Waste to energy analysis of shakarganj sugar mills; biogas production from the spent wash for electricity generation

Waste to energy analysis of a large scale sugar industry was performed. Biogas Power plant of Shakarganj Sugar mills is generating its own electricity from biogas produced by the waste (spent wash). The analysis of the spent wash indicates that it contains high Chemical Oxygen Demand (95000 mg/l) which reduces to 18000 mg/l during biogas production. Biogas is produced by using the anaerobic digestion of the spent wash. The biogas is passed through desulphurization and dehumidification units to remove the sulfur contents from 30000 ppm to 250 ppm. The results indicate that the total biogas production from 0.5 million M3 of spent wash was 20.34 million M3 during October to September. The total electricity production was 37.7 million kWh and the total steam (28260 t) generated was used by the mill. The electricity production efficiency by using new biogas boilers was 92%. The estimated CO2 emission reduction during the year was 28032 (tCO2e). Due to CDM the emission factor was zero. The total revenue generated from the utilization of sugar industrial waste during the study period was USD 3.56 million.