The Industrial Engineering degree student Ferran Garcia Darás from the Universitat Jaume I has defended as his final university project a study for the electrical optimization of biogas generated by the anaerobic decomposition of the waste deposited in the landfill managed by the company Hasars in Zapopan (Mexico). The project has been directed by professor Francisco J. Colomer of the area of Engineering Projects within the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Construction.
Ferran Garcia’s project suggests the design of extraction, conduction and use of biogas in cell number 2 of this solid waste landfill that serves the Mexican cities of Guadalajara and Zapopan. The new design will allow retrieving 65% of the biogas generated by waste that so far was just burned, in order to make electricity.
The initial investment of the project is about 1,5 million euros, amount that would be depreciated in five years and a half and the execution period of the works would be about 40 days after obtaining the permits. The annual average of CO2 emissions avoided is of 150,000 metric tons, equivalent to the annual emissions of greenhouse gases of about 29,000 passenger vehicles.
For the energetic optimization of biogas, the student has designed a network of piping that carry the fuel to a collector where there will be installed an electric generation system using two internal combustion engines of 1 MW each to give more flexibility to the system in case of failure.
The project is part of the collaboration of the Universitat Jaume I with the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) of Mexico and two Mexican companies (ECOFENIX and Cappy) and is based on the establishment of a methodology to build secure and environmentally friendly landfills and in accordance with the Mexican energy policy that began in 2009 to diversify its energy sources. Furthermore, it is part of the project on “Evaluation of the technical, environmental and socio-economic transformation viability of a downtown landfill into a comprehensive waste management centre” funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in 2009 within the subprogram for the Promotion of International Scientific Cooperation of the National Program for Internationalization of R&D.
Filed Under: Industrial automation