Morgan Abattoir Biogas Plant
BiogasSA has supplied, installed and commissioned over 200 small scale digesters all over Southern Africa for households, small farms, community projects and schools.
BiogasSA was responsible for the design and construction of a 400 kW installed capacity anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at Morgan Abattoir, commissioned in 2015. The facility was engineered to process up to 25 tonnes per day of high-strength organic waste derived from abattoir operations, including blood, gut contents, paunch manure, and condemned material.
The biogas plant was designed to offset approximately 50% of the abattoir’s total electrical energy demand through on-site cogeneration. The core process infrastructure includes a single continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with a working volume of 2,000 m³, an 800 m³ domed gas storage vessel, and a pumped gas-mixing system to ensure homogeneity and optimise biogas yield. Thermal energy for digester heating is provided via an external heat exchanger, improving process stability and methane production efficiency.
A biological scrubbing system for biogas desulphurisation was also installed; however, this unit was not commissioned during the initial operational phase. The plant represents an integrated waste-to-energy solution, reducing the abattoir’s reliance on grid electricity while offering a sustainable method for managing high-pathogen, odorous waste streams in compliance with environmental regulations.
