ADPMDesign: The use of a Participatory Methodology to design a dry anaerobic digestion power plant for municipal solid waste treatment

Abstract

This work proposed the use of a Participatory Methodology to design a biogas-based power plant (ADPMDesign). The power plant treats the organic waste from Sabana Centro, Colombia. ADPMDesign considered the involvement of relevant stakeholders in different tasks during the design process. Stakeholders included researchers, biogas producers, members of the community, waste collector associations, representatives of local public services companies, and environmental entities. Researchers evaluated technical feasibility through pilot-scale experiments. Interviews with other stakeholders of Sabana Centro enabled the identification of two different production scenarios to forecast organic fraction of municipal solid waste generation capacity in Sabana Centro by 2030. The final use of the biogas produced during anaerobic digestion was defined through the application of a combined Analytical Hierarchy Process with Benefit Opportunity Cost and Risks in focus groups with relevant stakeholders. Then, workshops with biogas producers in the United Kingdom allowed the identification of key lessons based on their experience to improve the process design. After applying ADPMDesign, the best biogas production scenario was determined. Stakeholders in Sabana Centro, including the Municipal Government of the eleven municipalities and public service companies, should collaborate to build a single municipal plant for processing organic waste from all eleven municipalities instead of three small-scale biogas plants. This approach would not only be more efficient, but it would also facilitate better coordination and management of resources. The plant will have a capacity to treat 126.22 t/day and a power generation capacity of 3659 kW providing electricity for around 12,000 homes. The estimated cost of energy production is 78.92 COP/kWh (0.017 USD/kWh), and a payback time of 4.8 years could be achieved dispatching electricity to the national grid and selling fertilizers to local farmers.