The influence of the wall thickness of the biogas reactor on the value of the capacity of additional heat sources for raw material heating

The article presents calculations to estimate the power value of additional heat sources for heating raw materials from the wall thickness of a cylindrical biogas reactor. The calculations used the results of the general solution of the Fourier heat equation in layered media. In this case, the properties of a brick wall were used, which has not only good heat capacity, but also thermal conductivity. Based on the calculations performed, it can be concluded that the effect of the reactor wall thickness on the power of additional heat sources is insignificant. However, the ambient temperature outside the reactor is a significant factor. Therefore, when building biogas reactors, first of all, it is necessary to take into account the average annual temperatures in a particular area. Ignoring this factor even with a sufficient wall thickness of the bioreactor will lead to an increase in energy consumption for additional heating of raw materials during fermentation.