Bob,
Great site! What are your thoughts on a fixed-film or rotating disc digestor? Do you have any design ideas? My primary reason for this is to reduce the cycle time.
Thanks for any insight you can offer.
drsherry
Fixed-film or Rotating disc digester
Moderator:Bob
Yeah, I have thought about it, but never done more than that.What are your thoughts on a fixed-film or rotating disc digestor? Do you have any design ideas?
I don't think an RBC would be a good idea, because it is a moving part, and will fail, sooner or later. And you don't want to have to be opening your digester for maintenance any more than absolutely necessary. It is a big deal.
Another idea I've been toying with is a plug flow design made up of corrugated drain pipe coiled inside of a PE tank. This pipe in 3" or 4" dia is available at places like Home Depot very inexpensively (e.g. $35 for 100' roll if I recall correctly?). An idea I'd thought about to provide extensive surface area for colonization (that hopefully would not clog easily), was to untwist and string some cheap poly rope (twisted not braided), through the coil.
If you try it, let us know how it works. It may be awhile before I get around to it.