RLA BIOGAS MANUFACTURING PLANT

A Plant Design
Presented to
The Faculty of the Chemical Engineering Department
Eastern Visayas State University
Tacloban City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course ChE 523

By:
Rachel G. Elias
Lashelle B. Oledan
Abbygail B. Palmes

Submitted to:
Engr. Juvyneil E. Cartel

July 20, 2015

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The world population now has reached seven billion according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It
has been confirmed mathematically that population doubles every forty years. As years progress
the number of people increases which is proportional to the demand of the primary needs of
human being which is food. In order for earth to sustain this needs many agriculturalists
proclaimed that there must be an increase in animals raised for food.
Considering this solution there is one major problem that may arise, the worsening of climate
change. An animal waste which emits methane gas is considered as a one of the greenhouse
gases

that causes the warming of the earths atmosphere. In order to resolve this issue

researchers and scientists establish a method for reducing emissions, it is to recover the methane
before it is emitted into the air. Methane recovery involves capturing and collecting the methane
produced in the manure management system.
The utility of designing and developing a biogas plant using animal waste as feedstock gives
the proponents an insight in solving not only food scarcity in the near future and to resolve
environmental problems but also to give additional solution to energy crisis in the next few
years.
The use of pigs dung as feedstock has been considered since they are the primary raised
livestock here in our country. According to Ludwig Sasse which he published in his book Biogas
Plant, pig dung contains 67% methane compared to cattle and poultry manure which only
contains 65% and 60% methane.

RATIONALE
Biogas is an ecological source of energy. It is composed of a mixture of combustible gases. It
is mainly consist of methane gas (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and a very small amount of
impurities such as hydrogen sulfide. Biogas is produced without the presence of oxygen through
a process called anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is the process in which volatile organic
materials are broken down in the absence of oxygen. The main products are biogas and digestate.
Biogas is combustible gas, consisting primarily of methane and carbon dioxide. Digestate is the
decomposed substrate, resulted from the production of biogas.
The process of biogas formation is a result of linked process steps, in which the initial
material is continuously broken down into smaller units. Specific groups of microorganisms are
involved in each individual step. These organisms successively decompose the products of the
previous steps. The anaerobic digestion highlights the four main process steps: hydrolysis,
acidogenesis, acetogenesis, and methanogenesis. The simplified diagram of AD process is shown
below.

Hydrolysis is theoretically the first step of AD, during which the complex organic matter
(polymers) is decomposed into smaller units (mono- and oligomers). During hydrolysis,
polymers like carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins are converted into glucose,
glycerol, purines and pyridines. During acidogenesis, the products of hydrolysis are converted by
acidogenic (fermentative) bacteria into methanogenic substrates. Products from acidogenesis,
which cannot be directly converted to methane by methanogenic bacteria, are converted into

methanogenic substrates during acetogenesis. The production of methane and carbon dioxide
from intermediate products is carried out by methanogenic bacteria. Methanogenesis is a critical
step in the entire anaerobic digestion process, as it is the slowest biochemical reaction of the
process.
The production and utilisation of biogas from AD provides environmental and socioeconomic
benefits for the society as a whole as well as for the involved farmers. Utilisation of the internal
value chain of biogas production enhances local economic capabilities, safeguards jobs in rural
areas and increases regional purchasing power. It improves living standards and contributes to
economic and social development. Some of the benefits the biogas can give to the society are the
following:

Renewable energy source

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigations of global warming
Reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels
Waste reduction
Job creation
Flexible and efficient end use of biogas
Low water inputs

Uses of biogas

Biogas for heating

Biogas power generation
Biogas as vehicle fuel
Biogas in the gas network
Biogas in industry

It was on 17th century when Van Helmont discovered that decaying organic matters produced
flammable gases yet it was Shirley, in 1667, described the gas even more precise thats why the
credit was given to Shirley as the discoverer of literally known as to be biogas.
The world markets for biogas increased considerably during the last years and many countries
developed modern biogas technologies and competitive national biogas markets throughout
decades of intensive research and development complemented by substantial governmental and
public support.

