WILLEN BIOGAS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

Willen Biogas is a 1.5 MWe output food waste AD facility in North London.  They were baffled by their lack of yields.  Read on for a detailed case study about how we helped them achieve the yields and profitability they had budgeted for.

The problem

Our AD plant was commissioned in May 2016 and since had never performed as we’d hoped and expected it to. Outputs were lower than forecast and seemed to decline more over time. We had the feedstock we needed, our biology was stable, and the key machinery seemed to be running as it should, so the poor output performance was both baffling and frustrating. 

After significant time spent head-scratching, we needed to find the root cause of the issues and fix them for good to bring the business into sustainable profitability. 

Engaging ONM

Our main investors had experience of working with ONM on other projects and suggested we involve Kyrone and the team to see if they could help. We engaged them in December 2018 and immediately felt they could make a difference. They had a very practical and no-nonsense approach, which was a refreshing change from other consultants we’d previously come across.

The investigation

The team started work in January 2019. They spent a few weeks exploring our plant and using a process of elimination to flush out problem areas. They quickly tackled the elephant in the room that we’d hoped to avoid; our digester tanks needed to be emptied to be able to properly investigate and find the exact root cause of our issues.  

This was a bold suggestion and not one we’d heard from others that had looked at the plant. But Kyrone convinced us that, without doing so, we’d continue to be working blind without ever really understanding what was going on “under the covers”.  

The team spent a lot of time bringing us into their logic and thinking around our circumstances. And their clear knowledge and logical approach led us to trust them and proceed with the recommendation. 

The solution

ONM project managed and undertook the process of emptying our digester tanks and found that almost a third of them were filled with grit and plastic. This third reduction in digestion capacity clearly explained our lack of gas production. But it was now important to understand why this contamination existed and what we could do to put it right. 

The next phase of Ricky & Kyrone’s work was a thorough investigation of the mechanical plant upstream of the digesters and all of our operating processes. We had a de-packaging configuration that was supposedly market-leading, so it was important we worked out why it wasn’t performing. 

They reverse-engineered every step of our mechanics and operating practices and identified key areas for improvement. They effectively performed a “restore factory settings” on all equipment and advised on new staffing regimes and practices that would be beneficial. 

They also worked on other periphery issues such as blocked drainage systems, perforated tank linings, and other underperforming machinery.   

ONM helped us recruit new staff and build a new, robust operational structure. And once in place, they pulled all staff together, educated and enthused them over all aspects of the plant’s performance. They implemented a KPI reporting process and ensured that every member involved in the operation had visibility and understanding of it. This led to a wonderful team attitude and means that any issues we now face are flushed out quickly and overcome in a blameless, positive manner. 

Throughout all of this, it was clear that the ONM team was well connected in the industry and respected by people they had to call upon for help. 

They certainly “know a man that can” when required. And in times that we needed to pull in other contractors to assist, they always managed to pull strings to make things happen in the timescales we needed. I’m sure we wouldn’t have managed this if we’d engaged the same contractors ourselves.  

The result: 

To put it bluntly, ONM has left us with an AD plant that works and a capable management team that understands and respects it. 

They’ve proven the plant can perform to its expected output capacity, and we now have stable biology, bulletproof operational practices, and a full understanding of what’s required to achieve it.

Our thoughts on working with Willen Biogas:

“We enjoyed this project.  It’s easy to forget all of the different elements that were involved in getting the bigger picture right.  Working logically through every step and making the bold calls when we needed to were the key for us, once we worked that bit out everything seemed to flow from there.”

 

Kyrone Dodd

Director