Biogas

BIOGAS PRODUCTION AND APPLICATIONS

Biogas is the gas produced by anaerobic biological process composed of Methane(CH4), Carbon
dioxide(CO2), water vapour and sometimes nitrogen gas, Hydrogen sulphide gas and hydrogen.
Digestion: This is the process of anaerobic break down of organic material.
Culture is a source of anaerobic bacteria.
Cultures can be found in mud, in fresh manure excrement, under an old unturned composite pile or
any place where organic matter have been sitting away from fresh air.
Inoculation: when we add a culture to a biogas digester, we seed it. Whenever fresh organic
manure is added to the seed or vice versa, new material is inoculated.
Slurry: this is a mixture of water and a substrate.

MERITS OF BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY

 Reduce green house emissions.

Unlike fossil fuels, the carbon dioxide that is released when biogas is burnt was recently taken
from the atmosphere by photosynthetic activity of plants. Biogas production by an aerobic
digestion also reduces emission of methane and nitrous oxide from storage and the digestion
of un treated manure as fertilizer.

 Job creation.
Production of biogas from anaerobic digestion requires work and power from production,
collection and transport of feed stock, manufacture of technical equipments, construction,
operation and maintenance of biogas plants. This makes jobs.

 Waste reduction.
Biogas production has the ability to transform waste material into a valuable resource by using
it as a substrate for anaerobic digestion. This reduces the volume of waste and costs for waste
disposal.

 Reduces respiratory disorders.

The use of biogas reduces respiratory disorders caused by smoke from cooking with fire wood
which especially affects women and their children.

 Improved village hygiene.

Since biogas can be produced from toilets, it leads to destruction of pathogens.

 Fertilizer
The digestate is an excellent fertilizer rich in N2, P, K and micro nutrients which can be applied
to soils so as to increase its fertility.

 Reduced dependency on imported fossil fuels.

Biogas production based on national and regional biomass resources increases security of
national energy supply and diminishes dependency on imported fossil fuels.

 Flexibility to use different feed stock.

Various feedstocks can be used for production of biogas eg Animal manure and slurry, crop
residues, organic wastes from diary production, food industries, organic fraction of municipal

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Biogas

solid wastes, organic wastes from households and catering businesses as well as energy
crops.

 Reduced odors and flies.

Storage and application of liquid manures, animal dung and other organic wastes are sources
of persistent, un pleasant odors and attract flies. The digestate from biogas plants is almost
odorless and the remaining ammonia disorders disappear quickly (shortly) after application of
the fertilizer.
 Addition of income for farmers through production of feed stock and operation of biogas
plants.

THE PROCESS OF BIOGAS PRODUCTION

Biogas is produced by anaerobic treatment which is the use of biological process in the absence of
oxygen for the breakdown of organic matter and stabilization of these materials by conversion to
CH4 and CO2 gas.

Anaerobic digestion is a biochemical process during which complex organic matter is

decomposed in absence of oxygen by various types of anaerobic micro organism.
If the substrate for anaerobic digestion is the homogenous mixture of two or more feed stock type.
The process is called co- digestion.

The process of biogas production is as a result of linked process in which the initial material is
continuously broken down into smaller units. The specific group of micro organism is involved at
individual step. These organisms successively decompose the products of the previous steps.

There are four steps of the anaerobic digestion process. They include; Hydrolysis, Acidogenesis,
Acetogenesis and Methanogenesis.

Hydrolysis
This is the first step in anaerobic digestion in which complex organic compounds like
carbohydrates, fats and proteins are converted to simple sugars such as fatty acids and amino
acids respectively. The variety of micro organism is involved in which secrete enzymes necessary

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Biogas

for the conversion. The products resulted from Hydrolysis are further decomposed by micro
organisms and use it for their metabolic process.

Acidogenesis.
During acidogenesis, the products from Hydrolysis are converted to by acidogenic bacteria into
carbonic acids and alcohols, volatile fatty acids and NH3. Simple sugars and amino acids and fatty
acids are graded into carbonic acids and alcohols, volatile fatty acids and ammonia respectively.

Acetogenesis
Products from acidogenesis are converted by acetogenic acids during acetogenesis, volatile fatty
acids and alcohols, are oxidized into acetic acids, hydrogen and CO2.

