The company, which supplies digester mixing systems to Clearfleau and other food waste AD plants in the UK – including Nestle's award-winning confectionery factory at Fawdon – says pre-conditioning of solids prior to digestion is crucial for maximising gas generation.
"Our system has been proven to be one of the most effective in achieving this," states Andy Parr, director of System Mix.
"The Vaughan pump prevents re-accumulation of fibrous and fatty material in the digester and this means that material continues to pass through the nozzles," he explains.
"This, in turn, ensures that digestate is adequately conditioned and actually benefits all post-digestion equipment."
Parr says that AD operators are now coming under pressure to to maximise their plants' sustainable green credentials, so such mixing systems should be moving up the agenda.
Fawdon, the former Rowntree site near Newcastle, home to fruit gums, pastilles and Rolos – and which runs with a System Mix implementation – makes the point for him.
A year after commissioning its AD plant – which was designed and installed by renewable energy specialist Clearfleau – this site is converting 200,000 litres a day of biodegradable residues into renewable energy.
The biogas fuels a CHP (combined heat and power) engine, which produces 200kW of electricity, fed back to the confectionery process. This represents about 8% of the factory's power needs, cutting its electricity bill by about £100,000 pa.
In addition, the site has registered for the Feed-in Tariff and will receive annual payments of around £250,000.