Assessment of biogas potential hazards (original) (raw)
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Risk assessment of biogas in kitchens
2009
The health risk associated with human exposure to pollutants while using biogas for cooking was assessed following the methodology described by the US - National Research Council. Information of hazardous compounds and compositions of several biogas types were extracted from scientific literature. Compositions were dependent on the biogas origin (production process). First, a quantitative approach was conducted to identify substances with a high health risk based on their Human Toxicity Values. Then, a subsequent qualitative analysis was performed to complete the health risk assessment based on other toxicology data, effectiveness of purification processes, variability of the waste materials used for biogas generation and, when possible, a comparison with natural gas. The main conclusion of the study was that the injection in the grid of upgraded biogas originating from household and organic waste landfills, did not present an increase of health risks when compared to the domestic u...
Potential hazards posed by biogas plants
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2021
One effective method of clean energy generation is to use biogas. The biogas production technologies are now highly developed, especially at the level of local biogas plants. Unfortunately, it has been impossible to avoid inservice fatal accidents. Therefore, the design and construction of new technological installations intended for biogas large-scale production have to take account of the plant safe operation. In the first place, this applies to the course of industrial processes and to potential failures that may occur in them due to the flammability and toxicity of biogas constituents. This paper is focused on the hazards that biogas poses to human health and life. It presents the hazard zones arising due to possible scenarios following a release of biogas from a biogas plant. Probit functions and numerical modelling of the spread of thermal radiation due to a fire and of the toxic cloud arising therefrom are used to calculate the probability of serious injury to health and a loss of life depending on the distance from the gas release site. It is estimated that for a high-pressure tank containing 3000 m 3 of biogas under the pressure of 10 MPa the life-threatening zone due to a potential fire of released gas has the range of about 30 m. There is about 10 m hazard zone related to the gas explosion, and the zone with the risk of poisoning due to the gas cloud toxic concentration has the range of about 20 m from the failure site.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The increasing demand for renewable energy production entails the development of novel green technologies, among them the use of biomass for energy generation. Industrial processes raise new issues regarding emerging risks for the health of people working in biogas plants and of nearby communities. The potential epidemiological and environmental impacts on human health related to biogas plants were assessed by means of a review of the available literature. Nineteen papers published between 2000 and 2022 were identified through electronic database search using search strings. The selected works are epidemiological studies and environmental monitoring studies, which aimed at investigating what are the health risk factors for biogas plant workers and for people living in the surrounding communities. The results of the epidemiological studies revealed a potential exposure to endotoxins and fungi that are associated with respiratory symptoms. Furthermore, the results from the environment...
Biological and Chemical Atmospheric Emissions of the Biogas Industry
Chemical engineering transactions, 2016
Actions of French governments on waste, resource and energy management force to focus on waste treatment and recovery process. Among these processes, anaerobic digestor offers significant advantages compared to other forms of waste treatment. It permits an organic waste treatment and a double valorization. The organic waste treatment enables the production of a digestate and a combustible gas fraction called biogas. The digestate, is an improved fertilizer, and can be enhanced by spreading or composting. Biogas can be valorized to produce heat or electricity. From this activity sector, energy production is expected to increase from 1,478 GWh in 2005 to 13,701 GWh in 2020 (Club Biogas ATEE, 2011). Anaerobic digestion is widely studied to understand its mechanisms at microbial level and to improve biogas production and process stability. However, health risk for workers in these facilities and for surrounding residents is very poorly documented. Gaseous and particulate emissions are a...
Appendix 3.2 Alternative Uses of Biogas Group Report, A Northern Ireland Case Study
Invest N.I., 2014
Constituents of biogas and natural gas Biogas is produced through the anaerobic digestion process, which involves the degradation of organic material in the absence of oxygen. Biogas typically consists of 45-65% methane (CH 4), 35-55% carbon dioxide (CO 2) and some minor constituents, such as hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S), water vapour, organic silicon compounds (e.g. siloxanes), ammonia (NH 3), dust, and small amounts of hydrogen (H 2), air (i.e. oxygen (O 2) and nitrogen (N 2)), biological agents, and halocarbons. Indicative constituents of biogas and natural gas are presented in Table 1; it should be noted that the exact composition of biogas depends on the feedstock and the production process. Cleaning and upgrading to biomethane standard Biogas that has been cleaned and upgraded to the same standard as natural gas is termed biomethane. Biomethane typically consist of around 97% CH 4 and is mixable and interchangeable with natural gas. The cleaning process removes contaminants, such as H 2 S, from the biogas and the upgrading process removes CO 2. The level of cleaning and upgrading required depends on the end use of the gas (Figure 1). There is a wide range of cleaning and upgrading technologies available, information on which can be found in the literature, for example, in
Using biogas as an energy source
E3S Web of Conferences
This article discusses the topic of sewage sludge digestion. Anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge makes it possible to obtain biogas, which can later be used to generate heat or electricity. this approach to resource use is recognized worldwide as more environmentally friendly. The article discusses the experience of European countries in the production and use of biogas. In the Russian Federation, the situation is complicated by the fact that wastewater contains a small amount of organic matter, which is a product for biogas production. Therefore, methods have been proposed for increasing the content of organic matter in sediments, for example, by means of separate waste collection and disposal of organic waste through grinders into the sewerage system. Or, the amount of organic matter in the sewage sludge can be increased by adding manure from animal farms. The stages of sediment fermentation are considered. The topic of rationality and payback of the use of biogas is raised. Proj...
Safe Operation of Biogas Plants in Italy
This paper presents a few results of a work aiming at providing the biogas industry with practical tools to protect workers and environment. Biological contamination, Fire and Explosive Atmosphere are the main hazards. The technical and organizational measures, aiming at preventing or mitigating them, have been identified and classified by means of the "bowties" technique. From this analysis, a structured safety check list has been derived. The checklist is a valuable support for the plant operator to evaluate periodically the actual effectiveness of the overall safety measures and to address a safer management of the plant.
Biogas, a modern renewable energy in the European context
One of the main environmental problems of today's society is the continuously increasing production of organic waste. Biogas technology is widely used in Europe since several decades and is a highly developed technology. Biogas installations processing agricultural substrates are some of the most important applications of anaerobic digestation today.
Biogas Production Plants: A Methodological Approach for Occupational Health and Safety Improvement
Advances in Biofuels and Bioenergy, 2018
Existing lessons on public safety, referred to as new biotech plants, suggest that the development of effective, responsive and responsible safety standard can improve the trust of the public in the new generation plants such as biorefineries. This implies the need for specific risk assessment aimed at defining the mitigation measures, which can minimize the impact of hazards on workers' health. The main hazards, referred to biogas production process, are biohazard, fires and potentially explosive atmospheres. In particular, the last two hazards strictly depend on the presence of methane in the biofuel. This chapter presents the results of a work aimed at providing the biogas industry with a practical tool, which can be used to carry out the analysis of hazards of biogas plants. The adopted method for developing the tool is based on the well-known checklist approach. The checklist is a valuable support for the plant operator to evaluate periodically the actual effectiveness of the overall safety measures and ensure a safer management of the biogas plant. The checklist can meet these requirements. This chapter reports the main preventive, protective and managerial measures, which can be adopted to decrease the hazardous outcomes on workers' health and safety.