turning municipal solid waste into renewable biogas.
Arciplug’s patented plug-flow Reactor (PFR) converts organic waste like agricultural residue, energy grass, industrial organic waste and municipal waste into clean energy without additional water.
The Biogas Technology from Arciplug combines over 15 years of biogas expertise with cutting-edge technology. With more than 30 plug-flow digesters implemented, Arciplug® has redefined waste treatment and energy production sustainably.
Inside an Arciplug plug-flow reactor, biomass advances plug by plug from feed end to outlet. Vertical mixing supports microbes without disrupting flow — ensuring high methane yield and stable digestion.
The concept is scalable, reliable, and proven, Arciplug’s high solids anaerobic digestion (HSAD) reactors are designed for challenging feedstocks and demanding environments.
Arciplug’s innovative technology maximizes biogas and biomethane production while keeping CAPEX and OPEX competitive. By enabling high load digestion, multi feedstock flexibility, and stable operation, Arciplug sets a new benchmark for biogas efficiency.
what is HSAD plug-flow technology?
In engineering, the plug-flow principle describes the movement of a fluid through a conduit where all elements progress forward at nearly the same velocity, behaving like a uniform “plug.” This flow pattern, typically driven by gravity, pressure, or mechanical forces, allows for a well-defined and predictable residence time. As a result, plug-flow systems are widely used in chemical engineering and wastewater treatment to ensure controlled reactions, efficient conversion, and stable operating conditions.
When applied to anaerobic digestion, this principle enables a controlled and continuous progression of organic matter through the digester, creating a stable environment for biological processes. Arciplug’s patented plug-flow digesters are designed on this basis and optimized for High Solids Anaerobic Digestion (HSAD) and multi-feedstock inputs, ensuring reliable biogas production while simultaneously generating high-quality digestate for agricultural use.
In plug-flow digestion, each “plug” of biomass advances steadily through hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis – microbes work step by step for predictable biogas yield.
Calimera – an MSW success story.
As the Arciplug plant in Calimera, Italy demonstrates, the plug-flow anaerobic digestion technology performs reliably under real operating conditions for the treatment of municipal solid waste with a high organic fraction. The plant processes around 55 tons per day of high-solids mixed waste with substantial impurities, without the dilution with water, within a compact reactor footprint adapted to the constraints of the site.
Utilizing its patented plug-flow architecture, the system ensures process stability and minimal internal energy consumption. It maintains reliable biogas and methane production when processing MSW containing standard levels of contamination.
The project contributes to landfill diversion and renewable energy generation, while the digestate is further sorted and co-composted to produce a stabilized, high-quality soil amendment, illustrating the robustness and scalability of Arciplug technology in a European context. Arciplug Calimera.
India – paddy straw plug-flow HSAD.
The Haryana biogas plant in India highlights how plug-flow technology can be applied to agricultural residues at scale. Located in Ambala, Haryana, this facility uses Arciplug’s continuous dry anaerobic digestion system to convert paddy straw and cow manure into renewable biomethane and high-value digestate, providing a sustainable alternative to open straw burning that contributes to air pollution.
Commissioning began in March 2025, three digesters are fully operational, producing consistent biogas. Gas production has from the start exceeded expectations demonstrating the plug-flow system’s reliability and flexibility with multiple feedstocks, and strong performance under real feedstock conditions. Arciplug Haryana.
China – manure plug-flow HSAD.
The HSAD agricultural project in Liaoning, China proves that cow manure doesn’t need to be diluted to be productive. Using Arciplug’s advanced plug-flow technology, this plant processes manure with up to 40% dry matter—straight from the farm, with no added water or pre-treatment required. The result? A high-performance operation that turns tough agricultural waste into consistent biogas and high-quality fertilizer with industry-leading efficiency. Arciplug Liaoning.
Arciplug’s plug-flow HSAD reactors in a Moroccan MSW context – from MRF to MBT.
Moroccan Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), high on organics, is ideally suited for Arciplug’s plug-flow High Solid Anaerobic Digestion (HSAD) technology. The system can process MSW either directly or, better, after sorting in a Material Recovery Facility (MRF), converting it into renewable biogas and a solid digestate. Impurities do not interfere with the process. It is the plug-flow reactor that finally converts the MRF into an MBT, a Mechanical Biological Treatment facility.
Following digestion, the digestate will be dried using existing Moroccan WWTP sludge drying methods. Once dried, it can be used in cement kilns as Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), despite a slightly lower calorific value.
Arciplug offers a flexible solution for the organic fraction of the OFMSW (what falls through the trommel) as well as most other types of relatively dry organic waste. The technology also allows for the controlled daily injection of a small portion of stored leachate, helping to address leachate management challenges in Morocco. The result is very little landfilling and no leachate.
Arciplug in brief.
Finland.
- Advanced Plug-Flow Design: Uses patented technology to ensure stable process conditions and consistent biogas/methane production.
- High-Solids Capability: Efficiently processes feedstocks with extremely high dry matter content (ranging from 15% to 40%).
- Zero Dilution Required: Unlike traditional systems, it handles dry manure and MSW directly without adding water, significantly reducing the water footprint.
- Minimal Pre-treatment: The system is designed to handle raw materials—including those with “regular impurities”—without the need for complex or expensive sorting and thinning.
- Low Energy Demand: Features low internal (parasitic) energy consumption, maximizing the net energy yield of the biogas plant.
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