Development of PLC based monitoring and control

of pressure in Biogas Power Plant Digester

E. Mudaheranwa, A. Rwigema, E. Ntagwirumugara, Ranjeeta Singh, J.Biziyaremye
G. Masengo Department of Electrical Engineering
African Centre of Excellence in Energy for Sharda University
Sustainable Development Greater Noida 201 306, Uttar Pradesh, India
University of Rwanda Habinshuti Francois Xavier
Kigali, Rwanda Pacific National University, Khabarovsk, Russia
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract— this paper presents Programmable Logic or to generate heat or electricity for local use or for use via
Controller (PLC) based control and regulation of various energy distribution grids. Many biogas plants have been
parameters of the digester of a biogas plant for its safety. The constructed and many technologies have been adopted for
work consists of a complete engineering approach through efficient working of a biogas plant. But in many cases, biogas
identification of problems, modeling of the system, designing of power plants are not used in a desirable way to store quality
the control solution, implementation and the discussion of results. gas to their full capacity and consequently gas is often released
This paper also shows a PLC based mechanism to control gas from digesters to avoid over pressure [2]. The releasing of gas
pressure in the digester by the transfer of gas to post digester to atmosphere leads to reduction in plant efficiency and
storage to avoid the unnecessary release of gas into atmosphere, environmental pollution. High level of biogas in atmosphere
which leads to plant inefficiency and environmental pollution.
leads to certain respiratory issues for human being if not
The model, representing pressure, temperature, humidity and
flow control is simulated in FluidSim and Wonderware Intouch
enough oxygen is present in air [3]. This needs to be minimized
software for analysis purpose and the solution is verified using and the paper is aimed at proposing an effective solution
Mirologix400 software and therefor, implemented using Factory against this matter.
Talk View and RsLogix5000 software.
The paper proposes a PLC based solution. Instead of
releasing the gas to atmosphere it is passed on to a post digester
Keywords— PLC, digester, biogas plant, simulation
storage tank and if the pressure goes beyond the safe limit then
it is released to atmosphere which is rarely done. Solenoid
I. INTRODUCTION activated control valve is used for the gas flow to the post
Recently, the entire world is busy looking for the digester. When the gas pressure in the digester reaches the
alternative solutions for a better environment. However most maximum allowable range of pressure, the controller pressure
energy systems are mostly based on fossil fuels which in one transducer produces the electric signal to open the solenoid
way or another has to change in the future owing to its activated control valve for the gas flow to the post digester. In
detrimental impact on environment and more. As a result, the view of that, gas moves to another storage and system pressure
indispensability of renewable energies into the current energy is in the allowable range. Programmable Logic Controller
system in other to save the globe cannot be undermined. One of (PLC) is used to control the entire system pressure.
the alternative solutions the researcher has found as potential
sources of green energy in the future is biogas which can be II. SYSTEM DESIGN AND DESCRIPTOIN
converted into electrical or heat energy.
A. Proposed process descripiton
Organic matter is one of the traditional (feed) food stuffs
and biomethanation is one of the possible technologies to A layout highlighting the flow of the process in the digester
produce gas for energetic use. Also, many technologies are pressure control system is as shown in Fig.l and helps for the
being implemented to see how the energy produced can be easy selection of system' main components. It clearly shows
made better than yesterday and tomorrow than today where the inputs and output variables to the PLC which is the heart of
some countries have already set their future scenarios for a the process. The inputs and output variables are described
100% renewable energy integration in their energy systems[7] below.
Biogas plant is biological system involving various
interacting microorganisms that can aerobically degrade
organic matter [1], The main product is biogas, a highly
flammable gas rich in methane (CH4). Same can be used as a
renewable fuel to run internal combustion engine for vehicles

