Sleeman Biogas Boiler System Design

Abstract

Energy costs represent a significant expense in the brewing of beer, and it is in a company’s best interest to minimize these costs. Due to the high organic loading processed by the on-site wastewater treatment plant at Sleeman Breweries in Guelph, Ontario, a large amount of biogas is generated, which could be used as an energy source and revenue stream for the brewery. The purpose of this project is to design a system that will make use of the wasted biogas to benefit the company. First a preliminary analysis of several design alternatives was conducted in order to determine the best option. Through this analysis it was determined that a pretreatment and piping system, along with boiler modifications would be the most cost effective method of dealing with the biogas. This system would save the brewery approximately $134,000 in the first year it was implemented, and have a payback period of approximately 5 years. Therefore, it is recommended that Sleeman Breweries consider moving forward with the proposed biogas recovery system. This report describes the detailed research, calculations, and modeling completed to design this system in order to present with confidence the optimal solution to Sleeman Breweries