Biogas Production in Batch and Semicontinuous Digesters Using Water Hyacinth

S. Vaidyanathan, K. M. Kavadia,* K. C. Shroff,* and S. P. Mahajant Department of Chemical Engineering, I.!. T., Powai, Bombay 400 076, India
Accepted for publication August 10, 1984

INTRODUCTION The rapidly exploding global population and the expansion of industries create rapid depletion of natural resources and tremendous increase in environmental pollution. In recent years attention has been paid both to the development of renewable energy resources and to the problem of environmental pollution. Aquatic plants in general and water hyacinth in particular have drawn considerable interest as solutions to the current problems of energy and pollution. Water hyacinth exhibits prolific growth. Several detailed investigations in the laboratory as well as in the field have been made on the use of water hyacinth for pollution control.'-5 Shroff has studied the key question of cost-benefit ratio in treating wastewaters from pesticide plant by water hyacinth. W ~ l v e r t o nSriramulu ,~ and Bhargava,' and Klass and Ghosh' have reported that water hyacinth could be utilized as a source of methane-rich fuel. Recovery of methane from water hyacinth is a sound proposition in the current energy crisis. Since scant data are available in the literature on hyacinth gasification, preliminary experiments in a batch digester were performed. However, scaling up the batch data to a semicontinuous digester for a commercial plant might have disadvantages. Therefore, bench scale experiments in a pilot size semicontinuous digester were performed for 7 months, and more quantitative data were developed and reported (this article). MATERIALS AND METHODS Water hyacinth employed in the present experiments were from Goregaon and Amboli. The water hyacinth was analyzed for moisture, total solids, volatile solids, organic carbon, total nitrogen, and potassium. All sampling and analysis were done as per standard methods" and Jackson. I ' All the gas data reported were converted to normal liters (NL) at 0C and I atm. The seed material for digestion runs was from
t To whom the correspondence should be addressed.
*Excel Industries Ltd., Bombay, India.
Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. XXVII, Pp. 905-908 (1985) 0 1985 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

the batch laboratory digester using water hyacinth. Experiments were performed at ambient temperatures of 29 f . 2C and pH 6.9 ? 0.2. Section 1 Two sets of experiments were conducted in 35-L carboys. Each carboy was fitted with one two-holed rubber stopper and made air tight using plaster of park as cementing material. A thermometer was inserted in each carboy and a rubber tube was connected to a sealed container filled with salt solution. The total volume of gas produced was measured as the volume of salt solution displaced. Chopped water hyacinth of size 5-6.25 cm and groundwater hyacinth of size 0.61.2 mm were used. The contents of carboys were shaken intermittently. The freshly chopped and groundwater hyacinths were analyzed (see Tables I and 11). Section 2 The mild steel biogas digester used in this study was 60 cm diameter and 75 cm deep. Two 7.6-cmdiameter pipes were used, one for feeding groundwater hyacinth slurry into the digester and the other for withdrawing. There was an inlet tank for charging and an outlet tank for receiving the processed sludge. The contents of digester was stirred with four flat impeller blades of 20 cm diameter at 30 rpm. The total volume of the digester was 165 L, but the working volume was 150 L. The digester was provided with a thermocouple. The gas produced was measured by a wet gas meter. The digester was fed daily with groundwater hyacinth of size 0.6-1.2 mm and operated for 7 months. Experiments were performed at three different hydraulic detention times of 16.67, 25, and 30 days; volatile solids (VS) loading rates were varied between 0.886 and 1.856 kg dry VS/m' day. When the digester stabilized to the above operating conditions, the data were collected. Water hyacinths were analyzed for physical and chemical characteristics and are shown in Table 111. The operating conditions and methane yields are tabulated in Table IV.
CCC 0006-3592/85/060905-04!$04.00

Table I. Analysis of freshly chopped and groundwater hyacinth employed in Section 1.

Test Moisture, % w/w Total Solids, % w/w On dry basis, % w/w Volatile solids Organic carbon Nitrogen Phosphorous Iron Calcium Magnesium

Freshly chopped water hyacinth, total plant 93.10 6.90 74.00 32.40 1.20 0.50 0.50 1.40 1.10

Freshly ground water hyacinth, total plant 92.80 7.20 74.00 29.00 1.30 0.59 0.90 1.22 0.60

hyacinth at longer digester residence time of 90 days gave 44% more methane yield. The groundwater hyacinth gave methane yield of 307 NL/kg VS over 50 days residence time. However, the maximum specific methane production rate of 6.15 NL/kg dry VS day was obtained with groundwater hyacinth. The lesser specific methane production rate of 4.91 NL/kg dry VS day was obtained from chopped water hyacinth. Wolverton' reported that chopped water hyacinth over a digester residence time of 126 days at 25 _t 5C produced biogas of 61% methane and obtained the maximum methane of 350 L/kg dry mass. This value was comparable with our results of 327 NL methane/kg dry mass with chopped water hyacinth.

