Energy recovery of the biomass from livestock farms in Italy: the case of Modena Province

The energy recovery from manure of different Italian livestock farms is analysed by means of numerical simulation using an in-house developed code. In particular, the animal farming in the province of Modena is taken into account and biomass is exploited in an integrated system including different waste to energy technologies. In the considered system, the manure of a number of types of animals is fed into an anaerobic digester, while the digested sludge is separated into the solid and liquid fractions. The former is employed as a fuel in a downdraft gasifier, while the latter is purified by means of both forward and inverse osmosis. Finally, the obtained bio-gas and syngas are used in a cogeneration system based on a spark ignition internal combustion engine to produce electric and thermal power. The potential power production of the considered territory is estimated and compared with the energy requirements of the animal farms. Different strategies for the distributed exploitation of the manure versus a centralized solution are investigated and the relating plant size and production of electric energy and thermal energy are evaluated.