Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Production of methane from anaerobic digestion of jatropha and pongamia oil cakes
R. Chandra a,, V.K. Vijay b, P.M.V. Subbarao c, T.K. Khura a
a
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, College of Agricultural Engineering and Post Harvest Technology (Central Agricultural University), Ranipool, Gangtok,
Sikkim 737 135, India
b
Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110 016, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The experimental study was carried out on anaerobic digestion of jatropha (Jatropha curcas) and pong-
Received 14 November 2009 amia (Pongamia pinnata) oil seed cakes in a 20 m3/d capacity oating drum biogas plant under mesophilic
Received in revised form 30 July 2010 temperature condition. The average specic methane production potential of jatropha oil seed cake was
Accepted 12 October 2010
observed as 0.394 m3/kg TS and 0.422 m3/kg VS. The average content of methane and carbon dioxide in
Available online 7 January 2011
the produced biogas over 30 days of retention time period was found as 66.6% and 31.3%, respectively.
Cumulative methane yield over 30 days of retention time period was found as 131.258 m3 with a
Keywords:
259.2 kg of input volatile solids, with an average total volatile solids mass removal efciency of 59.6%.
Jatropha
Pongamia
However, in case of pongamia oil seed cake average specic methane production was observed as
Oil seed cake 0.427 m3/kg TS and 0.448 m3/kg VS. The average value of methane and carbon dioxide content in the pro-
Anaerobic digestion duced biogas over 30 days of retention was found as 62.5% and 33.5%, respectively. Cumulative methane
Biogas yield over 30 days of retention time period was found as 147.605 m3 with a 255.9 kg of input volatile sol-
Methane ids, with an average total volatile solids mass removal efciency of 74.9%.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
One of the major thrust towards sustainable socio-economic
development of the world in 21st century is cultivation of energy
resources and technologies as the depletion of petroleum fuel is
at alarming level. The associated energy experts over the world
are searching for supplementing the fossil fuel energy resources
with cultivated bio-fuel energy resources. Development of sustain-
able and commercially viable technologies for production of alco-
hols, biogas, producer gas and bio-diesel are good examples on
this scenario. The commercial viability of any bio-resource energy
technology strongly depends on level of utilization of the culti-
vated resources and the amount of energy consumption for pro-
duction of useful fuel.
Bio-diesel has high potential as a new and renewable energy
source in forthcoming future as a substitution fuel for petroleum
derived diesel. Presently, more than 95% of bio-diesel of the world
is produced from edible oil, which is available at large scale from
the agricultural industry. However, continuous and large-scale
production of bio-diesel from edible oil without proper planning
may cause negative impact such as depletion of food supply lead
to economic imbalance. A possible solution to overcome this prob-
lem is to use non-edible oil for production of bio-diesel [1].
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +91 3592 251390.
E-mail address: ram.chandra6dec@gmail.com (R. Chandra).
India is endowed with more than 100 species of tree born non-
edible oil seeds occurring in wild or cultivated sporadically to yield
oil in considerable quantities [2]. The country has a huge potential
of tree born non-edible oil seeds. Therefore, the attempts are being
made for utilization of non-edible and under-exploited oils for bio-
diesel production. A National Mission on bio-diesel in India has
been launched in the year 2003 under demonstration phase with
the objective to produce enough bio-diesel to meet 20% blending
of total diesel requirement using various non-edible oils by the
year 20112012 [3]. In this context, cultivation of jatropha and
pongamia (non-edible oil seed bearing plants) on 40 million hect-
are waste land has been started to meet the oil seed requirement.
However, there are critical issues, which need to be addressed
to make the production of bio-diesel as a techno-economically via-
ble and ecologically acceptable renewable substitute or additive to
diesel. Present method of utilization of only extracted vegetable oil
from the bio-diesel resource results in generation of huge unuti-
lized biomass. In general, 50% (dry weight basis) of the collected
fruits of bio-diesel resource are seeds (kernels). Out of these seeds,
at the most 35% is converted into vegetable oil and remaining 65%
material is rejected as toxic oil seed cake. In short, more than 85%
of cultivated bio-resource (seeds pericoat and oil seed cake) is
remaining unutilized in bio-diesel production. This toxic oil seed
cake can neither be used as cattle feed nor as a bio-fertilizer for
growing plants, due to presence of phorbol ester (a toxic com-
pound). The current annual production of toxic jatropha oil seed
cake alone has been estimated to be about 60,000 tonnes [4]. The