Section 2
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Section 1

The results of methane produced from chopped and groundwater hyacinths are presented in Table XI. Groundwater hyacinth produced 228 NL methane/kg dry mass. Chopped water hyacinth produced 327 N L methane/kg dry mass. Groundwater hyacinth gave biogas of 77% methane and chopped water hyacinth gave biogas of 70% methane. For groundwater hyacinth, methane production rate was 0.282 NL/L day, which was 45% more than from chopped water hyacinth. As expected, increased -digester residence time had the effect of increasing methane yields. Chopped water

Digestion of ground whole-water hyacinth plant was carried out in a semicontinuous digester at 29 k 2C and pH 6.9 _C 0.2, and results of methane yields are presented in Table IV. It can be seen that the methane yield ranged from 0.081 to 0.16 Nm3/kg dry VS added over volatile solids loading rate of from 0.763 to 1.856 kg dry VS/m3 day. At a volatile solids loading rate of 1.619 kg dry VS/m3 day and longer hydraulic detention time of 30 days, maximum methane yield of 0.16 Nm3/kg dry VS added and maximum volatile solids conversion efficiency of 44.2% were obtained. Klass and Ghosh' conducted experiments in a 2-dm3 unit using Mississippi and Florida water hyacinth and reported methane yield of 0.166 and 0.098 Nm3/kg dry

Table 1 1 . 0perating.conditions and methane yields of freshly chopped and groundwater hyacinths in batch digester."
~~

Series No. A. Feed 1. Weight of material 2. Solids content 3. Volatile solids content (on dry basis) 4. C/N ratio 5. C/P ratio 6. Particle size B. Digester 1. Type 2. Volume 3. Materials of construction 4. Mode of mixing C. Operating conditions 1. Temperature 2. pH 3. Duration 4. Volatile solids loading D. Methane yields 1. Total gas collected 2. Methane content 3. Methane production rate 4. Methane
5.
a

Units Kilogram % w/w % w/w

Freshly chopped 20 6.90 74.00 26.29 63.90 5-6.25 cm

Freshly ground 20 7.20 74.00 22.10 50.40 0.6-1.2 mm Batch 35 Polythene carboys Intermittent 29 i 2 6.9 i 0.2 50 30.45 638 77 0.282 307.40 (228 NL/kg dry solids) 6.15

Liter

"C

Batch 35 Polythene carboys Intermittent 29 2 2 6.9 & 0.2 90 29.18 967 70 0.194 442.00 (327 NL/kg dry solids) 4.91

Days kg dry VS/rn' Normal liters % v/v NL/L day NL/kg dry VS NL/kg dry VS day

Specific methane production

VS, volatile solids; NL, normal liters.

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Table 111. Physical and chemical characteristics of groundwater hyacinth used in Section 2. Ultimate Analysis (% w/w) C N P Ca Fe Na 28.88 1.88 0.52 1.32 2.80 5.85 93.50 6.50 74.00 26.00 15.52 55.40

Proximate Analysis (% w/w) Moisture Solid content Volatile matter (dry basis) Ash C/N ratio C/P ratio

0.0063 Nm3/kg dry VS added per day at the highest volatile solids loading rate of 1.856 kg dry VS/m3 day and lowest hydraulic detention time of 16.67 days. For Mississippi and Florida water hyacinth Klass and Ghosh reported specific methane production rate of 0.014 and 0.0082 Nm3/kg dry VS added per day, respectively. Specific methane production rate and volatile solids loading rate are important to design biogas digesters using water hyacinth. The specific methane production rate was correlated with volatile solids loading rate as follows:

aebL

VS added and volatile solids conversion efficiency of 29.2 and 17.0%, respectively, for a volatile solids loading rate of 1.6 kg/m3 day and hydraulic detention time of 12 days. For Mississippi and Florida water hyacinths methane production rates were 0.28 and 0.166 Nm3/m3 day, respectively, and the corresponding methane production rate in our study was 0.451 Nm3/m3 day. In the present study water hyacinth slurry of 6.55% total solids (TS) was employed and longer hydraulic detention time was used. Klass and Ghosh employed dilute water hyacinth slurry of 2.45% TS and used a shorter detention time of 12 days. Specific methane production rate increased with increased volatile solids loading rate. In the present study maximum specific methane production rate was
Table IV.

where R is the specific methane production rate, Nm3/kg dry VS added per day, and L is the volatile solids loading rate, kg dry VS/m3 day. The correlation had regression coefficient of 0.98. The value of a was 0.00161 and that of b was 0.72. For a given biogas plant capacity one may either go for high volatile solids loading rate and shorter hydraulic detention time or low volatile solids loading rate and longer hydraulic detention time. At high volatile solids loading rate more methane is produced per volume of digester, resulting in a smaller digester and cheaper digester cost. But because of shorter hydraulic detention time, there is a smaller reduction in volatile solids and less methane per mass of feed. At longer hydraulic detention time and lower volatile solids loading rate, percentage of volatile solids destruction is increased but methane per volume of digester is decreased; so there is greater digester volume and greater capital cost. Therefore, it is desirable to determine optimal size, hydraulic

Operating condition and methane yields of groundwater hyacinth in semicontinuous digester.

