Small digesters would normally use the control room built
into the Control Box of a GazBox gas store. Larger digesters can be supplied
with either a prefabricated control room or a control room can be built
on site.
The control panel for a system will vary according to the needs of the input system, the size of the digester and any post-digestion processing - separation, pumping, storage or drying. In principle we try to remove electric motors from the system as much as possible whilst retaining sufficient redundancy in the system to enable routine or unscheduled maintenance to take place without stopping the process of digestion.
A typical control panel will include digester temperature status with high / low warning lights, Pressure status lights with alarms, Digester heating control and status, loading system status and post digestion control and status. These control systems are designed to be linked to Co-Generation of Heat and Power plants and have a real time clock included which will enable the system to function at preset times, for instance when electricity is cheap it is best to start large motors and store biogas. When electricity is expensive it is better to generate electricity for sale and reduce the amount of power used by the plant.
The Control room includes at least one manometric controller and can be provided with simple or extensive SCADA links for remote monitoring of the plant.
A site visit will normally be required to confirm the basis of the control system, operating voltages, the requirements of the local mains electricity supply, and many other details.
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