0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.10.049
 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159
Nomenclature
C carbon
C/N carbonnitrogen ratio
CD cattle dung
d day
db dry basis
DR dilution ratio
g gram
h hour
H hydrogen
JC jatropha oil seed cake
kg kilo gram
estimated amount of jatropha oil seed cake could be a signicant
source of bio-energy production if it is utilized in a planned man-
ner. Further, waste-to-energy provides a solution to waste man-
agement and energy generation. An integrated anaerobic waste
valorization process is an interesting option for energy generation
from non-edible oil seed cakes [5].
Anaerobic digestion is considered to be a sustainable bio-con-
version technology as it produces biogas a renewable gaseous fuel
and it also stabilizes and reduces the volume of waste. As a part of
an integrated waste management system anaerobic digestion re-
duces the emission of green house gases into the atmosphere.
The degradation process or digestion of solids in an anaerobic di-
gester takes place in three stages. The rst stage is the hydrolysis
of particulate and colloidal wastes to solublise the waste in the
form of organic acids and alcohols. The second stage is the conver-
sion of the organic acids and alcohols to acetate, carbon dioxide,
and hydrogen. The third stage is the production of gases mostly
methane and new bacterial cells or sludge from acetate and hydro-
gen. In an anaerobic digester a great diversity of bacteria are re-
quired to perform phases of hydrolysis, acidogenesis and
methanogenesis of the input substrate feed that contains diversi-
ed wastes in term of carbohydrates, fats and proteins [6].
The yield and constituents of biogas are greatly affected by car-
bohydrates, fats and proteins contents of the feed material. Anaer-
obic digestion of carbohydrates, fats and protein yields 886 l of
biogas (with methane content of around 50%), 1535 l of biogas
(with methane content of around 70%) and 587 l of biogas (with
methane content of around 84%) per kg of VS destroyed, respec-
tively [7]. The oil seed cakes of jatropha and pongamia are rich in
fat and protein and therefore, are considered to be good feed mate-
rial for biomethanation.
The governing factors of anaerobic digestion process such as pH,
retention time (RT), total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS) and organ-
ic loading rates (OLR) inuence the sensitivity of bacteria, the re-
sponse to toxicity and acclimatization characteristics [8].
Methanogens are sensitive to both high and low pH and perform
well within pH of 6.58.0 [9]. Long retention time increases the po-
tential for acclimatization and also minimizes the severity of re-
sponse to toxicity. The heavy metals at higher concentration
have toxic effect on bacterial activity. Further, at higher OLR
non-toxic organic or inorganic substances become inhibitory to
bacterial growth. The threshold toxic levels of inorganic substances
depend on the conditions that whether these substances act alone
or in combination. Certain combinations have a synergistic effect,
whereas other display an antagonistic effect [10,11]. The carbon/
nitrogen (C/N) ratio of the feedstock has been found to be a useful
parameter in providing optimal nitrogen level for bacterial growth.
The optimal C/N ratio is 30 [12]. The actual available C/N ratio is a
function of feedstock characteristics and digestion operational
149
l litre
m3 cubic metre
N nitrogen
OLR organic loading rate
PC pongamia oil seed cake
STP standard temperature and pressure
TS total solids
TVSMRE total volatile solids mass removal efciency
VS volatile solids
parameters and may vary from less than 10 to above 90. Since all
of the carbon and nitrogen present in the feedstock are not avail-
able for digestion. Furthermore, it has been reported that at 37 C
temperature the amount of biogas production is reaches at maxi-
mum from each category of waste material under anaerobic diges-
tion process [13].
Most of the experimental studies have been performed to nd
out the biogas generation potential of various feedstock mixture
and its individual components of various categories of waste mate-
rials like animal dung, kitchen wastes, waste owers, etc. In the
anaerobic digestion, the pre-treated substrate produce higher
amount of biogas as well as considerably reduce the total and vol-
atile solids content in the digester. Furthermore, the chemical anal-
ysis of substrates indicates an improvement in nitrogen content
after anaerobic digestion [14]. The potential biogas production
from municipal garbage under batch anaerobic digestion at room
temperature conditions (26 4 C) for 240 days of retention time
was reported 0.661 m3 kg1 of volatile solids. Total biogas yield
from municipal garbage per kg dry matter was observed 0.50 m3
with an average methane content of the biogas of 70% by volume
[15].
Anaerobic digestion of olive oil mill wastewater (OMW) mixed
with diluted poultry manure (DPM) in pilot plant reactor of 100 l,
containing 40% volatile solids produces biogas at a rate of 1.53 l/
d per unit volume of reactor with a methane content of 65% by vol-
ume. Co-digestion of wastewater together with local agricultural
residues is a sustainable and environmentally attractive method
to treat wastes and convert to useful resources. The biogas pro-
duced can be used for the generation of heat or electricity; apart
from this energy co-digestion results in liquid and solid efuents
that are also valuable as they retain all their nutrient constituents
(nitrogen, phosphorus, trace elements, etc.). Thus, it can be used as
bio-fertilizers and soil organic matter improvers [16].
The review of the literature showed that no study has been re-
ported on anaerobic digestion of jatropha and pongamia oil seed
cakes. Although, the production of these two oil seed cakes is ex-
pected to be very high in India. These feed materials could be a po-
tential source of biogas production which would be used to
supplement the petroleum demand in substantial amount.
2. Analysis of feed materials and experimental details of
anaerobic digestion process
2.1. Proximate and ultimate analysis of feed material
The proximate and ultimate analysis of jatropha and pongamia
oil seed cakes were carried out as per standard procedure de-
scribed below.
150 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159
2.1.1. Proximate analysis
2.1.1.1. Moisture content. The moisture content of the feed material
was determined as follows: the initial weight of the samples of
50 g biomass with pre-weighed moisture boxes were taken by
using an electronic balance with least count of 0.001 g. The sam-
ples were rst heated at 60 C for 24 h and then at 103 C for 3 h
using a hot air oven. The nal weight or dried samples weight with
pre-weighed moisture boxes were recorded. The percentage mois-
ture content of the sample was then calculated by using:
 
