17.6.2025

Tailored mixing solutions for biogas production

As a mixing solutions specialist, Mamec also meets the specific needs of biogas production processes. Careful tailoring ensures their solutions will support gas production in an energy, cost-efficient manner for decades to come.

Biogas plays an important role in the ongoing energy transition and in advancing the circular economy. It’s a renewable, low-emission form of energy that re-uses waste and can be used across a wide range of applications – including heat, electricity and transport fuel.

Mamec has been supplying mixing solutions for biogas plants internationally since 1995. The company serves a wide range of customers in the industry, but primarily for industrial-scale processes.

Key Account Manager Max Paulinow emphasises that Mamec’s approach to customer collaboration is based on the entire process, not just the mixing.

“We always start with the biogas production process as a whole. For us it’s important to understand what we’re trying to achieve, the reactions through which the biological phenomena are caused, what this affects, and how we can contribute to the process with our solution.”

Mamec’s extensive industrial process experience and familiarity with their customers allows for individually tailored mixing solutions.

“We’re not a hardware store that just sells a mixer off the shelf. Our equipment catalogue can give you a rough idea of what our equipment looks like, but the solutions we deliver are always tailored and adjusted precisely for the customer’s process.”

Knowledge and management of critical process factors is a key advantage

The objective of Mamec’s customisation is to find the mixing solution that best supports production efficiency and continuity. These are delicate processes where the mixing must optimally match the desired reactions, the raw materials used in production, and the size and shape of the container.

“For the most part, our tailoring is driven by the rheological values of the substances to be mixed, which is related to their shape, flow and deformation. Substances behave in different ways. For example, long hay sticks easily to the propeller and fatty raw materials rise to the surface of the mass – not to mention the more complex chemical reactions. A tailored solution ensures precisely the correct flow inside the tank,” says Paulinow.

Bacteria are key to the biogas process – and they need a perfect habitat.

“Critical factors include getting the temperature correct and keeping it evenly distributed. For example, in a mesophilic process, the temperature of the whole mass has to be between 38–42 °C to achieve optimal gas production. Another important objective is to ensure the homogeneity of the contents of the container. This ensures that the substances can fully react with each other,” says Paulinow.

“The third key is that the bacteria can’t be subjected to excessive mechanical torques. If the mixing power is too high, sure, the mass will rotate – but the bacteria won’t thrive or work as desired. The mixing process has to be comprehensive – and at just the right power.”

Mamec’s professionals are experts in – and can predict – the behaviour of various raw materials. But if necessary, CFD modelling, or flow calculation, is also used to configure the mixing process.

“With modelling, we can ensure the mixing is optimised, especially when the process involves less familiar substances or combinations of substances. It can also be used, for example, to compare the efficiency of two different mixing solutions, ensuring the most effective solution for the customer. With modelling, customers can get a more accurate understanding of their process.”

The various types of tanks used in the processes also impose their own constraints and requirements on the necessary mixing solution.

“In cold northern conditions, heat escape is prevented by steel-constructed, narrow, tall tower tanks, which are typically suited for one large central mixer. On the other hand, southern Europe tends towards pizza-shaped, shallow, large-diameter tanks with a fabric-like membrane roof that resembles half of a balloon rather than a steel roof. A more suitable solution for them is a side entry mixer.”

Customer insights – from the bacteria to the business

Paulinow sees the energy industry as one in which Mamec aims to play a strong role. He believes that, as the industry continues to professionalise, process thinking will also evolve, with a growing understanding of the importance of a mixing solution that supports production efficiency and long-term productivity.

“Our customers’ business is based on the efficient production of biogas. The cost savings of an inexpensive, but inferior, mixer are negligible when the alternative is a carefully tailored, energy and production-efficient solution with a life cycle measured in decades. For example, 70% of the life cycle cost of a 15-year mixing solution comes from energy usage. So when it comes to costs, it’s worth taking the whole lifetime of the solution into account rather than just the initial purchase price.”

As production scales up, process disruptions and downtime become increasingly costly. The equipment and solutions have to be both reliable and long-lasting. Mamec does its part to ensure both the productivity and continuity of the process. Their success is made possible by both the skills of their personnel and the expertise the company has built up over its history, which is reflected in their advanced methods and solutions.

“We have strong skills in problem solving, and we share this knowledge with our customers. We also manufacture all our mixing solutions ourselves. This keeps our quality under our control and makes us agile in both our production and customer communication. We’re easy to contact and respond quickly to even the most urgent needs.”