Estimating the Spatial Variation of Anaerobic Digester Heating Potential

A method for quantifying the effect of heating on anaerobic reactor size was developed. Reactor size reduction can be used to show the impact of heating a reactor over an area without calculating the cost for the entire area. It was used to map the spatial variation of reactor heating impact. The impact of heating was found to vary significantly even in a small tropical area. The quantitative estimate of reactor size reduction due to heating provides a quick approximation of the heating impact as well as the heating investment ceiling. An example showing how the heating benefit was approximated based on reactor size reduction estimate was included.