Alright kiddo, have you ever seen how we put food into our stomach and our body digests it? It's the same idea with an anaerobic digester.
An anaerobic digester is like a big belly for waste materials such as food scraps, manure, or sewage. With the help of microorganisms, it breaks down the waste and produces biogas which can be used as fuel.
There are different types of anaerobic digesters, just like there are different types of bellies. One type is called a plug-flow digester. It works kind of like your intestines, where the waste travels through the digester in a long tube or channel. The waste stays in the digester for a certain amount of time, just like food stays in your intestines for a certain amount of time. By the end of the digestion process, the waste has been broken down into biogas and solid fertilizer.
Another type of anaerobic digester is called a completely stirred tank reactor, or CSTR for short. This type of digester is like a big mixing bowl. The waste and microorganisms are constantly mixed together and moved around. This helps the microorganisms digest the waste faster and produce more biogas.
Lastly, there is the covered lagoon digester. This type of digester is like a big swimming pool that's covered with a roof. The waste is put in the pool and left to sit for a certain amount of time. Bacteria in the waste then break it down, producing biogas that fills the pool. The roof keeps the biogas from escaping and helps to trap it so it can be collected later.
So, there you have it! Different types of anaerobic digesters work in different ways, but they all help to break down waste and produce biogas.