Composites based on biogas digestate

The extraction of fibres from digestate can enhance the profitability of biogas stations. Furthermore, fibre from digestate can be an environmentally friendly alternative to commonly used fibres. In this study a nonwoven of the solid fibrous components of biogas digestate was used. The nonwoven was infiltrated and consolidated with a biobased thermoset matrix by a hot-pressing process. Multiple processing parameters were varied (matrix amount, pressing conditions) to evaluate mechano-physical properties. A pressure of 4.5MPa resulted in a high-quality composite with a matrix ratio of 47% by weight. A young’s modulus of approximately 5500MPa and a strength of approximately 70MPa is reached. Different applications are conceivable, e.g. indoor furniture or decorative surfaces. •Digestate from Biogas plants is a potential free material for composites.•Compression moulding is suitable for the production of digestate fased composites.•The quality of the composites is comparable to available materials.•Furniture is a possible application.