Ww  Wd
MC  100
Ww
where MC is the moisture content, % (wet basis); Ww is the weight
of wet sample, g; and Wd is the weight of oven dried sample, g.
2.1.1.2. Oil content. The oil content of the mechanically expelled oil
seed cakes of jatropha and pongamia were determined by Soxhlet
extraction method. The samples of 200 g of jatropha and pongamia
oil seed cakes were crushed using mechanical blender. The crushed
samples of oil seed cake were packed in a thimble and the oil was
extracted with the solvent n-hexane. The solvent n-hexane was -
nally removed by rotary evaporator (Laborta 4000-Heidolph
Instruments, Germany) to recover the oil.
2.1.1.3. Total solids content. The total solids content of feed materi-
als were determined as per the standard method [17]. The initial
weight of the samples of 50 g biomass with pre-weighed porcelain
boxes were taken by using an electronic balance with least count of
0.001 g. The samples were rst heated at 60 C for 24 h and then at
103 C for 3 h using a hot air oven. The nal weight or dried sam-
ples weight with pre-weighed porcelain boxes were recorded. The
percentage total solids content of the sample was then calculated
by using:

Wd
TS  100
Ww
where TS is the total solids, %; Wd is the weight of oven dried sam-
ple, g; and Ww is the weight of wet sample, g.
2.1.1.4. Volatile solids content and non-volatile solids content. The
volatile solids content and non-volatile solids content of feed
materials were determined as per the standard method [17]. The
oven dried samples used for determination total solids content
were further dried at 550 C 50 C temperature for 1 h in a mufe
furnace and allowed to ignite completely. The dishes were then
transferred to a desiccator for nal cooling. The weight of the
cooled porcelain dishes with ash were taken by the electronic bal-
ance. The volatile solids content and non-volatile solids content of
the sample were calculated using:
 