Methanogenesis
During methanogenesis, Hydrogen is converted into Methane. The product of CH4 and CO2 from
acetogenesis is carried out by methanogenic bacteria. 70% of the methane formed originate from
Acetic acid while the remaining 30% is produced from the conversion of H2 and CO2 into CH4.
Metanogenesis is the slowest biochemical reaction of the process and is influenced by operation
conditions like composition of feedstock, feeding rate, temperature of digester pH of the digester.

FACTORS AFFECTING ANAEROBIC DIGESTION (PRODUCTION OF BIOGAS)

 pH (Potential of Hydrogen)
The measure of Acidity is called pH. A normal value of pH in a working biogas plant is between
(6.5 and 8).
When a biogas plant is newly started, the acid formers become active first reducing pH to
below 7. The methanogens then start using these acids to increase the pH back to neutral. A
biogas plant is therefore buffered, in other wards the acid level is controlled by the process its
self. Some of the carbon dioxide produced by the bacteria dissolves water to form bicarbonate
ions which cause the solution to become mildly alkaline.
If the pH of the digester drops, it indicates that buffering mechanism has already failed and too
much acid is being produced. The following can help to collect low pH of the digester.

1. Addition of lime (CaCO3). Lime refers to group of Ca compounds e.g. CaCO3, Ca (OH)
2 –lime water.
CaCO3 + H2O + CO2 Ca (HCO3)2 Alkaline soln
Ca (OH)2 + CO2 Ca (HCO3)2

2. Addition of NH3
NH3 is toxic to the biogas process in great concentration but a little served up in the right
way can help to correct the aid concentration.
NH3 + C2O + H2O NH4HCO3

3. Addition of bi-carbonates (HCO3) – like Ca(HCO3)2, NaHCO3, NH4H CO3,

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Biogas

 Temperature
Bacteria are classified according to the preferred temperature.

Thermal stage Process temperature Minimum retention time

Psychlorophillic /Cryophilic Less than 200 C 70 – 80 Days
Mesophillic 30 – 420 C 30 – 40 Days
Thermophillic 43 –550 C 15 – 20 Days
Gas production rate doubles for every 10 C rise in temperature between 15 – 350C.
0

While anaerobic digestion is very efficient in thermophillic region, rural digesters use mesophillic
bacteria because high temperatures are difficult to maintain.

A sudden change of more than 5oC can cause the bacteria to stop working temporarily resulting in
the buildup of undigested acid and the digester goes acidic.

 Raw materials
Any material containing food substances such as fats, carbohydrates, proteins can be digested
in biogas plants. However the rates and efficiency of digestion of the feed stock depends on the
physical and chemical form of it. Row plant material is bound up in plant cells, usually strengthened
with cellulose and lignin which are difficult to digest. In order to let bacteria reach the more
digestible food, the plant must be broken down.

Cattle dung is the easiest feed stock to use for biogas production. It already contains the right
bacteria and it has been ground up by animal teeth and broken down chemically by the acids and
enzymes in the animal gut.

Human, pig and chicken manure are also good but need a starter such as slurry from a working
plant, because these animals do not have the right bacteria in their gut.
It may be difficult to raise the required quantity for feeding the plant by single household rearing
animals such as goats and sheep. Some animals such as Horses and elephants are less good at
breaking down fibrous material, so their dung contains more indigestible matter. However, this can
be screened out or chopped mechanically.

Goat and sheep dungs are rich in nutrients and they are in form of pellets that must be broken
mechanically.

Biogas yield from various Feedstock

Feedstock Gas yield per unit mass of energy yield

feedstock (m3/kg) (MJ/kg)
 Sewage sludge  0.3-0.7  6-17
 Pig dung  0.4-0.5  8-11
 Cattle dung  0.1-0.3  2- 6
 Chicken droppings  0.3-0.5  6-11
 Poultry droppings  0.4-0.5  8-11
 Grass  0.4-0.6  8-14

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Biogas

Qn. Discuss the materials that can be used to produce biogas.

How can you produce biogas from any one the material mentioned.

MEASUREMENTS THAT DEFINE THE PROPERTIES OF THE FEEDSTOCK OR SLURRY.

