Turning Waste into Energy: TU Dublin Trials New Anaerobic Digestion System
TU Dublin has launched a trial of a new pilot scale Anaerobic Digestion System on the Tallaght campus. Up and running since 27 March, the system is a MyGug Midi system supplied by Amu Green, an Irish company. It takes up to 11Kg of waste per day and when running fully can produce up to 2000 litres of biogas per day - enough to cook for up to 4 hours. It will also generate 22 litres of high quality liquid fertilizer.
Anaerobic digestion is a microbial decomposition process in which waste organic material and food waste is broken down by bacteria to produce biogas and a nutrient rich digestate that can be used as an organic fertiliser.
Since both of these by products are derived from organic waste it is seen as a non-fossil fuel, cyclic energy system.
Discussions are underway about the student learning experiences, research activity and industrial training that this system will support. Anaerobic digestion has practical learning opportunities for students in mechanical engineering, renewable energy systems, electrical engineering, chemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, and also culinary arts as it is an innovative way of reducing food waste and costs.
It is also hoped that the biogas fuel that this system produces will be offered to local social enterprises to reduce their environmental impact and fuel costs. As soon as this system is running updates about the status of the project and opportunities for collaboration will be published on our various social media sites.