After India and China, Philippines is the third major country in the Asia- Pacific Region where
biogas program was pursued. In the Philippines, Dr. Felix D. Maramba, agricultural engineer
from Araneta University Foundation before, introduced biogas technology. He is the founder of
the Maya Farm Biogas Model. Maya Farm Biogas was one of the earliest large scale biogas plant
in the Philippines set up at Antipolo Hills, Rizal.
The energy content of biogas from AD is chemically bounded in methane. The composition
and properties of biogas varies to some degree depending on feedstock types, digestion systems,
temperature, retention time etc. Table 5.1 presented below contains some average biogas
composition values, found in most of the literature. Considering biogas with the standard
methane content of 50%, the heating value is of 21 MJ/Nm, the density is of 1.22 kg/Nm and
the mass is similar to air (1.29 kg/Nm).

The proponents have chosen the pig manure as the feedstock for the production of biogas.
Humphrey Davy, inventor of the miners safety lamp, discovered in the nineteenth century the
production of combustible gas in fermenting farmyard manure. It is Humphrey who first comes
up with the idea of animal manure biogas. The chemical composition and quantity of pig waste
depends upon several factors: age, live weight, breed, feed and water intake, digestibility of the
ration, housing, environment and waste management. The production of solid pig waste ranges
from 0.6 to 1.0% of dry matter per day calculated on body weight. Low-digestibility rations yield
relatively more manure. With the increase of body weight the quantity of pig waste decreases
significantly (Tietjen, 1966, cit. by Henning and Poppe, 1977). Faeces represent about 46% and
urine 54% of wastes on fresh basis, but on dry basis faeces represent 77% and urine 23%. The
pH of pig manure is in the range 7.28.3. The chemical composition of manure also changes
rapidly with time after excretion (Harmon, 1974).The biochemical routes of bacterial
decomposition of manure can be divided into the aerobic process (resulting in carbon dioxide,
nitrites, and nitrates, dissolved nitrogen and soluble sulphates) and anaerobic action (yielding
gases such as methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulphate and carbon dioxide). Australian scientists
of the University of Melbourne have contributed greatly to knowlegde of the chemical

composition of pig manure. In comprehensive studies Pearce (1977b) documented a large

volume of analytical data from 24 commercial piggeries which appear in Table 34.

OBJECTIVES
The proponents have established the following objectives:
o
o
o

To utilize animal wastes for greater use other than as fertilizers

To help the country in solving the scarcity of sources of energy by introducing alternatives
To improve the employment statistics in the Region VIII especially in Capiz, Alangalang, Leyte

PROJECT BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

I. PROJECT PROPONENTS
Name: Rachel G. Elias
Nationality: Filipino
Address: Javier, Leyte
% of Ownership: 33.33%

Name: Lashelle B. Oledan

Nationality: Filipino
Address: Brgy.Macopa, Jaro, Leyte
% of Ownership: 33.33%

Name: Abbygail B. Palmes

Nationality: Filipino
Address: Brgy. Obayan Pinabacdao, Samar
% of Ownership: 33.33%

The proponents of the project are 5th year students taking up BS in Chemical Engineering at
Eastern Visayas State University Main Campus.

II. NAME OF THE FIRM

The firm will bear the name RLA BIOGAS MANUFACTURING PLANT that was derived
from the initials of the first names of the stockholders. This business was formulated to present
an alternative source in producing kitchen fuels using animal waste and to help the world in
solving energy crisis.
III. TYPE OF BUSINESS ORGANIZATION
According to the Article 1767 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines, partnership is a
contract whereby two or more persons themselves to contribute money, property or industry to
common fund, with the intention of dividing the profits among themselves. Below are the owners
and their percentage of ownership.
Name of Owners

Equity

Rachel G. Elias

33.33%

Lashelle B. Oledan

33.33%

Abbygail B. Palmes

33.33%
100%

A partnership has some advantages that can benefit the owners. It can easily be formed and
dissolved because it exist on agreement, better management can be attained considering the
combined expertise of the partners, a bigger amount of capital can be raised as compared to a
sole proprietorship. There is a great advantage of forming a partnership for the exercise of
profession because such partnership is exempted from payment of income tax. The interest of
one partner cannot be transferred to a new partner without the consent of the partners.

IV. LOCATION OF HEAD OFFICE AND FACTORY

The head office and factory of the said plant will be situated in the same location.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"BIOGAS TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN THE PHILIPPINES: Status and Prospects"

by: H.F. Avilla, A.B. Colico, F.A. Moog and R.G. Martinez
Peter Jacob Jrgensen, PlanEnergi and Researcher for a Day Faculty of Agricultural Sciences,
Aarhus University 2009 2nd edition
Sasse, Ludwig, Biogas Plants; Federal Republic of Germany; Deutches Zentrum fr
Entwicklungstechnologien Publication; 1988.
http://www.census.gov/