 Total solids (T.S)
This is a mixture of dry matter left after the moisture has been removed (by heating 1050C ).
 Volatile solid(V.S)
This is a measure of organic solids lost when dry matter is burnt at 500 or 6000C
 C- N ratio
Anaerobic bacteria need Nitrogen compounds to grow and multiply. Too much Nitrogen can
inhibit Methanogenic bacteria. The ideal C-N ratio is reported 25:1
The cattle and pig manure are highly recommended as raw material for big production due to
their high C-N ratio and total solids.
Material C:N T.S
Cattle dung 20- 30 16- 20
Horse 25 _
Sheep 20 _
Pig 14 25
Poultry 8 48
Human feces 6- 10 15- 20
Water hyacinth 15- 23 _
Rice straw 47.2 _
In general, the C:N ratio of dung from cattle fed in poor feeds such as straw and dry grass tends to
be too high (up to 35%). If the carbon to Nitrogen ratio is high, then the gas production can be
enhanced by adding Nitrogen, from cattle urine or urea or by fitting a latrine to a plant.
If it is low, e.g chicken manure, used as feedstock, the addition of carbon such as chopped grass
or water hyacinth can reduce the possibility of toxicity from too much Nitrogen affecting the
bacteria.

 Toxins
The main cause of biogas plant going sour is the presence of toxic substances. Anti- biotics,
disinfectants and pesticides are designed to kill bacteria and will stop digestion functioning as
will detergents.
Chlorinated Hydro carbons such as chloroform and other organic solvents are particulary toxic
to biogas digestions. Excessive concentration of NH3, cations such as Na+ K+ Ca2+, Pb, Zn
metals and sulphide also adversely affect methanogenesis. In presence of yoxins, the
methenaogenic bacteria, will switch themselves into a non working state.

 Water
Water is another essential raw material for biogas production. This can be rain water or water
from rivers, spring and dug wells. Whenever possible, sea watyer or saline water should be
avoided,since the high salt content may affect the system’s performance. Also laundry water
should not be used.

 Oxygen
Air tight conditions are required because methane is formed under anaerobic conditions.
 Loading rate: This is the rate at which a substrate is added to a digester. Too much feed
stock(substrate) increases the substrate to multiple organisms ratio hence the substrate
passes through un digested. This may result into acidification.
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Biogas

TYPES OF BIOGAS PLANTS

A biogas digester can be operated as a batch process or a continuous one.

BATCH PROCESS
In the batch feed biogas digester, the substrate is put into the plant with a starter (5-30%) by
volume and the gas collected as it is given off. There is a time lag of between 1-14 days before the
first gas is produced depending on the slurry temperature and the amount of the starter.
For the first day or two, the gas will mainly be carbon dioxide. The gas production rate rises to the
peak and then falls off,
The advantage of a batch reactor is that the feed (substrate) can contain lignin and other
indigestible matter as it does not have to be fed through the inlet pipe.

CONTINUOUS FED DIGESTER

This is fed regularly once it has been started. The feed is mixed in water outside the digester and
fed through the inlet pipe. The outlet is arranged so that the spent slurry is added.
Once the digestion process has stabilized, the gas production is fairly constant with K feed rate
and temperature.

BIOGAS PLANT DESIGNS

1. FIXED DOME BIOGAS PLANT.
This consists of masonry with a fixed non- movable gas space. A well and a dome are made of
concrete. This is called a digester tank and the dome is fixed [hence the name given to this type of
plant]. The used slurry expands and over flows into the over flow tank.

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Biogas

As the gas is given off, it collects in the dome and displaces some of the slurry in the slurry
reservoir. As the gas is used, the slurry flows back into the digester to replace it. The gas is taken
out from the centre of the dome via a pipe.
The gas inside the dome can be as high as 1200mm H2O and can exert a force upwards from
under the dome. A mass of soil about 1m deep is placed over the top to hold it.

Advantages of fixed dome biogas plant.

 The plant is entirely made up of concrete and so does not need continuous maintenance and
does not rust.
 It can be fully or partially built underground which creates minimum fluctuation in the
temperature of the digester. This also helps to save surface space.
 Construction costs are generally low since locally available material e.g clay, cement, sand and
quarry stone can be used for the whole structure.
 Up and down movement of the digester contents due to gas pressure fluctuations assist in
breaking the surface scum.

Disadvantages of fixed dome biogas plant.

 It has a fixed volume. If the gas pressure increases inside, it may cause damage to the
concrete dome.
 Gas leakages can occur if the masonry work is poor.
 Gas pressure fluctuates hence gas from this type of digester is not suitable for other use other
than cooking and lighting unless the pressure regulator is installed along the gas line.
 Temperature in the digester is generally low.
 It is difficult to tell the amount of gas present.

FLOATING PLANT DIGESTER

Under floating plant, the slurry is kept in cylindrical pit in the ground. The pit is usually lined with
bricks similar to a dug well. The soil around the pit supports the brick wall. The drum that floats
inverted in the slurry. As the quantity of gas yields up, the drum gets higher in the liquid. As the gas
is used, the sinks back down. If the drum becomes full, the gas bubbles out along the sides and
are lost to the air.

