[Nikolas]

On the upgrading system side, running a membrane upgrading system, you would need to check different things on a daily basis, monthly basis and on a preset x,xxx hour basis. In short :<div>

Biogas side:

• Biogas flow as expected

Analyzers:

• Gas quality within specs post treatment
• Gas quality within specs pre-upgrading membranes

System:

• Alarms
• Indicator values within specs

Compressors:

• Daily: Oil levels, gauges
• Monthly: Connections, leak test, fins, pressure values
• Preset hours: Based on manufacturer instructions / Maintenance

Pre-injection

• Gas flow indicators
• Gas quality indicators

The daily checking of a membrane biogas upgrading system does not take more than 1 hour and can be done by following a checklist. For systems like DMT’s, there is 24/7 monitoring services. If you have a farm or a facility with no ‘specialized personnel’, a membrane system is an ‘easy’ system to operate.

Send a message if you need to discuss further.

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[Natalia Bourenane]

@Nikolas_Pat Thank you for this extensive list. Does DMT provide operations support? or what happens if one of those indicators are not in normal range?

[Nikolas]

You are most welcome Natalia.

DMT provides operations support and remote, 24/7, monitoring. If any of those indicators is off, our team will communicate with the local operator and guide him through it. For major issues, our team will travel to the project location and work with the operator to resolve any issue.

[Gururaj]

Process end:

1.feed characteristics.

2. Volatile acid incremental profile of digesters.

3. OLR

4. Temprature

5. Gas conversation ratio and quality of gas.

[Peter]

Would like to add few more:

– pH,

– gas production rate, and

– hydraulic retention time

With weekly monitoring of

– VFA to Alkalinity Ratio

– Volatile solids reduction

– Ammonia concentration

[Trisha]

While the others have mentioned many parameters to watch during normal operations, there are some parameters that can be useful to measure in digester upset conditions. These can help gather information to conduct a root cause analysis for the upset.

• Speciated Volatile Fatty Acids
• Speciated Long-Chain Fatty Acids
• Volatile Solids Reduction (VSR)
• BOD
• Total Phosphorus
• Ortho-phosphorus
• Total Metals
• Dissolved Metals
• Food to Microorganism ratio (F:M)

Often however, the individual values of any parameter are not as important as the overall trend of each. Especially in the case where the digester biology has acclimated to conditions that would be inhibitory for other digesters if it occurred suddenly.

For daily operations, watching changes in operating parameters is key. Biological systems like slow, gradual changes. Some metrics and reasoning behind them are mentioned in our attached article.

Need help understanding digester performance metrics? Email me at trisha.aldovino@AzuraAssociates.com

Top 10 Things to Make Your Digester Biology Happy – AZURA

azuraassociates.com

Top 10 Things to Make Your Digester Biology Happy – AZURA

Top 10 Things to Make Your Digester Biology Happy – AZURA

[Adarsha]

What is the importance of BOD in an agricultural waste or MSW-based plant?

[Hatem]

Hi Adarsha.

I answer your question with great pleasure.

For anaerobic conditions, we typically refer to COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) or biogas potential (e.g., BMP tests—Biochemical Methane Potential), since oxygen is not involved in anaerobic degradation.

However, BOD is particularly valuable for identifying the readily biodegradable fraction, optimizing feedstock mix, and ensuring stable and efficient biogas production—especially in agriculture or MSW-based plants dealing with variable, organic-rich inputs.

Cheers