978-1-5386-9236-3/19/S31.00 ©2019 I E E E

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 1) Inputs 1) Solenoid activated control valve
Waste level detector. Is used to monitor the quantity of Solenoid control valve is used to manipulate gas pressure
waste in the mixing tank inside the digester and storage tank.
Water level Detector, to monitor the quantity of water 2) Over pressure relief valve
which will be mixed with the waste to have the slurry Over pressure relief valve is used for the safety of the
Pressure sensor, to monitor the pressure in the Anaerobic digesters.
Digestion
3) Flow meter
Temperature sensor, to control the temperature inside the It is used to regulate the volume of gas in the digester and
digester so that it remains in the range. post digester.
Due to anaerobic digestion, gas is produced in the digester.
2) Outputs
This gas cannot escape out and hence moves upwards and get
An alarm system: containing buzzers is used to indicate collected in the dome. If gas reaches preset pressure, the
temperature and pressure drop in their respective levels. pressure switch gives input to PLC and the solenoid control
Solenoid valves: to open and close the flowing of liquids valve gets on. This enables biogas to transfer from digester to
for the entire process post digester storage tank. It has one flow meter which is used
to measure the gas flow of biogas and consumption of biogas
A stirrer: is used to mix waste and water in order to obtain can be calculated.
the slurry
In manual operation it is not possible. The digester is
Water pump: for water injection through the inlet valve sometimes overload to store gas and it cannot deliver gas to
upon sensing a low level other storage automatically. Consequently, gas is often released
from digester to avoid over pressure. At the end, biogas power
plant has less efficiency. Hence, a mechanism to control gas
pressure and operations is done by using programmable logic
P r e s s u r e sensor Buzzers controller, field devices like sensors, valves etc.
PLC Water Pump
'Level Detector
B. Sizing the Plant
Temperature sensor Inlet/Outlet valves
All extended-service advice concerning biogas digester are
Stirrer m o t o r required to begin with an estimation of the quantitative and
qualitative energy requirements of the user. Then, the potential
of the biogas generation can be calculated based of the given
Fig. 1.Inputs/outputs layout
biomass available and compared to the energy demand [5],
The system consists of a single digester with complete mix The flow chart below, shows the algorithm used to regulate
system plus a post digester. The gas from the primary digester the system.
is transferred to the post digester. The addition of post digester
is used to increase the retention time, which in turn increases
the gas production and reduce wastage. In Fig.2 bellows, the Energy demand of
gas flow between two digesters is shown. consumers
Energy demand of
consumers
with 1st priority
with 2nd priority

Under/over pressq Biogas

device
•
demandfD)
J

Btooai production
t V
Gmholdw Plant
wluma paramatan

Fig.2.Proposed system layout t I L_

Oigfrittr volume - t i l * of plant
To investigate the control system for the parameters
affecting the biogas power, the below devices were considered Type and quantity of
D'gtuar tampatatura
in this work. availabla biomMt