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The digester tank is divided into two parts; one side has the inlet from where the slurry is fed into
the tank. The decomposed matter expands and over flows into the next chamber of the digester
tank. This is then removed by the outlet pipe into the overflow tank.

Advantages of floating (Drum).

 It is relatively simple to construct.
 It is easy to tell from the vertical position of the gas holder whether there is gas or not.
 Gas pressure is constant and can be increased by putting on weights on top of the gas holder.
 Construction mistakes are relatively low.
Disadvantages of a floating digester.

Although the digester tank can be made out of masonry work, the plant is expensive due to steel
work required for the biogas holder.

 Its life time is relatively short due to corrosion of steel work.

 Although it can be built under ground, the exposer of the gas holder to the atmosphere may result
in significant temperature fluctuations in the digester.
 Maintenance costs are high due to regular painting to reduce corrosion.

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 Biogas

BALOON OR TUBULAR OR FLEXIBLE BAG BIOGAS DIGESTER.

This consists of a digester bag in the upper part where gas is stored. The inlet and outlet pipes are
inserted and tightly to the balloon or bag.
The cylindrical bag is made up of plastic and is supported in a trench lined with masonry.
The slurry fills the more 2/3 of the bag and the gas collects above it. As the biogas is used, the bag
collapses.

Note: the outlet is slightly down compared to inlet.

Advantages of a balloon digester.

 It is a low cost biogas digester compared to the fixed dome and floating drum.
 The technology is not complicated and rural farmers can easily adopt it.
 It can easily be repaired and traintained.
 Materials for tubular digester are easily available.
Disadvantages of tubular digester.
 It is susceptible to damage by children and domestic animals. The polythene is a delicate material
which needs careful handling.
 The gas production is low which cannot meet the energy demands of a large family.

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 Life span of a tubular/ flexible bag digester is short. It is estimated to be 3 to 4 years or less before
a polythene is replaced.
 It has low gas pressure therefore, when cooking, the gas pressure can go down and fire can easily
be extinguished. It is important to put a weight/ stone on the reservoir to increase and maintain the
pressure.

Factors that influence selection of a particular design

• Economic: Should be low cost.

• Simple design: Should be simple for construction, operation and maintenance.
• Utilization of local materials: Use of easily available local materials should be
emphasized.
• Durability: Plant should have a long life span, one with a short life could be cost effective.
• Suitable for the type of input: batch feeding design and continuous feeding designs favor
specific inputs. For example rice & maize straw or agricultural wastes should be used with
batch fed digesters.

Biogas Production steps and Utilization

– Organization and preparation of material: The organic material and water are mixed in
adequate proportions. Typical ratios are : Cow dung: water 1:1 or 1:2 depending on the
concentration, Pig dung : water 5:4 and poultry droppings 1:1
– Feeding: The mixture is then feed into the digester through the inlet opening.
– Digestion process: The digestion then takes place resulting in the formation of biogas and
slurry
– Storage and use of products: The digested products (gas & slurry) are then stored in
different ways as shown in the flow diagram below. A part from cooking and lighting, biogas
can be used in dual-fuel engines, gas turbines for electricity generation.

CONSTRUCTION OF FAMILY SIZE BIOGAS REACTORS/ DIGESTERS.

1. Conditions/ criteria for biogas plant construction.

 A farmer who wants to build a biogas plant must have animals to sustain the operation of the plant.
The minimum number of animals require include;
 Atleast 3 cows.
 Atleast 10 pigs.
 Atleast 200 birds.
 Stationary enclosure should not be more than 200m from biogas construction area.
 Animal should remain in enclosure all night for a minimum of 12 hours.
 There must be drainage channel (Alley) directed connected to the biogas plant.
 There must be access to water all year round and the water source should not be further than 20m
from the biogas plant.
 Biogas usage should not be placed further than 100m from the plant.
 The farmer and his/her family members must have interest in using the gas, fermented manure,
and they want to build a biogas plant to reduce pollution in the environment.
 The farmer should meet the required budget, material and labour to build a biogas plant as well as
its maintenance.
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2. DESIGN OF A BIOGAS PLANT (e.g a fixed dome).

