ENGR101 Major Design Report Bio-Digester

For The An Minh District, Vietnam

By Daniel Corbett Paul Eastwood Thomas McCarthy Ben Mitchell

Summary This is a group project report for the design of a bio-digester in the An Minh District in Vietnam. The design process starts with gathering information about the Vietnam, Vietnamese culture as well as existing bio-digester designs and how they work. The next stage is the creations of two alternative solutions, one is a large scale operation and the other is a small digester to fit the needs of a small group of families. The designs are expressed using a range of sketches and annotations. The chosen concept was fleshed out and developed specifically for use in the An Minh District. The recommend solution is a Polyethylene Tube digester that has a volume of 11m3, a length of 9m and provides four cooking hours per day. The report follows on with a brief set of construction instructions and then whole design is analyzed and evaluated according to the specifications. Problem Statement The An Minh district in Vietnam needs a bio-digester as they cannot process their waste and do not have a sustainable energy source. They need a design that can turn their waste into useable methane for energy and as a fertiliser without the use of an external energy source. The specifications for this design are that the input into the bio-digester needs to be organic waste and human waste, the output of the bio-digester needs to be methane and fertilizer. There must be safety features for the collection and storage of methane. The design constraints are that the design must be inexpensive; it also must be simplistic as it needs to use local materials and knowledge. Finally it must be self powered as external energy sources are not sustainable and are expensive. The success criteria for this project, is to turn waste products into methane that can be used for cooking and fertilizer useful for rice crops. The designs success is also measured by its simplicity and durability. This is so that the design is cost effective and can easily be maintained. Finally the safety of the users is paramount so the design must incorporate effective safety features to achieve this. Research and Investigation Geography and Terrain The An Minh District is located in the south of the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam. The Mekong Delta had a huge verity of terrain due to tectonic movement. The majority of the landscape is fertile flood plains but has mountains and high country in the north. The flood plains are rich, as the Mekong River has brought down large amounts of minerals from the north over thousands of years. These features make the An Minh District ideal for rice farming but make transport, building and building basic infrastructure very difficult. Rice Farming The process of rice farming is very labour intensive and has many different stages. Preparing the paddy fields involves creating proper irrigation systems so that the rice always has enough water. The paddy fields need to be ploughed before the rice is planted and this is done with water buffalo. Once the crop is ready it is harvested all at once by large groups. Straight after this it is threshed and dried so that the rice doesnt rot. The waste from these processes is the paddy straw and rice husk. Both of these can be used in a bio-digester to make methane.

Weather The Mekong Delta experiences a large range of weather extremes during the year. The average temperature is 27.3C with an average humidity of 80-84%. The region experiences its wet season between May and October which peaks in July. The dry season ranges from around November to April. As the An Minh District is located near the coast it can get severe cyclones on occasion. The weather here makes this district well suited for rice framing but limits the types of bio-digester designs. This is because there is little infrastructure due to very high water table.

Annual rainfall data Units: mm 2006 2007 2008 January 10.3 29.8 21.8 February 4.6 49.2 March 66.8 104.5 April 74.3 81.8 133.4 May 386 298.3 229.4 June 381.1 286.2 354.6 July 416 411.4 214.8 August 279.7 504.6 359.4 September 526.1 277.4 304.2 October 232.5 583.4 331.3 November 69.3 98.1 184.5 December 8.8 48.8 154.2

2009 41.7 98.7 82.4 65.9 403.6 196.3 435.2 189.6 295.9 237.1 33.7 18.8

2010 5.3 12.6 7.7 166.5 264.9 271.5 312 194.9 203.8 237.2 41.1

Local Materials The An Minh District is a rural rice farming area, which on average live off 2USD a day. Because of this most of the population has very limited resources. They most commonly use natural materials for construction i.e. thatched roofs, timber frames, bamboo. Materials useful for a bio-digester can be obtained from large townships but the difficulty is transporting them. Culture Life in the Delta is dependent on the Mekong River, they need it for the rice crops, transport to and from villages, they use it for washing and cleaning as well as a sewer system. The Deltas population is 112,215 and covers an area of 711 km2 which means the population density is around 160people/ km2 . In rural areas there a small villages that consist of 4-6 houses spread out over a rice farm. Each house has up to 15 people living in it and working on the rice farm. What is a bio-digester? Bio-digesters turn organic matter (animal waste, human waste and plant material) into biogas (mixture of methane and carbon dioxide) and a liquid fertiliser fill of nutrients. This is done by letting the organic matter break down over a period of time and then collecting the gas that it produces. Types of bio-digesters A digester can either be a batch or continuous system. In the batch system a large amount of organic material is prepared at once and then sealed in a container. Once the digestion process is complete the container is emptied. The batch system is simpler than continuous, more efficient, requires less equipment and design work. It is generally the cheaper option. Multiple batch systems can create a large volume of biogas. In the continuous system waste matter is continuously added at one end and removed at the same rate from the other end (1st in 1st out process). This means there is a continuous production of biogas. The design requires the organic matter to be mixed regularly to maximize efficiency. Digesters can also be single or multistage. A single stage digester process all the waste in one tank. This is the cheapest option but also the least efficient. In a multi stage digester the waste in 3

move between tanks depending on what stage it is at in the digestion process. This means that different bacteria can be used and the pH can be changed to get the most biogas out of the waste. Existing Designs in 3rd world countries Floating cover This design is a single stage batch system. The waste is put into the digester and left for 2-4 weeks. It is agitated daily and as the bio-gas is produces the cover lifts up so it is effectively floating on the gas. This creates a constant gas pressure which is the main benefit of this design. The floating cover design can be simplified as water heating and agitation is not essential but do make it much more efficient. A version of this can be made with two 40gallon drums which is a common item. Overall the design is quite complex and requires skilled labour to construct.
Figure 1: Floating coating