W d  W a
VS  100
Wd
 
Wa
NVS  100
Wd
where VS is the volatile solids in dry sample, %; NVS is the non-vol-
atile solids in dry sample, %; Wd is the weight of oven dried sample,
g; Wa is the weight of dry ash left after igniting the sample in a muf-
e furnace, g.
2.1.2. Ultimate analysis
Carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen contents in feed materials (cat-
tle dung, jatropha oil seed cake and pongamia oil seed cake) were
determined using fully automatic instrument Vario EL elemental
analyzer (Perkin Elmer, USA Made) which enables speedy and
accurate quantitative analysis of CHN in the sample. The instru-
ment works on the principle of thermal conductivity detector
(TCD).
2.2. Start up of anaerobic digester
The major challenge in anaerobic digestion of jatropha and
pongamia oil seed cakes is lack of inherent bacteria like in cattle
dung. Apart from the existing bacteria in a digester, fresh cattle
dung continuously adds more bacteria to the digestion system
and stabilizes the anaerobic digestion process. However, lack of
the inherent bacteria, demands a special attention for operation
1
of digester with non-edible oil seed cakes. Another major draw-
back of oil seed cake is the presence of long chain free fatty acids,
which can destroy the population of bacteria in the digester. More-
over, an appropriate amount of cattle dung with oil seed cake may
stabilize the bacterial population.
The time between initial digester feed sludge and stable opera-
tion of digester should be as short as possible for smooth start-up
of the anaerobic digestion process. The steady-state condition for
efcient operation of the digester is normally achieved approxi-
mately in one month. This condition is reected by the production
of burnable biogas and a stable volatile acid-to-alkalinity ratio [6].
The start-up is generally considered the most critical step in the
operation of anaerobic digesters. Once an anaerobic digester has
been started up successfully, it is expected to run without much
attention as long as operating conditions are not signicantly al-
tered. The source of micro-organisms, the size of the inoculum
and the initial mode of operation are important factors during
start-up. Usually, the inoculum volume is at least 10% of the new
digester volume and consists of an undened mixed culture from
an equivalent system that is actively digesting a similar feedstock
[18].
2.3. Preparation of efcient inoculum
2 In the present study, a running 20 m3/d capacity oating drum
type biogas plant with cattle dung substrate was selected as an
environment. The feeding of cattle dung was stopped for three
months to make sure that there is no unprocessed cattle dung
present in the digester (no volatile matter) prior to feeding of
non-edible oil seed cakes. Thereafter, feeding of pongamia oil seed
cake with a dilution ratio of 3:1 (water:oil seed cake on weight ba-
sis) was carried as per following schedule.
Schedule 1. 8 kg of oil seed cake substrate (2 kg pongamia oil seed
cake with 6 kg water) with a dilution ratio of 3:1 for 5 days.
The position of gas holder drum was remain unchanged for rst
2 days of the experiment. However, addition of oil seed cake sub-
strate was continued. On third day of the experiment a small rise
(approximately 10 cm) of gas holder drum was recorded which is
equivalent to 0.90 m3 volume of biogas. The same feeding pattern
3
was continued for two more days and a rapid rise in gas holder
drum was observed. This showed encouraging results in biogas
4
production from pongamia oil seed cake.
Schedule 2. 20 kg of oil seed cake substrate (5 kg pongamia oil
seed cake with 15 kg water) with a dilution ratio of 3:1 for next
10 days:
For the rst 2 days of increased loading, a drop in gas produc-
tion was observed as compared to fth day of the experiment.
The feeding was continued for few more days and positive results
were observed on third day with rapid upward movement of gas
holder drum. The gas holder drum reached at its highest position
(30 cm) on fth day and remained almost at the same level up to
tenth day during the experiment.
 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159 151

This pattern of biogas production from pongamia oil seed cake was calculated by adding daily biogas, methane and carbon dioxide
showed the adaptation of bacteria to the changed environment of- production, respectively. Specic biogas production (m3/kg TS &
fered by the new substrate possibly by developing a suitable strain. m3/kg VS), specic methane production (m3/kg TS & m3/kg VS)
This acclimatization is due to the fact that, when the concentra- and total volatile solids removal efciency (%) were determined
tions of inhibitory or toxic materials are slowly increased within by using standard formulae.
the environment many micro-organisms rearrange their metabolic
resources, and overcoming the metabolic block produced by the 2.4.1. Theoretical calculation
inhibitory or toxic materials. However, sufcient time must be Observed daily biogas production was corrected at standard
available to the bacteria for the rearrangement of metabolic re- temperature and pressure (STP) condition using Eq. (5). STP refers
sources under sudden change in environment [19]. to 0 C (273 K) temperature and one atmospheric pressure.
The slurry of the biogas plant fed with pongamia oil seed cake  
was used as inoculum for anaerobic digestion of jatropha and
273  BV
BVo 5
pongamia oil seed cakes substrates. The new micro-organisms 273 T
present in the inoculum could act comfortably with jatropha and where BVo is the volume of daily produced biogas at STP (at 0 C), l
pongamia oil seed cake substrates. The above study lead to a set or m3; BV is the volume of daily produced biogas at temperature T, l
of important developments namely, an effective inoculum as a pool or m3; T is the observed biogas temperature, C.
of new micro-organisms, an optimal size of the inoculum and a The daily production of methane and carbon dioxide in pro-
mode of operation of the anaerobic digester [18]. duced biogas were determined by:
CH4 Conc:
2.4. Experimental biogas plant and parameters of anaerobic digestion CH4Yield  BVo 6
100
process
where CH4Yield is the daily methane yield at STP, l or m3 CH4 Conc. is
Anaerobic digestion of jatropha and pongamia oil seed cake the methane concentration in biogas, %
substrates were carried out in a oating drum biogas plant of CO2 Conc:
20 m3/d capacity by continuous (daily) feeding of substrates for CO2Yield  BVo 7
100
30 days. Fig. 1a and b shows the schematic and pictorial view of
experimental biogas plant. Table 1 shows daily feeding level where CO2Yield is the carbon dioxide yield at STP, l or m3; CO2 Conc.
of jatropha and pongamia oil seed cake substrates. Measurement is the carbon dioxide concentration in biogas, %.
of ambient temperature and substrate temperature (C) was car- The specic biogas production (per unit TS and VS) were calcu-
ried by using K-type thermocouple. Substrate temperature was lated using:
 