The fixed dome biogas plant is buried underground. There are three main connecting parts;
I. The mixing chamber;
This is where the animal excrement is mixed with water before it is stored into the digester
chamber.
II. Digester chamber;
This is where the excrement and the water are fermented.
Methane and other gases will be produced in the chamber and these gases are will push the
manure and the slurry at the bottom of the floor into the expansion chamber.
III. The expansion (reservoir) chamber.
This collects the excess manure and slurry. When gas is being used, the manure and slurry will
flow back into the digester chamber to push the gas up for usage. When the excess manure
exceeds the volume of the chamber, the manure will be drained out.

3. LOCATION OF THE BIOGAS PLANT.

 The enclosure should not be more than 20m from the biogas energy point.
 The digester chamber must be in an open area and should not be near any water source or natural
water. As animal excrements may seep into underground water.
 The plant should be situated on the slope and not on a low land to avoid the danger of floods.
 The excess manure from the expansion chamber should flow into the farmers field into the storage
tank and not into natural water bodies such as rivers to avoid the risk of pollution.

4. SIZES OF BIOGAS DIGESTERS.

Consider the following number of livestock needed for the requirement of gas usage.
Livestock 4.6m3 8m3 12m3 16m3
Milking cow 2 3 5 7
Meat cow 3 6 12 18
Buffalos 2 3 8 13
Pigs 10 15 25 38

How to calculate the size of biogas plant.

Formula=
Example
How big should a biogas plant be for a farm with 4 cows given that 1 cow produces 8kgs of fresh
excrement per day.
Soln.
=8 ×4 ×2× 60
=3840kg
=3.8m3
How big is the biogas plant for a farm of 45 breeding pigs over 60kg given that one pig produces
2kg of fresh excrements per day?

If the animal is being fed outside the enclosure, it must be brought and stay in the enclosure at
night.

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Biogas

N.B 200 chickens (birds); the biogas should be built at a size of 1m3.

5. Fresh excrement of animal per day

1 Buffalo produces 8kg of fresh excrement per day.
1 milk cow produces 15kg of fresh excrement per day
1 pig over 60kgs produces 2kgs of fresh excrement per day.
1 pig less than 60kgs produces 1.2kgs of fresh excrement per day.

If the daily amount of available dung (fresh weight) is known, gas production per day in warm
tropical countries will approximately correspond to the following values:

 1 kg cattle dung 40 liters biogas

 1 kg buffalo dung 30 liter biogas
 1 kg pig dung 60 liter biogas
 1 kg chicken droppings 70 liter biogas

APPLICATIONS OF BIOGAS

1. ILLUMINATION [LIGHT]
Burnable gases can be used in 2- general ways to produce illumination. They can be burnt
to give light directly as the wax for candle burns. They can also be burnt to give heat so that
another material brought to incandescence will grow.
In incandescence illumination, the heat of the burning gas is used to bring a woven net of
the ash of certain kinds of compounds to incandescence.

2. COOKING:
Biogas burners/ Stoves.
The heart of most biogas appliances is a biogas burner. In most cases, burners operating
on premixed air/gas fuel are preferable. Biogas needs less air for combustion. About 5-7L
of air are required for complete combustion of 1L of biogas, while for butane, 30.9L of air
are required. Therefore, compressional gas appliances need larger gas jets when they are
to be used for biogas combustion.
The modification and adaptation of commercial type burners is an experimental matters
with regard Butane burners, the practical measures include;
i. Expanding the injector cross section by a factor of 2-4 in order to increase the flow of
gas.
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ii. Modifying the combustion air supply , particularly if a combustion-air controller is

provided
iii. increasing the size of the jet openings

3. ELECTRICITY GENERARTION
Various technologies to generate electricity from biogas on a household level are available.
In principle, the chemical energy of the combustible gases is converted to mechanical
energy in a controlled combustion system by a heat engine . This mechanical energy then
activates a generator to produce electrical power.

MAINTENANCE AND SAFETY OF BIOGAS PLANTS.

MAINTENANCE

The maintenance of a biogas plant comprises of all work which is necessary to guarantee a trouble
free operation along the working life of the plant.

 Maintenance services should be done by a well trained biogas technician often one symptom
has a variety of possible reasons.
 Low gas production can be caused by biological reasons (e.g temperature, substrates,
antibiotics, change of pH value) leakage in the digester or piping system or blocked gas pipes.
Identify the problem and act accordingly.
 Strong sludge (odour) means that the plant is over loaded or fermenting condions are sub-
optimal. It is important to reduce the substrate intake and correct the pH value with adequate
means.
 Clean gas appliances
 Fabricate movable parts (guiding frames of floating drum, tapes, and so on).
 Check the plant in respect of corrosion and if necessary, renew protective coating, material
painting each year to prevent rusting.
 Scum formation. Scum is a general name for a layer of floating material which has a tendency
to form on top of any slurry of below 7% to 10% solids.

