Landia Pumps Play a Vital Role İn New Anaerobic Digestion Plant At Hampshire Farm

Designed to provide all the benefits of large scale AD, but simplified so as to be achievable on a farm scale, a new £100,000 anaerobic digestion plant at a 1,100 acre mixed farm in Hampshire includes both long-shaft and dry-mounted Landia pumps.

The pumps handle slurry from the dairy and leftover fruit and vegetable waste from the arable side are playing a vital role in the success of the new 20 to 50kW anaerobic digestion plant.

“We’ve done our level best to punish these Landia pumps with the thickest and most difficult materials we could thrown at them,” said farm owner and Bioplex Technologies’ Director Chris Reynell, “but they just keep on working, even though there are no excess liquids because we’re very much a solids-in, solids-out operation”.

He added: “Landia had to meet our criteria for rugged and reliable equipment that could cope with heavy material such as silage, garden waste and horse manure, as well as slurry. We’ve had no problems whatsoever. The Landia pumps have nearly halved the digestion time of the AD plant and help produce a very healthy process. We have gained a significant upturn in biogas and benefitted from a superior compostable end-product, as well as enhanced fertilizer values. It’s a great piece of kit”.

Reynell also explained that the outlay included a new reception tank and a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generator that provides electricity for his farmhouse, with the excess to be sold. With the savings made from not having to buy artificial fertiliser and reduced fuel costs for the generator, he estimates a payback of 5 years.