First biogrinder for processing biomass in service at facility of world’s leading fruit supplier

In Germany, Dole Inc., the world’s leading supplier of fresh fruit, operates a biogas plant in the Philippines together with its service partner, METPower. Germany’s MEBA Biogas provided a full complement of systems used to feed the material, including shredding and defibering units from BHS-Sonthofen.

Crop waste and organic waste from the production process have an ever-increasing role in sustainable biogas production in Germany. Some 10,000 kilometers away in Southeast Asia, production residues from pineapple, banana and mango serve the same purpose.

The biogas plant in Surallah, one of Dole’s two production sites for preserved fruit and fruit juices, generates 2.9 MW of energy. In combination with a further plant planned in nearby Polomolok, the company aims to generate around 8 MW of power in the future. To achieve this goal, Dole requires fermenters, storage tanks, as well as suitable systems for efficiently processing substrate. Pineapple waste, the main raw material for local biogas production, has a high energy content. To facilitate nutrient uptake by the microorganisms in the plant, however, the waste must be defibered to achieve reliable, efficient gas production. MEBA Biogas supplied all the systems used to feed in and process the waste.