In general materials which compose scum are of several kinds e.g fibres, wood waste, some
animal waste and other indigestible materials. i.e (plastics, petroleum and grass).

Problems caused by scum formation.

 Scum decreases the capacity of the digester by filling up the space with non digestible
materials.

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 It can also prevent the rising up of the gas.

 It causes repeated periods of the digester shut down as it is taken out of services for
cleaning.
Scum can be controlled by opening up the digester and cleaning it out (not recommended)
or agitation (high rate mixing of slurry).
 Sediment or grit accumulate in the digester at a rate which depends on the substrate and
loading rate.

SAFETY

Construction and operation of a biogas plant is related to a number of safety. Important issues,
potential risks and hards for humans,animals and environment. Safety precations and safety
measures can avoid any risks and hazardous situations and contribute to ensuring a safe
operation of the plant.

The following safety issues should be prevented

Fire and explosion prevention.

Under certain conditions, biogas in combination with air can form an explosive mixture. The risk of
fire and explosion is pertaining high close to digesters and reseviors. Therefore, specific safety
measures must be guaranteed during construction and operation of biogas plant by avoiding open
flames near such places.

Poisoning and asphyxiation risks.

If biogas is inhaled in sufficiently higher concentrations, it can result in poisoning or asphyxiation

symptoms or even death. The presence of H2Sin no disulphurised biogas can be extremely toxic
even in low concentrations. In closed rooms, asphyxiation may be caused by displacement of
oxygen by biogas. Biogas is higher than air and has a tendency to separate into its compounds.
Carbon dioxide which is heavier moves to lower areas while methane which is lighter rises to the
atmosphere. For these reasons, in closed space, precautions must be taken in order to provide
sufficient ventilation. Furthermore, safety equipment must be worn (breathing protection) during
working in potentially dangerous areas.

Sanitation pathogen control and veterinary aspect wastes from animal and human origin uses
biogas feed contains various pathogenic bacteria parasites and viruses. Pathogenic spp that are
regulary present in animal manure, slurry and household waste are bacterial e.g Salmonellae,
eniterobacter, clostridial, trichostrangylidae, viruses and fungi. Utilization of digestate as fertiliser
means application and feeds of several individual farms, with the risk of spreading pathogen from
one farm to another.

Effective control of pathogen can be done through applying the sanitary measures listed below.

 Livestock health control, no animal manure and slurry should be supplied from any livestock
with health problems.
 Feedstock control. Biomass types with high risk of pathogen contamination must be excluded
from anaerobic digestion.
 Separate pre sanitation of specific feed stock categories. Effective pathogen reduction in
digested can be provided in implementation of a separate pre sanitation process, for the feed
stock types which require special sanitation e.g waste waters from slaughter houses, food and
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Biogas

catering waste. For feed stock types which does not require separate sanitation (e.g animal
manure and slurry, energy crops, vegetable residues of all kinds). The necessary sanitation
and pathogen reduction is ensured by anaerobic digestion process itself.

Other risks.

Accidents. Potential sources of accidents include danger of falling from ladders or uncovered
areas or to be injured by movable parts of the plant.

Burns. The risks of skin burning through protected contact of flames must be considered.

In order to avoid these types of accidents, clear warnings must be placed on the respective parts of
the plant and operating personal must be trained.

LIMITATIONS OF BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY

– Required high investment

– Economic viability of biogas plants is not clear yet though the technical viability is proven.

– Lack of technical staff in villages to service, maintain biogas plants

Test questions.
1. Define Hydrolic Retention time (HRT) and loading rate.
2. Explain how temperature affects HRT
3. List the various toxins in biogas production
4. Explain how the mentioned toxins above can be avoided.
5. Explain how the digester regulates its pH.
6. Describe what you can do to a digester with a falling pH.
7. “Biomass energy is Carbon neutral” explain the statement.
8. Discuss why you should encourage farmers to adopt biogas technologies.
9. Describe how different micro organisms are involved in biogas production.
10. Using illustrations, explain how you would produce biogas from cow manure using a fixed
dome biogas digester.

1st Assignment for the BET 2 given on 20th/9/2018, to be collected on 27th/9/2018

Qn. Assess the potential of biogas production and usage in your local vicinity (10 marks)

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