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 1) Sizing the digester on what inputs the operator will be planning to use as feed. In
The size of the biogas plant depends on the quantity, this way, the service becomes more universal, and plants can
quality and kind of available biomass and on the digesting be produced en masse with more ease by the manufacture
temperature. Therefore, the size of the digester, i.e. the
digester volume (VD) in cubic meter, is determined on the The MATLAB codes was developed to help in plant
basis of the chosen retention time in days (Rt) and the design with the aim to decrease the time that is used to
daily substrate input quantity (SD) in meter cube per day. calculate some parameters for biogas plant and as a result, this
time has been reduced to the remarkable level (approximately
90%).
Vd =Sd *Rt (1)
The task now is only to collect some data and put them
in the MATLAB tool and after being executed and
The retention time in turn, is determined by the
manipulated all needed values to design and implement the
chosen/given digesting temperature [8]. For digester which is
biogas plant will be displayed by MATLAB toolbox. The
not heated, the temperature predetermined inside it, can be
formula and some quantities used are referred to precise and
assumed as 1-2 °c above the soil temperature [9]. It is also
approximated values found after many experiments and all
required to consider the seasonal variation which means that
tables showing them are presented in the APPENDIX.
the digester must be sized for the least favorable season of the
year [10]. For a plant of simple design, the retention time to be Daily water to add to system (L) , Volume Digester
considered is to be at least 40 days [11]. Practical experiments (m3), Diameter Digester (m), Volume Gasholder(m3) ,Height
show that a retention times of 60-80 days, or even 100 days or of Digester (m) ,daily gas production (m3), daily solid
more, can rarely be attained when there is no enough of fertilizer production (kg) and maximum pressure at which to
substrate [12]. set the control valve (kPa) are The parameters that to be
On the other hand, a long retention time could increase the gas displayed as shown in MATLAB Codes.
yield to as much as 40% [13],
disp ('daily water to be added (L) —)
disp (waterallowed)
2) Sizing the gas holder
disp ('Volume Digester (m3) =')
The size of the gasholder, which is also the gasholder
disp(Vd)
volume (Vg), depends on the relative rates of gas generation
disp ('Diameter Digester (m) =')
and gas consumption. The gasholder must be designed to
disp(Dd)
match the foliowings:
disp ('Volume Gasholder(m3) - )
a) Cover the peak consumption rate (Vgi) and
disp (Vg)
b) Hold the gas produced during the longest zero-
disp ('Height of Digester (m) =')
consumption period (Vg2).
disp (Hd)
disp ('daily gas production (m3) - )
Vg] Gcmax^-Tcmax Vcmax (2)
disp (gastotal)
disp ('daily solid fertilizer production (kg) =')
Vg2=G*Tzmax (3)
disp (mass)
Where, disp('maximum pressure at which to set the ERV (kPa)')
Gcmax the maximum hourly gas consumption disp(maxP)
in meter cube per hour, (Tcmax) the time of maximum end
consumption in hours, (Vcmaxj the maximum gas
consumption in meter cube, (G) the gas production in meter III. SYSTEM DESIGN AND DESCRIPTOIN
cube per hour and (Tzmax) the maximum zero-consumption The simulated model is built to test different scenarios. In a
time in hours real life situation it is not possible to take risk in testing the
The larger Vg-va\ue (Vg/ or Vgi) determines the size of the ongoing process. But in a simulation environment the affects
gasholder. However, a safety factor of about 10-20% should be can be investigated. The mechanical relay based system with
taken into consideration. Some experiments show that 40-60% manual control and PLC based control system have been
of the daily gas production often has to be stored. simulated and conclusions were drawn.
Therefore, the ratio (Vd-'Vg) should be a major factor to be A. Mechanical relays based system simulation using FluidSim
considered with regard to the design of the digester [14], If a software
given agricultural biogas plant is to be designed, the ( Vd:Vg) The circuit below is designed using FluidSim to show the
ratio is to be taken to somewhere between 3:1 and 10:1, with complexity of mechanical relay based implementation of the
5:1 - 6:1 often occurring [14], biogas plant. Waste feeding, water feeding and mixing process
are included in the model structure using hard wired relays
3) Plant parameters calculation
This section describes the MATLAB program which is
used to simply get the required parameters in simulation. The
codes are developed with the purpose of sizing the plant based

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 v Y y ^
$ f?
11 ^ss-tsasw oass
wmjm MI.JI
II2-

- i T: I I L
wj»t_ra MW
.I
- { |. I. I.J- !• J' • ' ' . j l i •'!J'H! —IP—
u • . 1. ' I • "1. ? • L- •
"Ii *r\
i
i rijeo "p «p<pi

Fig.3: Waste, water feeding and mixing process using hard wired relays.
B» Of)
-TO
B. Simulation of PLC based monitoring and control of
biogas plant digester rra_ofl lam sunrk
.Mer
—IP w- -2-W15
Compared to wired relay control, PLC's are more
flexible, more powerful, smaller, cheaper, easier to
troubleshoot, faster to implement, easier to document, and
have features (like communication) that cannot be cortM tinjat
accomplished by hard wiring. -HP- <r tftav
The control system for biogas plant using PLC was mtijittv
L£-m
designed and simulated using FluidSim Software and is
shown below in Fig. 4.
J J 4 5 ( 7 t i 10 11 Fig.5. Ladder logic program for the system
(D 5
i
i r ^ ' mp «<f It 15 K Refer to the block given above the PLC controlled
process is simulated using TRILOGI software and this ladder
logic program can be implemented using SIMATIC software
dn sou S B m e no lit 112113
where the controller is easy to be interfaced with the PC with
the help of SIEMENS interfacing devise. However, for the
accurate results, it was decided to use the Allen Bradley
software which is compatible with the factory talk view to
^ p . T T r T i i i i i i i highlight the simulation results. The next section discusses the
i H 1 i l i simulation and results obtained and finally, provides the
1M1[7}-?2M1[2}? JMI[7H <«[ZH SOfZH JWCZJ^M'tZl-iS"'
comments on the design of the system
IV. RESULTS DISCUSSION
Fig.4: PLC based Control circuit layout
A. Initial state
As it shown in Fig.4 above, the control circuit using PLC
has fewer connected devises than those that are used in a The initial state of waste holder, water holder, velocity
manually controlled system shown in Fig.3 of stiller and force of the stiller is represented in Fig. 6. It
reveals that all the said parameters (air pressure on the
C. Simulation of PLCprogram using TRILOGI software reservoir, pressure inside reservoir and the alarm) of the
digester are at zero level at the start of the process.
Fig. 5 shows the ladder logic diagram of simulated
PLC, which was done using TRILOGI software.

