Courses provide valuable content for owners, investors, operators and engineers
WASHINGTON – November 29, 2024 – The American Biogas Council (ABC) announced today it will offer additional continuing education courses to help biogas professionals ensure the success of their projects. These courses provide a deeper dive into specific content introduced in the organization’s popular Operator School course modules.
The first two-day course, “Substrate as Potential Energy,” scheduled for December 10th and 12th, explains how to asses the energy content of various substrates (the organic material fed into anaerobic digesters that microbes break down to produce biogas) before a biogas system is in operation. The module examines the variations in available energy that can be extracted from different substrates and why such differences occur, including the materials’ physical and biological properties. The course also covers:
- biogas estimation methods
- how substrate pretreatment can increase the energy extracted
- micronutrients
- advanced separation and concentration methods.
Attendees will also examine real data collected using the most advanced anaerobic digestion monitoring technologies to understand the effects of substrate processing. Details and registration information for “Substrate as Potential Energy” are available on this ABC webpage.
A new two-day course, “Digestate Treatment,” scheduled for December 17th and 19th, evaluates the plethora of digestate treatment options available, providing important base knowledge for anyone developing projects or providing support services to the biogas industry. Participants will gain an in-depth understanding of primary and secondary separation techniques and tertiary treatment methods. This will include a new in-depth look at utilizing wastewater treatment technologies such as activated sludge/biological nutrient removal and ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis, as well ammonia recovery and struvite formation to extract nutrients. Industry experts who have designed, installed and operated digestate treatment systems will share their real-life experience as part of this course. Details and registration information for “Digestate Treatment” are available on this ABC webpage.
“Workforce development is one of the main objectives of the American Biogas Council, and we’re pleased to add these important courses to our comprehensive suite of biogas operator training,” said Bernie Sheff, ABC board chair. “Having highly competent digester operators provides a business advantage for biogas developers and will become increasingly critical as the industry experiences continued growth. At the ABC we are creating careers for the work force that will take these technologies into the future.”