Mini Bio-gas plant using food waste, decomposable organic material and kitchen waste

I have been searching for some method of using the food waste, decomposable organic material and kitchen waste efficiently, and came across information on producing bio-gas from organic waste. The bio-gas produced from food waste, decomposable organic material and kitchen waste, consisting of methane and a little amount of carbon di oxide is an alternative fuel for cooking gas (L !". #lso, the waste materials can be disposed off efficiently without any odor or flies and the digested slurry from the biogas unit can be used as an organic manure in the garden. $omponents of the %io-gas lant The ma&or components of the bio-gas plant are a digester tank, an inlet for feeding the kitchen waste, gas holder tank, an outlet for the digested slurry and the gas delivery system for taking out and utili'ing the produced gas. This pro&ect is also useful for students to have a hands-on learning experience in constructing a (ini %io!as lant, using locally available material. (aterial )e*uired+ ,. -mpty .$ can /0 ltrs capacity+ , 1o. (to be used as 2igester Tank" 3. -mpty .$ can 40 ltrs capacity+ , no. (to be used as !as 5older Tank" ((ake sure the smaller can fits inside larger one and moves freely" 6. 74 mm dia pvc pipe+ about 40 cm long (to be used for feeding waste material" 4. 63 mm dia pvc pipe+ about /0 cm long (fixed inside gas holder tank as a guide pipe" /. 3/ mm dia pvc pipe+ about 8/ cm long (fixed inside the digester tank as a guide pipe" 7. 63 mm dia pvc pipe+ about 3/ cm long (fixed on digester tank to act as outlet for digested slurry" 8. (-seal or any water-proof adeshive 9. !as outlet system+ lease see :tep 4 below for re*uired materials and construction Tools re*uired 2o not re*uire many tools here. # hack saw blade for cutting the cans ; pipes and a sharp knife for cutting holes on the cans are all the tools we need. #dditional accessories # single burner bio-gas stove or a %unsen %urner used in school laboratories

%ought this /0 ltrs capacity .$ can, which will act as the digester unit and removed the top portion of the can, by cutting it with a hack saw blade+

Step 2:

The smaller white can, which will act as the gas holder fits inside the red one. 5ere, again removed the top of the white can, also with the help of a hack saw blade

Step 3:

74 mm, 63 mm and 3/ mm dia .$ pipes which will be used for feeding the kitchen waste, guide pipe for the gas holder and guide pipe fixed with the digestion chamber respectively. # small piece of 63 mm dia pipe will be used as outlet for the slurry+

Step 4:

,.

items re*uired for the gas delivery system+ got these items from a hardware store

,. %all valve + one no ( to ad&ust the gas flow" 3. <T< &oint + one no ( to connect the gas holder and the ball valve" 6. $ap to block one end of <T< &oint + one no 4. $oupling or #dapter + one no (to connect vertical end of <T< in to the gas collector" /. 1ipple+ one no (added to the coupling in to the gas collector" 7. !as pipe (flexible" + two meters 8. %arb + one no (fitted with the gas pipe, to &oin with the %all valve" 9. $lip + one no (used for crimping the barb with the gas pipe and make it leak-proof" =. Teflon tape + one roll (used as thread tape in all &oints"

Step 5:

5ere I have marked the cuts to be made in the bottom of the gas collection tank. The smaller hole on the left for gas delivery system, center hole for fixing the 63 mm guide pipe and 74 mm hole for fixing the waste feeding pipe on the right side. (ade these holes with the help of a sharp knife and hack saw blade. The next image is Inside of the gas holder showing the 63 mm guide pipe (center" and the 74 mm feeding pipe fixed with (-seal

Step :

Top view of the gas holder showing the feeding pipe, central guide pipe and the gas delivery system+ I have closed the feeding pipe withe an old lid (red one". This will facilitate opening the feed pipe only during feeding the system.