measured by inserting a thermocouple into the digester of the bio- BVo
gas plant at a depth of 1.0 m. The daily biogas production (m3) at BVoSpecificTS 8
DMF  TS
standard temperature and pressure (STP) was measured. The
methane and carbon dioxide content in the produced biogas was  
BVo
measured by using a Biogas Analyzer (Model No. MG-609u) made BVoSpecificVS 9
DMF  VS
by Chemtron Science Limited, Mumbai, India. This biogas analyzer
was specially built for compositional analysis of biogas constitu- where BVoSpecicTS is the specic biogas production, m3/kg TS;
ents (CH4 and CO2). The infrared sensors for methane and carbon BVoSpecicVS is specic biogas production, m3/kg VS; DMF is the daily
dioxide have measurement range of 0100%. The cumulative bio- mass of feed, kg; TS is the total solids content, decimal; VS is the
gas, methane and carbon dioxide production over the study period volatile solids content, decimal.

(a) Gas Holder Supporting Structure

(b)

Ground Level
Central Guide Frame

Flange Plates
Earth Filling

F
10 Diamter ASB/CEM Pipe

10 Diamter ASB/CEM Pipe

30
15 Thick Partion Wall
CC Foundation (1:3:6)

B1 B
C

D
D
30 30
15
A
7. 5 23 23 7.5
All dimensions in centimetres

Fig. 1. (a and b) A view of biogas plant (20 m3/d) fed with jatropha and pongamia oil seed cakes.
152 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159

Table 1
Total solids and volatile solids concentration in the substrates.

Treatment Substrate concentration of the daily feed material

Total solids Volatile solids
kg/d % kg/d %
Jatropha oil seed cake substrate 9.25 18.5 8.64 17.3
Pongamia oil seed cake substrate 8.95 19.9 8.53 19.0

The specic methane production (per unit TS and VS) was
determined using:
 