Run no.

Observation data"

10

A. Feed 1. Total solids, % ' w/w 2. Volatile solids, % w/w B. Digester 1. Temperature, "C 2. pH 3. Hydraulic detention time, days 4. VS loading rate, kg dry VS/m3 day C. Gas Production
Methane content, % v/v 2. Methane production, NL/L day 3. Methane yield, Nm'/kg dry VS added 4. Specific methane production Nmz/kg dry VS added day 5. VS conversion efficiency, % (experimentally determined values)
a

5.67 3.10 29 6.9

? ?

6.55 4.86 2 0.2 29 6.0 30 1.619

? ?

5.12 3.59 2 0.2 29 ? 2 6.9 t 0.2 25 1.436

4.24 2.90 29 t 2 6.9 t .02 25 1.161

4.09 3.13 29 ? 2 6.9 t 0.2 30 1.043

5.18 3.53 29 t 2 6.9 f 0.2 30 1.176

5.10 3.59 29 -c 2 6.9 t 0.2 30 1.198

4.43 2.66 29 f 2 6.9 ? 0.2

4.56 3.10 29?2 6.9 f 0.2 30 1.033

4.14 2.29 29?2 6.9 ? 0.2 30 0.763

16.67 1.856

30
0.886

1.

61.8 0.315 0.105

57.4 0.451
0.160

54.0 0.260 0.103

56.6 0.177 0.086

57.9
0.181 0.100

57.8 0.235 0.116

57.8 0.288 0.139

65.4 0.123 0.091

64.0 0.168 0.104

63.2 0.098 0.081

0.0063

0.0053

0.0041

0.0035

0.0034

0.0039

0.0046

0.003

0.0035

0.0027

21.2

44.2

26.8

21.9

28.4

29.4

36.4

20.3

26.25

16.70

VS, volatile solids: N L , normal liters.

VAIDYANATHAN ET AL.: BIOGAS PRODUCTION USING WATER HYACINTH

907

detention time, and volatile solids loading rate by maximizing net operational revenue accrued from biogas plant.

biogas digesters for commercial plants using water hyacinth.

References

CONCLUSlONS

Digestion experiments at ambient temperature of 29 & 2C conducted in a batch digester using chopped and groundwater hyacinth showed higher methane production rate; lower digester residence time are obtained with groundwater hyacinth. The biogas produced from groundwater hyacinth had higher methane content, 77%. Semicontinuous digestion experiments at ambient temperature conducted in a pilot size mixed digester using groundwater hyacinth showed that maximum specific methane production rate was obtained at the highest volatile solids loading rate and lowest hydraulic detention time. Specific methane production rate is correlated with volatile solids loading rate; this correlation offers a simple tool to design semicontinuous

1. R. Dinges, Amer. J . Pub. Health, 68, 12 (1978). 2. B. C. Wolverton and R. C. Mcdonald, Econ. Bot., 34, 101 (1980). 3. R. M. Harrer and J. L. Fox, JWPCF, 45, 1928 (1973). 4. S. Vaidyanathan, K. M. Kavadia, M. G. Rao, S. Basu, and S. P. Mahajan, Znt. J . Environ. Studies, 23, 183 (1983). 5. B. C. Wolverton and R. C. McDonald, JWPCF, 51,305 (1979). 6. K. C. Shroff, Paper Presented at All India Manufacturers Association at the Seminar on Recovery and reuse of materials pollutants, Bombay, 1977. 7. B. C. Wolverton, Bio Conversion of Water Hyacinth into Methane, NASA Tech. Mem. TM-X-72725, 1975. 8. D. L. Sriramulu and H. D. Bhargava, Energy Management, 5, 17, Oct-Dec. (1980). 9. D. L. Klass and S. Ghosh, Fuels from biomass and Wastes (Ann Arbor Science, Ann Arbor, MI, 1981), p. 129. 10. M. A. Franson (ed.), Standard Methods for the Examination of Wafer and Waste Water, 13th ed. (APHA-AWWA-WPCF Publication, John D. Lucas, Baltimore, 1971). 11. M. L. Jackson, Soil and Chemical Analysis (Prentice-Hall, New Delhi, India, 1967).

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