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Introduction
Biogas is produced when bio-degradation of organic matter occurs in absence of oxygen. Bacteria convert this organic mass into gas. This is one type of fermentation process. Biogas can be produced by using any bio-degradable matter such as kitchen waste, manure, sewage, green waste etc. Biogas mainly contains methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). It is considered as low grade natural gas. Biogas can be used as a fuel. It is flammable gas. Biogas production has many other benefits: Organic waste gets treated properly without polluting environment. It gives a good quality organic fertilizer to farmers. The whole process is eco-friendly, doesnt harm environment at all. In this lesson we are going to study details of biogas plant.
Objective
After completing this unit student will be able to y Understand different types of biogas plants y Explain the operation of Biogas plant. y Maintenance of biogas.
In this model the gas stored in a tank. It is floating on slurry. Tank goes up as the gas gets generated and it lowers when the gas is consumed. Size of the tank depends on the size of the feed. Normally it is 50 times the amount of feed available per day in the plant. For ex. if 20 lits of dung-water mixture is put into the plant every day, we need tank which can hold 20 * 50 = 1000 lits. Generally tank is made of iron sheets. Therefore cost of the biogas and biogas plant goes up. Recently many organizations started using PVC tanks. Generally tank is made out of iron sheets. Therefore cost of the biogas goes up. Recently many organizations started using PVC tanks. Following is a picture of biogas plant at Pabal.
This model is generally built either from cement-concrete or brick-walled. The gas is stored in the upper dome. With increase in gas, pressure in dome rises up. It pushes of the digested material out of the tank. The cost of a fixed-dome biogas plant is relatively low. It is simple design as no moving parts exist. There are no steel parts which can rust later and hence a long life of the plant (20 years or more) can be expected. Fixed-dome plants are not easy to build. It should be built under guidance and supervision of expert biogas technicians. Due to the porosity and cracks on the walls of structure, chances will be there that generated gas may leak.
Feed:
In principle, biogas can be produced from any type of organic material. Amount of biogas produced also depends on the type of feed. Following feed is generally used in most of the biogas plant. 1. Cow dung 2. Human excreta 3. Non edible oil cake (like Mahuva ) 4. Food waste 5. Kitchen waste 6. Any material which has starch content Adding water to the feed accelerates the process. Regular stirring the feed is also important. In case you are using cow dung as feed, proportion of fresh dung and water for feeding is 1:1 i.e. (50% fresh dung (in kg) and 50% water (in ltr). Following table shows the amount of cattle dung and water for the feed according to the capacity of biogas plant: Capacity of Biogas 1 M3 2 M3 3 M3 4 M3 6 M3 Required Dung 25 Kg 50 Kg 75 Kg 100 Kg 150 Kg. Water (LTR) 25 50 75 100 150 3
Advantages of Biogas
1. The biogas production technology is cheaper and much simpler. 2. Slurry is very good manure and can be used as fertilizer and also in preparation of vermicompost. It also improves the quality of the soil. 3. The digested material coming out of the plant will not have any odor and there will not be any mosquito/insects breeding on the same. It, in fact, improves hygiene and protects the environment. 4. It has no smell or smoke. 5. Biogas production process produces absolutely no waste.
Summary
Here is the summary of what we learned in this chapter: Biogas is produced when bacteria converts organic matter into gas in absence of oxygen. There are two types of biogas plants: Floating dome type and Fixed dome type. Production of biogas mainly depends on the type and quantity of the feed. Regular maintenance of biogas plant gives better results.
Activity
Visit a nearby biogas plant and study the details discussed in the lesson.