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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
It is discussed in section ID that the good quality of biogas
Designation Quantity v a l u e
Position
100 is produced if the slurry is contained by a half of substrate
WASTES H O L D E R
mm input and water input. Hence, if the quantity of water in the
mixer tank is reached the water level sensor is activated then
Position
100
send the signal to turn off the water pump which stops
WATER H O L D E R
mm automatically and after a given time required having slurry is
achieved. The stiller is also stopped and the mixing process is
STILLER
Velocity ended as shown above at the 8 th second.
m/s
C. Pressure response ofSolenoid Valve and Safety valve
STILLER
Force A set point of 1.99MPa was chosen for the pressure
N
transducer. At this set point transducer produces the electric
signal to open the solenoid activated control valve for the
gas to flow to the post digester (reservoir). A graphical
Fig.6a. Graphical display for the initial state for mechanical parameters representation for this step is shown on Fig.8 below.

Description Quantity value 15 17 1S 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Description Quantity value 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I
Pressure
Digester MPs
Pressure
Air pressure
reservoir M>a t
Pressure SMKMH mscko
sersor
1
Swttetlng poettlan State
Pressure Buzzer
sensor

Sas pressure Pressure 1.20

0.30
1 reservoir MPa
0.40
State S- —
Buzzer

Fig. 8. Pressureresponseafter the placement of solenoid control valve an

digester only

Fig.fib. Graphical display for the initial state for physical parameters In the old system, only one gas holding container is
available and the only possible way to protect the digester
As shown with colors of the quantities value, at the initial against overflow was to let the gas be leaked to the
state each is at its starting point which is represented by zero atmosphere and this results in inefficiency working of the
for the system system.
B. Mixing system In new design, a mechanism to vent the over flow gas in the
The simulation results for mixing system are shown in reservoir was simulated and the results above show the
Fig.7. From the graph, it can be seen that when the quantity working of the system as explained below.
of waste in the mixing tank reaches to maximum level, the
waste level sensor is activated and a signal is sent to start the After getting the parameters of the designed system using
water pump. At the same time the stiller is started MATLAB TOOL, the set point for the gas pressure was to be
1.99Mpa. So as the pressure in the digester reaches the set
Oesiflnation Quantity value 2 3 4 5 S 7 S 9 10 11 point, the pressure transduceder device opens and the gas
Position flows to the reservoir. Fig.8 shows that the pressure in the
7
WASTES HOLDER
mm
reservoir increases till it reaches 1,6Mpa and it can continue to
m
|\ 1.99Mpa which is the same value in the gas holder of the
Position
WATER HOLDER digester.

Position
1UU m For the protection purporse, a second pressure switch valve
STILLER 50 1 is placed on the reservoir and this is to switch on the alarm
system if probably the pressure increases to the values over
STILLER
Velocity
m/s
2 l||a than 1.99Mpa in the reservoir. Fig.9 below shows the alarm
•I I I HI swicthing status and the pressure sensor as well.

Fig.7. Graphicalrepresentaionfor the Mixing output of the system

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 This is achieved after successfully verifying the Ladder logic
Uu
Description Qiraratrty Yilue 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 55

Digsitsr
Pressu re programming using MICROLOGIXMOO PLC. The ladder
1
MPa f logic program is shown in Fig. 11 while the Human Machine
"
Interface (HMI) to help in a supervisory control of the process
Press l re 3wtenher oration implemented using Factory Talkview is shown in Fig. 10.
sensor
I1
State
ELizer

2
pressure Pre e e l re
reservoir MPa I f H
Fig. 9. Pressure behavior after the placement of Solenoid control valve on
digester and safety valve on the reservoir.