Step !:

Digestion tank fitted with the central guide pipe and the outlet pipe for the slurry:

Step ":

$ompleted unit. I have removed the gas pipe, so that the &oints will get cured without any stress+ >ait for a day or two before feeding the system, allowing all &oints to get cured and become leak-proof. Initially, cow-dung mixed with water will be fed in to the system, which will start the gas formation process. :ubse*uently, food waste, decomposable organic material and kitchen waste will be diluted with water and used to feed the system. The gas holder will rise along the guide pipes based on the amount of gas produced. >e can add some weight on top of the gas holder to increase the gas pressure. >hen we feed the system, the excess digested slurry will fall out through the outlet pipe, which can be collected, diluted and used as organic manure. Initial production of gas will consist of oxygen, methane, carbon di oxide and some other gases and will not burn. These gases can be released to the atmosphere by opening the ball valve at least three ? four times. :ubse*uent gas will consist of about 80 to 90 percent methane and the rest carbon di oxide, which can be used in a single bio-gas burning stove or a %unsen burner. Total cost of this proto-type system is about one thousand Indian )upees (about 30 dollars" This is a basic prototype of a %io-gas system using the food waste, decomposable organic material and kitchen waste to produce gas. #n one thousand litre capacity 2igestion tank will be sufficient for a small household for daily cooking purpose. The bigger commercial models provide a water seal between the digestion tank and gas holder tank. @ou can get further information on kitchen waste based mini %io-gas plant at the following links+

http+??e-biogas.blogspot.in? http+??www.samuchit.com?index.phpAoptionBcomCcontent;viewBarticle;idB9;ItemidB,0

Step #:

$harged the digester tank with cow dung diluted with water. laced the gas holder tank and left it for two three days. The cow dung slurry started the process of gas forming. !as formation started and the gas holder tank gets lifted up. I have placed two bricks on top of the gas holder to get more gas pressure.

Step $%:
1ote for students who are doing this as their :chool ro&ect+ ,. Take guidance from your teacher while using the gas in a stove or %unsen burner. 3. $ollect surplus food and wastage during lunch, dilute and feed the system. 6. Druit peels, extracted tea powder, waste milk and milk products can also be used for feeding the system. 4. 2E 1ET F:- eggshells, Enion peels or left-over bones in this system as they will affect the efficient functioning of the system /. lant some seedling 7. while feeding, collect the slurry from the outlet, feed the seedlings and watch them grow

Dirstly, when you add the diluted cow dung ? food waste ? kitchen waste through the inlet pipe, the digested slurry which is lighter than the fresh one, will automatically fall out through the outlet pipe. The slurry level inside the digester will not go beyond the level outlet pipe. :econdly, the gas will not leak through the guide pipe as the 63 mm dia pipe opening will be always inside the slurry. Thirdly, mix e*ual amounts of cow dung and water for initial feeding the system. @ou can add as much as the tank can hold. Lastly, properly digested slurry will not have any foul smell. If it smells means there is no anaerobic digestion and you need to empty the system and restart with fresh cow dung slurry

actually it is not necessary to hold up the inner PVC can as the waste feeding system pipe extents almost to the bottom of the digester. opening the waste feeding pipe will not allow any gas to escape as the gas holder is immersed in the slurry. In the bigger systems of about 1000 kg and above capacity a water seal is provided between the slurry and the gas holder which will prevent any gas escape through the outer gap between digester and gas holder Logic is not a common trait in the farmers over here, they would rather &ust dump raw slurry onto the fields rather than spend the money to build a digester that could heat their homes for free and help save the environment. There has been about ,0,000 gallons of slurry dumped in the field beside my house this week, the smell is atrocious and made me sick on Tuesday, the smell is so bad that you cant open the windows or hang clothes out to dry until it rains hard enough to wash the slurry in. >hen i researched the bio gas idea a few years ago i found a good idea for a storage system that used 3 water filled barrels, one acts as a gas store and the other acts as a water reservoir for the water displaced by the gas as it gathers, the idea is so that you have a constant gas pressure to the burner and no risk of getting flash back to the digester. #s the gas is burned of the water returns to storage tank from the reservoir and keeps the pressure constant. !here are some land fill sites here that are extracting bio gas but the are large scale operations. In southern Ireland there has been a program to encourage farmers to install methane digesters on farms there was allot of opposition to the idea due to the e"uipment needed was expensive and farmed don#t like spending money the problem seems to be that in winter months the process uses almost all the gas produced to keep the system warm enough to produce gas. I would like to see more farmers use digested as the digested slurry does not stink the place up when sprayed on the fields. in the end it all comes down to expense and farmers will not build methane digesters until it becomes law most of the farmers here don#t reali$e the potential energy that they are %ust throwing away most actually pay farm contractors to spread their collected slurry onto the fields. &o you burn the gas straight off the collector or have you it piped into a storage tank The bio-gas plant in :ecunderabad cantonment may be a bigger one and I think they may be utili'ing the entire organic waste from the cantonment. They might have also made some modifications or attachments which will enable the gas to burn in normal L ! stove. If you have taken any photographs of the plant please post them here for reference. The performance reduction in #)TI or any other bio-gas plant is due to our mistake only. >e normally think that by feeding more waste material, we may get more gas, but feeding more than the capacity of the digester will make the slurry acidic and slowly its performance will go down. :ame will happen by feeding onion peels, egg shells and bones in a smaller bio-gas plant as these materials will take very long to get digested.

