“Fundamental to the success of the UK AD industry is the role played by small scale digesters. Burdens are leading the way in delivering small scale commercially viable AD and it is only with the support of advanced and creative engineering that we can do this. Base Structure’s expert design and problem solving approach has given us one more vital component to help build this much needed UK capacity.”
Will Kirkman, Business Development Director, Burdens
Project highlights
• Burdens - one of the UK’s largest suppliers of civil engineering materials
• 25m3 Capacity Biogas Holder
• PVC Polyester outer material
• PVC Laminated / Calendered inner material
• Located in Llangadog, South Wales
• Swift installation in only 3 hours
Download the Case Study pdf here
The Background
The Burdens Group are well known as one of the UK’s largest suppliers of civil engineering and building materials and have recently developed their own high tech Anaerobic Digestion plant. So when they approached us with an offer to feature our Biogas Storage sphere in their new Anaerobic Digestion brochure, how could we resist? The catch? They wanted us to install a 25m3 version on their own development plant in Llangadog, South Wales.
It all began at the environmental trade show ETSUK 2011 in Bristol, where Burdens group representatives first viewed our display model. They immediately recognised the benefits of our simple, modular unit as it fitted perfectly the ethos behind the design of their new AD plant, where every component of the system is an individual “plug and play” unit. When the team from Burdens first saw our working model they were so impressed they had to admit they had never seen a better or more versatile gas storage system.
Scalable AD
Following on from this promising first meeting Base were invited to Carmarthenshire, South Wales, where Burdens have developed their new pasteurising AD plant. We were equally excited by what we saw; in combining small modular components to build complete AD systems, the Burdens business proposition is eminently scalable. This is hugely important as one of the major issues confronted by all potential AD investors is the magnitude of the initial outlay. For instance, many of the imported AD plants can cost anywhere between 3 and 8 million pounds installed! The return on this investment is, as with many of life’s speculations, not guaranteed.
To help investors overcome this first hurdle Burdens have designed a plant that can be built incrementally. Every part of each sub assembly can be bought off the shelf and bolted together to grow larger and larger systems. When it becomes unfeasible to keep adding parts and sub-assemblies and once the customer is secure in the knowledge that a business exists, then a step-change can easily be taken up to the next size of system. In this way all of the customers needs can be catered for in three practically sized ranges, capable of processing from 30 tonnes of waste per week up to 100 tonnes per week.
The Brief
Following on from these successful first meetings, we were delighted to be asked to add our 25m3 Biogas Storage sphere to the Burdens trial plant.
The Solution
On arrival at site we were fortunate to find a perfect concrete base awaiting us that required no more than a good sweep! After drilling the holes into the concrete base through our prepared template, the stainless steel staples were resin anchored in place. Once the drill had been packed away the inner-gas bladder was deployed, swiftly followed by the two piece external Outer cover that fully encloses it.
Secure and Connect
To ensure the Gas Holder does not get blown away, a metal hold-down loop is fed alternately through a circumferential pocket in the base of the cover and the fixed metal staples. With the biogas holder now completely in place and soundly secured, the various connections can be made between the gas holder and the Connections Board. This is a simple matter of plugging in the volume sensor to the beacon at the very top of the sphere, the airline to its mid position inlet and the gas trunk from the inner-gas bladder; in a matter of minutes the gas holder is ready to inflate!
Inflate and Check
Before linking the Biogas Holder directly to the AD plant, our site team inflate the gas and air voids to a prescribed pressure well above normal operating levels as a safety check. Although the Gas Holder has already been extensively leak tested in the factory following manufacture, it is necessary to check the integrity of the holder after transportation and installation. Once our install team are happy with the results of their testing and visual inspections, the holder is handed over to the customer for their acceptance and sign off; the gas holder is then ready for use.
Over and Out
In this instance the AD plant itself would not be ready for a few days after the install of the gas holder, so our team could leave the site happy in the knowledge that the client simply had to connect the gas pipe from their AD plant to the front of the connections panel of the Gas Holder. The complete installation process, from arrival on site to having the Gas Holder ready for customer connection, took our two man install team only three hours.