CH4Yield
MVoSpecificTS
DMF  TS
 
CH4Yield
MVoSpecificVS
DMF  VS
where MVoSpecicTS is the specic methane production, m3/kg TS;
MVoSpecicVS is the specic methane production, m3/kg VS.
The loss of volatile solids during anaerobic digestion process oc-
curs due to conversion of the volatile solids primarily into biogas.
Thus, the total volatile solids mass removal efciency was esti-
mated based on biogas production rate. In this estimation method,
it was assumed that the organic mass converted into biogas is
equal to the mass of dry biogas produced. The methane and carbon
dioxide content in the biogas was determined for every operating
day during the entire period of operation. An assumption was
made that biogas behaves as an ideal gas.
The total volatile solids mass removed was then assumed to be
equal to mass of methane and carbon dioxide produced as given in:
TVS mass removed Mass of CH4 Mass of CO2
The requirement of above approach is that the biogas volume
and its contents should be accurately measured. The molecular
weight of methane and carbon dioxide as well as dry biogas volume
were then correlated to obtain total volatile solids mass removed.
The following relationship (Eq. (13)) was used to obtain the total
volatile solids mass removed in the anaerobic digestion process:
16CH4 Conc: 2 Conc:
100
44CO100
TVSMR  BVo  DBF
22:413
where TVSMR is the total volatile solids mass removed, kg; BVo is
the daily biogas volume at STP (at 0 C), m3; DBF is the dry biogas
factor.
The constants 16 and 44 represent the molecular weight of
methane and carbon dioxide, respectively. The volume of one mole
of ideal gas at STP was taken as 22.413 l in the above equation.The
total volatile solids mass removal efciency of the anaerobic diges-
tion process is expressed as the % removal of initial total volatile
solids. The total volatile solids mass removal efciency (TVSMRE)
was calculated using the following relationship given in:
Thus, for estimation of total volatile solids mass removal ef-
ciency the Eq. (14) becomes:
16CH4 Conc: 2 Conc:
44CO100
10 TVSMRE 100
 BVo  DBF  100 15
22:413  TVSM
where TVSMRE is the total volatile solids mass removal efciency,
11 %; TVSM is the total volatile solids input mass, kg.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Properties of feed materials
Tables 2 and 3 show the proximate and ultimate analysis of feed
materials. The proximate analysis of jatropha and pongamia oil
seed cakes showed the volatile solids content of these oil seed
cakes was more than six times higher than that of cattle dung. Ta-
ble 2 shows that the non-volatile solids content of both oil seed
cakes was very low in comparison to cattle dung. This is due to
non presence of lingo-cellulosic materials in oil seed cake. Table
3 clearly shows that the carbon and hydrogen contents in the oil
seed cakes were also higher than that of cattle dung.
12
3.2. Parameters of anaerobic digestion process
3.2.1. pH of input substrate
The average pH of input substrate for the jatropha oil seed cake
substrate, JC (4.0 DR, 0% CD) was found as 6.8. Similarly, the aver-
age pH of input substrate for pongamia oil seed cake substrate, PC
(3.5 DR, 0% CD) was found as 6.1. It has been reported that, most
anaerobic bacteria including methane-forming bacteria perform
13 well within a pH ranges from 6.8 to 7.2. The pH in an anaerobic di-
gester initially decreases due to the production of volatile acids.
However, as methane-forming bacteria consume the volatile acids
and alkalinity is produced, the pH of the digester increases and
then stabilizes. At hydraulic retention time more than 5 days the
methane-forming bacteria begin to rapidly consume the volatile
acids. In a properly operating anaerobic digester the pH is main-
tained between 6.8 and 7.2 as volatile acids are converted into
Table 3
Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen contents and carbonnitrogen ratio of the feed materials.

Sl. no. Feed material C (%) H (%) N (%) C/N ratio

TVSMRE Total VS mass removed=Initial total VS mass fed
s1 Cattle dung 35.20 4.60 1.55 22.7
 100 2 Jatropha oil seed cake 48.80 6.20 3.85 12.7
14 3 Pongamia oil seed cake 47.80 6.50 5.50 8.7

Table 2
Physiochemical properties of basic feed materials.

Feed material Physiochemical properties

Moisture content (%) Oil content (%) Total solids (%) Volatile solids (%) Non-volatile solids (%)
Cattle dung 81.6 (442.5 db) 18.4 14.4 (78.8 db) 21.2
Jatropha oil seed cake 7.5 (8.1 db) 8.3 92.5 86.4 (93.0 db) 7.0
Pongamia oil seed cake 10.5 (11.7 db) 7.2 89.5 85.3 (94.8 db) 5.2
 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159 153

Fig. 2. Daily biogas production rate from jatropha oil seed cake substrate.

methane and carbon dioxide. The pH of an anaerobic system is sig-
nicantly affected by the carbon dioxide content of the biogas [6].
3.2.2. Daily biogas production
Fig. 2 shows the relationship between the daily biogas produc-
tion yield and substrate temperature with respect to retention
time for jatropha oil seed cake substrate, JC (4.0 DR, 0% CD) at feed-
ing rate of 9.25 kg TS/d. The average daily biogas production during
30 days retention time period was observed as 6.541 m3/d. Simi-
larly, daily biogas production yield at feeding rate of 8.95 kg TS/d
and substrate temperature with respect to retention time for pong-
amia oil seed cake substrate (PC (3.5 DR, 0% CD)) is depicted in
Fig. 3. Average daily biogas production over a period of 30 days
was found as 7.791 m3/d. It was observed that biogas production
rate became stable after eighth day of digestion process. Figs. 2
and 3 depicted that the biogas production rate during initial days

Fig. 3. Daily biogas production rate from pongamia oil seed cake substrate.
154 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159

