TS (TS)
Also known as: total solids percentage · dry matter content · TS content
Total Solids (TS) is the percentage of solid material in a feedstock or digestate by weight. It determines whether wet or dry digestion is appropriate and how the feeding system is designed.
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What is TS?
Total Solids (TS) is the mass fraction of non-water content in a feedstock, slurry, or digestate, expressed as a percentage by weight and measured by drying a sample at 105°C until constant weight. TS is numerically identical to Dry Matter (DM) used in European biogas literature, and it is the single most important physical property for biogas reactor design — it determines whether the system is wet (8–15% TS, requires liquid recirculation and stirring) or dry (25–35% TS, uses garage-type batch reactors with leachate recirculation).
TS sets four design parameters in Indian CBG plant engineering. First, organic loading rate (OLR), measured in kg VS per m³ per day, is calculated from feedstock TS, VS-to-TS ratio, and daily input volume — a 10 TPD plant feeding 12% TS material at 75% VS-to-TS delivers an OLR of 2.5 kg VS/m³/day in a 360 m³ digester. Second, hydraulic retention time (HRT) is set by total digester volume divided by daily liquid input — typically 30–45 days for mesophilic digestion, scaled by TS to keep volumetric throughput stable. Third, mixing energy demand scales sharply with TS above 12%, with pump and impeller power doubling between 10% and 15% TS. Fourth, downstream dewatering capex (screw press or centrifuge) is sized to handle the full daily liquid output from the reactor.
Typical Indian feedstock TS values illustrate the range: cattle dung 12–18%, food waste 18–25%, press mud 25–30%, slaughterhouse waste 8–15%, distillery spent wash 4–7%, paddy straw 85–90%, poultry litter 60–70%. Multi-feedstock CBG plants blend high-TS materials (straw, litter) with low-TS materials (dung, spent wash) to land the combined feed at the target reactor TS — typically 10–13% for wet digestion. Operational monitoring of TS at the digester inlet via inline density or microwave sensors catches feedstock variability before it disrupts the reactor; manual lab measurement at the receipt weighbridge is the more common practice in smaller Indian plants.
- Mass fraction of non-water content; identical to Dry Matter (DM) in European usage.
- Determines wet (8–15%) vs dry (25–35%) digestion technology choice.
- Sets organic loading rate, hydraulic retention time, mixing energy, and dewatering capex.
- Multi-feedstock plants blend high-TS and low-TS materials to land the reactor at 10–13%.
Common questions about TS
Plain-English answers to what people most often ask.
What is the full form of TS in biogas?
What is the difference between TS and VS?
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