Plot of Fig. 8 shows the pressure versus valve opening. It

shows that the pressure in the digester increases till it
reaches 1.6Mpa and it can continue to 1.99Mpa which is the
set point for the pressure sensor. As the pressure reaches set
point the solenoid control valve is activated and the gas is
transferred to reservoir. As the gas starts to flow into the flTo" "r'"Jf !JrJ d"! ....
reservoir, there is a pressure drop in the main digester.
Again, for the same protection purpose, a second pressure n»|*A|lint C)n — EN-
PrE- WATe,qF" MO ~ DM
switch valve is placed on the reservoir as shown in Fig 9. This
is to switch on the alarm system if probably the pressure g r ^ i =
increases to the values over than 1.99Mpa in the reservoir and
I i T ™ ^
henced, if the pressure in the reservoir exceeds the safe limit it
activates the buzzer and over relief valve is open to release the
gas.
V. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION IN SCADA
After developing the logics for the system in RsLogix5000
using the Rslinx, the logics is linked with Factory Talk View
software so that the system can be supervised controlled and
the data can be accrued (SCADA).

MANUAL CONTROL PANEL

miOflYSENSOfi

ANAEROBIC DIGESTER
-STILLER
^tATTRANSFEC
fi em

Fig. 10. Implementation in Factory Talkview

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 6/3/2015 9:02:49
alor'DcsllopPROJECTI ACD disposal methods, one believes that controlled anaerobic
WAT6RTAP
VENT PIPE
digestion certainly has the potential to provide some solutions
to these issues.
VH. REFERENCES
[1] B. Drosg, Process monitoring in biogas plants. IEA Bioenergy,
December 2013.
HEATER REL1
[2] A. C. Paglinawan and E. E. Mojica, "Electrical performance
analysis of biogas fuelled generator with purifier," 2016
rEMPOECHEASE REL2
International SoC Design Conference (ISOCC), Jeju, 2016, pp.
3-4.
[3] D.I Candra, C. A.W. Tamayo , "Optimization for biogas power
INCREASE.DM DOWN ON plants using automatic control of gas pressures," In
OOWN.DM STOPCOUNT
Mechatronics, Electrical Power, and Vehicular Technology, vol.
04 ,2013, pp.9-16.
STOPCOUtJT
[4] D.A. Abilash , P. Kayalvizhi, R. Rakesh and S. Balamurugan,
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Technology Vol.8, No.2 (2016), pp. 171-180
Fig. 11 .Ladder Logic codes deeper using RSLogics [5] H. Rahadian, B. Sutopo and I. Soesanti, "TGS2611 performance
as biogas monitoring instrument in digester model
After the implementation of the system all the parameters application," 2015 International Seminar on Intelligent
Technology and Its Applications (ISUIA), Surabaya, 2015, pp.
to be supervised and control can be diplayed in the message 119-124.
display window of Fig. 12. The button aims to the operator to [6] M. Zhou and Z. Zou, "Design of an Intelligent Control System
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[7] M. Bongards, D. Gaida,, O. Trauer and C.Wolf, "Intelligent
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[8] M. Gopinathan, P. Kumaran, A. A. Rahaman and Z. bt Ismail,
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[9] H. Y. Zhiyi Wang Jinqing Peng Lin LU "Analysis of Energy
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[10] Q. Ling W. Lanying Y. Peng "Study on expert system for the
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112-114 2014.
During this process the display shows that the digester
[11] S. C. Bhatia, Advanced Renewable Energy Systems part-
is a half full, at a temperature of 28°c, humidity of 10% and a l.Woodhead Publishing India Pvt Limited, Versiondate
pressure of 5oooPa. The operator can know if the pressure is 20150227.
suffice to start using the gas and also if the himudity is [12] R. Kumar, R. Thakur and, S.Chattejji, "PLC Based Automation
tolerable and hence if the water in the digester is suffice to of Biogas Plant," International Journal of Advanced Research
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[13] R Lybaek T Kjaer "Enhancing identified circular benefits
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VI. CONCLUSION Engineering and Applied Science Research vol. 42 no. 2 pp. 97-
105 April-June 2017.
The PLC program codes were executed and verified [14] Y. Chen W. Hu Y. Feng S. Sweeney "Status and prospects of
using RSLogics and the results after implementation are in rural biogas development in China" Renewable and Sustainable
good accordance with the theoretical performances as seen in Energy Reviews vol. 39 no. 6 pp. 679-685 2014.
simulations. [15] Z. Song C. Zhang G. Yang Y. Feng G. Ren X. Han
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medium and large-scale biogas plants in rural China"
time implementation on a biogas plant in future. Further there Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews vol. 33 no. 2 pp.
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temperature and humidity along with pressure to be controlled.
With farmers continually facing rising production costs and
environmental issues such as the greenhouse effect and waste

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