(17 days) was very low as compared to than later days of reten-
tion time. It has been reported that when the hydraulic retention
time is more than 5 days, the methane-forming bacteria begin to
rapidly consume the volatile acids, and thereby more biogas pro-
duction occurs [6].
The substrate temperature during anaerobic digestion of jatro-
pha oil seed cake and pongamia oil seed cake were observed in
the range of 26.334.5 C and 33.735.2 C, respectively. The ob-
served substrate temperature indicates that the digester was oper-
ating in mesophilic temperature range. It has been reported that
mesophilic methanogens come into play in the temperature range
of 2045 C and the biogas production reaches the maximum when
the process temperature is maintained around 35 C [20]. Further-
more, it has also been reported that most of the methane-forming
bacteria are active in mesophilic range from 30 to 35 C [21].
3.2.3. Methane and carbon dioxide content of produced biogas
Fig. 4 shows the variation of methane and carbon dioxide con-
tent in the produced biogas from jatropha oil seed cake substrate.
The maximum and minimum values of methane and carbon

Fig. 4. Variation of methane and carbon dioxide content in produced biogas from jatropha oil seed cake substrate.

Fig. 5. Variation of methane and carbon dioxide content in produced biogas from pongamia oil seed cake substrate.
 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159 155

dioxide were found to vary from 68.0% to 60.7% and 32.7% to 29.0%,
respectively starting from rst day to thirtieth day of retention
time. The average methane and carbon dioxide content over
30 days were found as 66.6% and 31.3%, respectively. Similarly,
the variation of methane and carbon dioxide content of biogas pro-
duced from pongamia oil seed cake substrate is shown in Fig. 5.
The maximum and minimum values of methane and carbon diox-
ide were found to vary from 65.3% to 56.0% and 38.3% to 31.7%,
respectively. The average value of methane and carbon dioxide
content over 30 days of retention time period were found as
62.5% and 33.5%, respectively.
The observed values of methane concentration in the produced
biogas from jatropha and pongamia oil seed cake substrates have
showed a signicantly higher methane percentage than the pro-
duced biogas from cattle dung. This fact is due to degradation of
fats and proteins give more methane content (7084%) in the

Fig. 6. Cumulative biogas, methane and carbon dioxide yields from jatropha oil seed cake substrate.

Fig. 7. Cumulative biogas, methane and carbon dioxide yields from pongamia oil seed cake substrate.
156 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159

biogas than 50% from carbohydrates [6]. It was also observed that
the variation of the average methane content in the biogas pro-
duced from jatropha oil seed cake substrate was marginally higher
in comparison to pongamia oil seed cake substrate.
3.2.4. Cumulative biogas, methane and carbon dioxide production
Fig. 6 shows cumulative biogas, methane and carbon dioxide
production over 30 days retention period for jatropha oil seed cake
substrate. The cumulative biogas, methane and carbon dioxide pro-
duction were found as 196.224, 131.258 and 61.271 m3, respec-
tively with total 259.2 kg of input volatile solids. Fig. 7 shows
cumulative biogas, methane and carbon dioxide production over
30 days retention period for pongamia oil seed cake substrate.
The cumulative biogas, methane and carbon dioxide production
were found as 233.725, 147.605 and 77.625 m3, respectively with
total 255.9 kg of input volatile solids.

Fig. 8. Variation of specic biogas yield on jatropha oil seed cake substrate.

Fig. 9. Variation of specic biogas yield on pongamia oil seed cake substrate.
 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159 157

3.2.5. Specic biogas production rate
The variation in specic biogas production yield per unit TS and
per unit VS in case of jatropha and pongamia oil seed cake sub-
strates are depicted in Figs. 8 and 9, respectively. The observed
range of specic biogas production yield with jatropha oil seed
cake substrate with in 30 days retention time period was observed
in the range of 0.160.71 m3/kg TS and 0.170.76 m3/kg VS. Simi-
larly, the average specic biogas production yield over 30 days
retention time period on pongamia oil seed cake substrate was
found in the range of 0.170.87 m3/kg TS and 0.180.91 m3/kg VS.
The average specic biogas yield with jatropha oil seed cake
substrate over the 30 days retention time period was recorded as
0.598 m3/kg TS and 0.640 m3/kg VS. Similarly, the average value
of specic biogas production yield with pongamia oil seed cake

Fig. 10. Variation of specic methane yield on jatropha oil seed cake substrate.