)egarding your doubts ,. The bio-gas plant I have shown is a prototype with only a /0 kilogram digester tank. >e can feed about 3/0 to 600 grams of waste material. which will produce about ,00 grams of usable methane gas. ractically, it is very difficult to use this plant for our day to day chores. 3. The blockers are over-feeding and under-feeding. 6. There is no such thing as initial difficulty. @ou have to start the digestion process with cow dung slurry and say after about three to four days, you can start adding kitchen waste. @ou need to release atleast three - four times the initial gas produced into atmosphere as this contains more impurities and won<t burn properly, 4. @ou need to use only stoves designed for use with bio-gas. 1ow they are readily available in market. you can get single burner as well as twin burners also. /. Dor feeding /0 kg of waste, you need ten thousand liter capacity digestion tank and you will get about ,0 kilograms of bio-gas daily. If you want to build one for your home use, go for a minimum of one thousand liter capacity digestion tank. @ou can feed about / kilos of waste and get ,000 grams of bio-gas. lease feel free to post your comments and also for any clarifications you need regarding bio-gas plant

!hanks for your interest in bio'gas. I think you can use PVC also as long as you can make them leak'proof. !he idea of using brass fittings is they do not make spark when they come in touch with other metal parts which is very dangerous. !he nipple is used only to extent the gas outlet into the gas holder tank. Improvise with what you can get hold of and use metal parts which do not spark. (est of luck

5i there, I am :ahas chitlange, aging ,4, from India. here is my homemade cheap and easy to build mini %iogas plant. It burns for approx. 30-60 mins on a bunsen burner. you can add anything from your kitchen waste ( -xept Enion peels and eggshells". In ,3 hours the !as is ready for use. It is very easy and cost effective to build (only 3-6 dollars" and gives many useful products. the end products of this system are+ ," (ethane + ($an be used as a fuel" 3" :lurry + (the spent slurry is exellent manure" The main components oof this system are+ ," Inlet pipe 3" digester tank 6" gas holder tank

4" slurry outlet pipe /" gas outlet pipe

Step $: &hose the correct container

(ake holes in the tank for Inlet and outlet. Dor this I took a old iron rod and heated it to make holes. $#FTIE1+ rod is really very hot.

Step 3: 'i( the inlet and outlet pipes

Step 4: Making the )as holder *ank

I took a paint bucket of 30 lts for making a gas holder tank. this tank holds the gas produced. The tank is overturned and fixed with a valve used for plumbing purposes.

Step 5: *ime to mi( the cow dung +

mix the cow dung in proportion of /0?/0. add /0G water and make a fine slurry. 1ow put the slurry in the digester tank.

Step : ,lmost finished+

ut the gas holder tank overturned in the digester tank after adding the slurry . )-(-(%-)+ open the valve while putting the gas holder tank. the mini plant takes ,0-,/ days for the first time to get output. Dor the first time, the gas in the tank wont burn as it contains $arbon 2ioxide gas, if fortunately it burns then good or wait for the second time. @ou can detect how much gas is there in this system, the gas holder tank will rises up as the gas is produced.