special feature

Biogas Plants
AN ESSENTIAL PART OF MODERN DAIRY FARMS
Dr Sarbjit Singh Sooch
Research Engineer at the School of Energy Studies for Agriculture, Punjab
Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

T
he groundwater table of Setting up a biogas plant is the best capacities to cover different sizes of
Punjab is falling day by day. way to handle the waste. This stabilizes dairies. These plants are hemispherical,
So it is advisable to go for the waste properly and makes it free dome-shaped, similar to Deenbandhu
crop diversification. The from odours. Also, plenty of biogas type of biogas plants, but of a larger
area under the wheat and is available for cooking and power capacity. The main features of the biogas
rice rotation should be decreased as far generation for running tubewells and plant are that it carries a hemispherical
as possible because these crops require other appliances. Digested organic shaped dome for retaining biogas and
huge quantities of water. Farmers have manure is also available for the crops. a digester over a cylindrical wall for
to go for submersible pumps or deep And biogas is not only an excellent the organic matter. The entry of raw
wells for the placement of pumps. alternative source of energy, but also a dung is through a 30cm-diameter pipe
But, these are expensive methods. step towards stopping global warming. and exit of the dung after digestion is
Under crop diversification, most of In Punjab, thousands of family- through a gallery to the displacement
the youth have adopted dairy farming size biogas plants are satisfactorily chamber. The whole construction is of
as an alternative. However, it is not easy functioning for the last two decades with cement brick concrete masonry, duly
to keep the livestock (for dairy) healthy 5–10 cattle heads. Now, the concept is plastered in rich cement mortar. The
without proper fodder, nutritional shifting towards keeping large herds sectional elevation of the new biogas
feed, and clean water. The air around of cattle and adopting it as a full-time plant is shown in the Figure 1. The cost
the dairy farm should also be free from job. There are about 1000 diary farms, involved in the construction of these
foul smells of the semisolid and liquid each with a capacity of 20–300 cattle. biogas plants vary from Rs 1 lakh to
organic waste produced by the animals. Thus, a huge quantity of cattle dung is Rs 3 lakh, depending upon the size
These attract flies and rodents that available for the production of biogas. of the biogas plant and the payback
can, in turn, cause health problems in So, more number of large capacity (20– period is between 2 to 4 years.
human beings and animals. This would 100 m3) biogas plants based on cattle More than 30 such biogas plants
require proper sanitary management dung can be installed in Punjab within have been installed by the dairy farmers
for handling the organic waste from the such dairy farms. in Punjab, that too, without seeking
animal sheds, which should further be PAU (Punjab Agricultural University) any subsidy from the government and
decomposed scientifically. has designed biogas plants of various under my guidance. The author visited

38 VOLUME 3   ISSUE 2 OCTOBER 2009

each of these dairy farms to select the one more biogas plant
site and to collect their views about of bigger capacity for the
the performance of the plant. All the generation of electricity at
dairy farmers are very happy and they his farm.
encourage other dairy owners as well. Shri Kamaljit Singh,
The owners of these plants are under C/o Hara Seeds, village
my regular surveillance to seek more Kanganwal in Ludhiana,
suggestions and observations. Some of has installed 45 m3 capacity
the observations are as follows. biogas plant. He states that
Gurudwara Rara Sahib, Ludhiana, he is using biogas for the
modified four KVIC (Khadi and Village preparation of cheese, ghee,
Industries Commission) model biogas and other milk products.
plant, each of 60 m3 capacity, which were Previously, he was using
lying non-functional for many years. diesel for running the
The Gurudwara Authority approached furnace and now, he is
the PAU for the modifications. The PAU saving more than Rs 1 lakh
modified the existing biogas plants to per year. The digested slurry Figure 1 New Janta Model large capacity biogas plant
hemispherical dome type. It proved to is being used for preparing
be a great success. Other people coming vermicompost, for which there is a He now wants to install another plant
to the Gurudwara also approached the great demand from the farmers. of bigger capacity for the generation of
university for installing the modified D S Gill, President of Dairy Farmers power only.
design of biogas plants at their farms. Association, Sadarpura, Ludhiana, has Kang Poultry Farm, Samrala District
The Gurudwara Authorities are installed a biogas plant of 45 m3 capacity. in Ludhiana, installed two biogas
very satisfied with the performance He is happy and very satisfied with the plants of 45 m3 capacities each. He
of these new biogas plants. The gas is new biogas technology. He is using feels that the new technology proved
being used for preparing the langar for the biogas for cooking meals of 50–60 to be very helpful to him. He is using
a large number of people visiting the labourers working in his dairy farm. The this technology for the last two years
Gurudwara. Previously, they were using biogas is also used for the generation of and he has saved approximately Rs
diesel for running their furnaces. Now, power to run chuff-cutting machine and 2.5 lakh per year. Before this, he was
they are saving 35 to 40 litres of diesel for lighting purposes at the dairy farm using firewood, kerosene oil, and LPG
per day. Digested slurry from the plants in the absence of electricity supply. He (liquefied petroleum gas) for cooking
is being used at the Gurudwara Farms. is saving more than Rs 1 lakh per year the meals of the labourers. This
Shri Sukhraj Singh in Gurey District, and is highly thankful to the PAU. He technology helped him to develop the
Ludhiana, has installed two biogas is also popularizing the installation of poultry farm successfully. The digested
plants of 20 m3 and 60 m3 capacities. such biogas plants among other dairy slurry is sold to the needy people at the
He states that to start with, he installed farm owners. rate of Rs 3000 to 4000 per trolley. And
a smaller capacity plant and later on, Shri Balraj Singh, Malsian District in this practice is in great demand.
after seeing its successful operation, Jalandhar, installed a biogas plant of Thus, it is concluded that all these
installed another bigger plant. The new 160m3 capacity. He is of the view that farmers are very happy with the
technology has proved to be a boon for the new technology proved to be very performance of the biogas plants, and
his dairy farm as well as his agriculture. useful to him. He is using part of the they are making full use of biogas for
He is using biogas for cooking the biogas in the kitchen of the labourers cooking the food for the labourers
food for 40 to 45 labourers working and the remaining for running dual and running fuel engine for power
in the dairy farm. Earlier, he was using fuel engine to generate electricity at generation and tubewells. The digested
conventional fuels like wood or cotton the farm. He is saving Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh slurry coming out of the biogas plants
sticks. Now, by only using biogas, he per year, as he was previously using is either used at their own farms for
is saving Rs 1.5 lakh per year. He also only diesel for power generation and raising fodder or sold to other farmers
uses biogas to run dual fuel engine for firewood or kerosene oil for cooking at reasonable rates. And these farmers
10–12 hours per day during paddy the meal of the labourers. The digested are saving lakhs of rupees by using
season. He is also interested in installing slurry is being used for his potato farm. biogas instead of conventional fuels.

OCTOBER 2009 VOLUME 3   ISSUE 2 39