Fig. 11. Variation of specic methane yield on pongamia oil seed cake substrate.
158 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159

over the 30 days retention time period was observed as 0.703 m3/
kg TS and 0.738 m3/kg VS.
3.2.6. Specic methane production rate
The variation in specic methane production yield per unit TS
and per unit VS in case of jatropha and pongamia oil seed cake sub-
strates are shown in Figs. 10 and 11, respectively. The range of spe-
cic methane production yield with jatropha oil seed cake
substrate over the 30 days retention time period was found
0.0970.473 m3/kg TS and 0.1040.506 m3/kg VS. Similarly, the
specic methane production yield over the 30 days retention time
period with pongamia oil seed cake substrate was found in the
range of 0.0960.55 m3/kg TS and 0.1000.577 m3/kg VS.
The average specic methane production yield with jatropha oil
seed cake substrate over the 30 days retention time period was re-
corded as 0.394 m3/kg TS and 0.422 m3/kg VS. The average specic

Fig. 12. Variation of total volatile solids mass removal efciency of the anaerobic digestion process on jatropha oil seed cake substrate.

Fig. 13. Variation of total volatile solids mass removal efciency of the anaerobic digestion process on pongamia oil seed cake substrate.
 R. Chandra et al. / Applied Energy 93 (2012) 148159
methane production yield over the 30 days retention time period
with pongamia oil seed cake substrate was observed as 0.427 m3/
kg TS and 0.448 m3/kg VS.
3.2.7. Total volatile solids mass removal efciency of the anaerobic
digestion process
Fig. 12 shows the variation in total volatile solids mass removal
efciency of the anaerobic digestion process of jatropha oil seed
cake, JC (4.0 DR, 0% CD). The total volatile solids mass removal ef-
ciency of jatropha oil seed cake substrate over the 30 days reten-
tion time period was found in the range of 15.771.8%. Similarly,
Fig. 13 shows the variation in total volatile solids mass removal
efciency of the anaerobic digestion process of pongamia oil seed
cake, PC (3.5 DR, 0% CD). The total volatile solid mass removal ef-
ciency on pongamia oil seed cake substrate over the 30 days of
retention time period was found in the range of 16.097.2%.
The average total volatile solids mass removal efciency of
jatropha oil seed cake substrate over the 30 days retention time
period was recorded as 59.6%. Further, the average total volatile
solids mass removal efciency over the 30 day retention time of
pongamia oil seed cake substrate was observed as 74.9%.
The study revealed that the biogas yield per unit TS and VS was
found higher in case of pongamia oil seed cake substrate than that
of jatropha oil seed cake substrate. This is due to lower content of
non-volatile solids in pongamia oil seed cake (5.2%) than in jatro-
pha oil seed cake (7.0%). Furthermore, it was observed that the
pongamia oil seed cake has higher biodegradability than jatropha
oil seed cake, may be due to higher concentrations of long-chain
fatty acid oleates and stearates in jatropha oil seed cake.
4. Conclusions
The proximate and ultimate analysis of jatropha and pongamia
oil seed cakes conrmed that they have rich proportionate of vol-
atile solids content. These oil seed cakes have low non-volatile sol-
ids content, higher content of hydrogen and carbon as compared to
the cattle dung. Results show that the jatropha and pongamia oil
seed cakes contain more than six times higher volatile solids con-
tent in comparison to that of cattle dung. Further, the anaerobic
digestion of jatropha oil seed cake, JC (4.0 DR, 0% CD) is resulted
into an average specic biogas and specic methane production
potential of 0.640 m3/kg VS and 0.422 m3/kg VS, respectively with
an average total volatile solids mass removal efciency of 59.6%.
Whereas, the anaerobic digestion of pongamia oil seed cake, PC
(3.5 DR, 0% CD) yields an average specic biogas and specic meth-
ane production of 0.738 m3/kg VS and 0.448 m3/kg VS, respectively
with an average total volatile solids mass removal efciency of
74.9% over a retention time period of 30 days. The biogas produced
from jatropha and pongamia oil seed cakes contains 1520% more
methane than the biogas produced from the cattle dung.
159
Acknowledgements
Authors are highly thankful to Centre for Rural Development
and Technology and Mechanical Engineering Department, Indian
Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India for providing neces-
sary facilities, support and nancial funding to conduct this re-
search work. Authors are also highly thankful to Prof. S.K.
Rautaray, Head Department of Farm Power and Machinery, College
of Agricultural Engineering and Post Harvest Technology (Central
Agricultural University), Ranipool, Gangtok, Sikkim, India for his
kind help in revision of the manuscript.
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