feed rate of the waste to reduce the salinity of the waste and increase methane production.

A renewable energy microgeneration apparatus is disclosed that includes a mixing tank that mixes waste with a liquid, a buffer tank that receives and pre-warms the mixed waste, a pasteurization tank that pasteurizes on the pre-warmed mixed waste, a digestion tank that performs anaerobic digestion on the pasteurized waste, a de-watering device that separates liquid digestate and removes salt from the liquid, sensors that measure salinity and biogas quality, and a controller. The controller causes the transfer of digestate from the digestion tank to the pasteurization tank to the dewatering device, causes the de-watering device to separate the liquid and remove the salt from the liquid, monitors the salinity of the liquid and the quality of biogas using the sensors, and causes the mixing of the liquid with the waste and adjusts the feed rate of the waste to reduce the salinity of the waste and increase methane production.

A rapid and continuous separator or equilibrator to separate a gas from a liquid includes a venturi and injector, a mixer and a free overfall stream to separate a gas from a liquid. The injector introduces a carrier medium into the liquid which provides a reservoir for the gas to diffuse into as the liquid and carrier make a single transit through the apparatus. The separator was developed to enable real-time estimation of methane concentrations in ground water during purging. Real-time monitoring allows evaluation of trends during water well purging, spatial trends between water wells, and temporal comparisons between sampling events. These trends may be a result of removal of stored casing water, pre-purge ambient borehole flow, formation physical and chemical heterogeneity, or vertical flow outside of well casing due to poor bentonite or cement seals. Real-time information in the field can help focus an investigation, aid in determining when to collect a sample, save money by limiting costs (e.g. analytical, sample transport and storage), and provide an immediate assessment of local methane concentrations, Four domestic water wells, one municipal water well, and one agricultural water well were sampled for traditional laboratory analysis and compared to the field separator or equilibrator results. Applying a paired t-test comparing the new separator or equilibrator method and traditional laboratory analysis yielded a p-value 0.383, suggesting no significant difference between the two methods for the current study. Additional field and laboratory-based experimentation and potential modification of this device are necessary to justify use beyond screening at this time. However, early separator or equilibrator use suggests promising results and applications.