Pretoria Energy Company own and operate anaerobic digestion facilities which produce renewable electricity and gas, utilising feedstock from energy crops and agricultural residue. The BMP Nautilus is used by their laboratory team to support both the operations and agriculture sides of the business.
Agriculture: the value of accurate BMP testing
Jonathan Payne — Arable Commercial Manager
The advantages of correct BMP testing help us make the right variety choices with maize. We have found that the difference between varieties — which may yield and look identical in the field — can result in a 60–70 m³ difference in gas potential at feed-in time. This critical insight cannot be gauged visually, proving that yield and dry matter (DM) alone are not sufficient metrics to determine the true value of a crop.
With the BMP Nautilus, we can calculate gas production per hectare, allowing us to prioritise the most efficient feedstocks. The system has also been invaluable for trialling new crop inputs and agronomic techniques, giving us measurable data to guide future growing strategies.
How the BMP Nautilus supports our lab and operations
We use the BMP Nautilus to compare different feedstock types — such as maize and other crop residues — helping us identify which materials deliver the highest biogas yields for anaerobic digestion. It also allows us to evaluate how best to prepare our feedstocks for digestion, for instance straw pretreatment methods, ensuring we optimise breakdown processes for maximum gas output.
Additionally, we rely on it to test additives like enzymes, fine-tuning their use to boost efficiency in biogas production. The insights we gain directly guide our planting strategies, infrastructure investments, and process improvements across operations.
What problems has it solved and what benefits has it brought?
By quantifying gas potential, we've shifted resources toward the most productive feedstocks, along with allowing us to validate our investments and inform us before investing further. This allows for informed planting, when factoring in crop yields along with gas potential. It allowed us to quantify our different straw extrusion methods, justifying process upgrades.
What stood out about working with Anaero Technology?
We cannot recommend Anaero Technology highly enough. Their team combines deep expertise with exceptional customer support, assisting with troubleshooting, method optimisation, and even last-minute accommodations to keep our experiments running smoothly.
Due to the nature of using fresh feedstocks, issues occurring at the last minute are very high time pressure. Anaero Technology have assisted in these times in a very timely manner, helping us begin the test on time. The BMP Nautilus itself is both intuitive and highly reliable, delivering consistent, high-quality data that we trust for critical decisions.
