Biogas

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.

Basic principle behind biogas production process

When bacteria degenerate organic mass in absence of oxygen, biogas is produced. This process is also called anaerobic digestion since it occurs in absence of oxygen. Any type of organic mass is the food for gas producing bacteria. These bacteria are normally present in manure and multiply there under right conditions. They need anaerobic atmosphere i.e. no oxygen and right temperature i.e. 200C to 400C to operate effectively. Biogas plant: Biogas plant is a plant where biogas production process is carried out under right conditions. In general, biogas plant has following components: y Feed Inlet: From where the feed is fed into the system y Digester tank: Where the feed and water will stay for some time and bacterial operation will get completed. y Gas holder: It stores biogas generated during the process. y Outlet for gas: Gas generated is supplied through this outlet and is controlled by a valve. y Outlet for slurry: Slurry is discharged from this outlet pipe. There are two main types of biogas plants based on the design of digester:  Floating Dome Type (KVIC Model)  Fixed Dome Type (Janata Model)

Floating Dome Type (KVIC Model):

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.

Fixed dome type (Janata Model)

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

Biogas generation statistics:

Amount of gas generated changes with the quality and quantity of the feed. For ex. to generate 1 cubic meter of biogas we need approx. 25 kg of cow dung. Whereas 3 kg of oil cake also produces 1 cubic meter of biogas. After installation of biogas plant, the gas production may take from a few days (in summer) to 3 to 4 weeks (in winter). Initially outlet valve is kept closed to prevent the produced gas from escaping. After few days, you will see bubble formation in the outlet tank. The gas is allowed to accumulate till it almost pushes the slurry to the level of outlet opening. The initial gas has more carbon dioxide (CO2) and less methane (CH4). It has oxygen as well as some other gases. Hence this mixture of gases which is produced initially in the newly filled biogas plant is allowed to escape by opening the outlet. After that let the gas again accumulate for 3 more days. If you get a blue flame when you burn the biogas, then it is ready for use. This gas will not have any odor while burning. Biogas is the mixture of gases, mainly consist of methane (CH4, 60%) and cabon dioxide (CO2, 40%) plus traces of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and several other gases. Biogas may be used in the following three ways: (i) Direct combustion for cooking, (ii) Generation of electricity and (iii) Purification and export as compressed gas or in liquid form. Just like CNG gas cylinders Biogas Stove: Biogas gets generated at atmospheric pressure hence normal LPG gas stove will not work directly on biogas. You need to remove the pressure reducing pin from the LPG stove to operate the stove on biogas. Biogas Generator: Normally 15KW above gensets are available in the market which can be directly run on biogas. We can use dual fuel (Diesel + biogas) attachment on any diesel generator, and can produce the required power. Alternatively, if all other gases (Co2 + H2S + moisture etc) are removed from the biogas, then only methane remains. This methane can be compressed and used like compressed natural gas (CNG) to run automobiles, generators etc.

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.

Factors affecting production of gas:

Following are some of the factors which may affect the process. y The quantity and nature of organic matter y The temperature y Acidity and alkanity (PH value) of substrate y The flow and dilution of material

Maintenance tips for biogas plant:

1. Biogas plant must get its feed continuously. If biogas plant shuts down, it will take 40 days to generate the biogas again. 2. Regular checking of biogas plant for leakages using soap solution and regular checking of the pipe line from where biogas passes is also important. 3. In floating dome type plant, paint the dome regularly to avoid rusting.

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.