Fixed dome This design relies on an underground tank build of concrete or brick and mortar. At the top there is a solid dome where the gas is collected. Waste is inputted through a large tube into the tank. This is quite a large scale permanent design that requires a lot of skilled labour and materials. The flaw with this design is that the gas pressure is not constant and it is difficult to empty once filled. This is the most expensive design and may not even be possible as the An Minh district has a low water table.
Figure 2: Fixed dome

Polyethylene Tube This design is a single stage continuous system. It uses a large long polyethylene tube where the waste is inputted at the front and comes out the end after a few weeks. The gas is extracted from the middle of the tube and stored in a reservoir. The benefit of this design it that it is very cheap and easy to set up, it requires minimal skilled labour. It is not the most efficient design but it is simple. Digestion Process Research Figure 3: Polyethylene Tube What is anaerobic digestion? Anaerobic bacteria digestion is the breakdown of organic materials with an absence of oxygen to form biogas. This process can be managed in a digester or covered pond to produce fertiliser. There are three stages for anaerobic digestion all with a variety of different microorganisms. Firstly a collection of microorganisms convert the organic material to a type of material that another group of microorganisms change to make organic acids. Methanoginic which is a methane producing anaerobic bacteria utilize the organic acid and finish off the decomposition. What can go in a bio-digester? Any organic material can go into a digester to form biogas. It just depends on how long its going to take to for each type of organic material to break down. Materials that are high in energy and are easily digestible work best. Manure is very good to use and when using plant materials acidic

matter should be avoided because it will change the pH of the digester. Another downside of using plant matter is that it is slow and hard to digest. Do different inputs need to be broken down differently? Different manures need different water ratios before they can be added to a bio-digester. Cow manure which is a lot thicker than pig manure has a dilution rate of 1:2 for manure to water. This dilution rate is the same for human waste but for pigs it is a 1:1 ratio for manure to water. Alternative Solutions Alternative Design Solution 1 This solution is based on the polythene tube design that has been proven to be successful in other 3rd world areas. The original design costs approximately 25 us dollars depending on what local materials are available. Rice paddy straw needs to be shredded before digestion so there needed to be a way to process the raw waste and mix it with water before in putting it into the digester. Option one is very simple, it is a wooden bench where the straw and husk can be manually cut up with a machete and then scraped into the 40 gallon drum next to it. Water can be collected by bucket and poured into the digester. This is then mixed and a valve is opened allowing the mixture to flow into the digester. Option two requires a hand powered water pump and shredder. The shredder can be made cheaply by using a old 40mm drill bit welded to a metal crank arm which is rotated next to a sharpen strip of angle iron. Both of these are set inside a wooden box and then attached to the top of the 40 gallon drum. The water pump will need to be purchased (approximately 50usd). The third option is a small electric wet shredder that sucks in water and chops of the organic matter. This requires a power source (could be run by a gas generated from the biogas) and is quite expensive (approximate 300usd). The digestion system needs to have an input, an output and a system for gas collection. The efficiency is affected by the temperature and if the system is agitated or not. Option one is two layers of transparent polyethylene tubular film (one inside the other) which creates a tube that is 5-10m long depending on the amount of waste and size of family. The input and output are at opposite ends and on top in the middle there is a gas output. The materials used are common or can be recycled from other products e.g. rubber tubes, plastic buckets. Option 2 improves upon option 1 by making the digester more efficient. It has a sun cover for when it is hot. This regulates the temperature in the digester as well as protecting the polyethylene tube from UV rays. There is a thermal blanket for night time and cold weather to keep the heat in. In the centre of the digester there is a large metal whisk that agitates the material. It is connected to a metal rod that acts as an axle and goes through both sides of the digester. The fertilisers output into a small plastic trough and this is controlled by a valve on the end of the digester. The gas output is run past a metal wire pad (Steello) which scrubs the gas off any reactive elements. This protects the cooker and any other metal parts from corrosion. Also the gas is run past a water trap (gas escape valve) as a safety feature to stop over pressurisation. Finally the gas is store in another polyethylene tube in the kitchen or where the gas is being used. The pressure here can be controlled with a noose around the bag.

In conclusion since the major design constraint is cost and simplicity, the only benefits from the expensive complex solutions are less work for the user. Therefore the simplest form of the design has to be the best choice so for the input and digestion system option one is the choice for both. Simplicity is important as there will be limited knowledge on the processes and the design can be developed by them to best suit their needs once they develop an understanding about it. Alternative Design Solution 2 The bio-digester lake option is a concept based off the idea of using an anaerobic lake that converts inputs such as animal and vegetation waste and digests it to produce methane and fertiliser. One lake should sufficiently produce enough methane and fertiliser for a small village of 250 people. There are two different input methods for organic materials into the bio-digester. The first is having a type of air tight lock which works by opening a first seal putting the input into the tube and then reclosing the seal. The second seal for it is opened which is at a high enough angle for the materials to slide downwards into the digester. When all the input has slid down the second seal can be closed. The point of doing this is that it stops any gas escaping into the atmosphere. Also it makes it easier to regulate the amount that is being inputted. The second type suggested for an input is by having a large oval funnel that uses gravity to move the input down and into the digester. This input system has a screw on lid which stops the odours of the digester coming out of the input valve when it isnt being used. This design works well because it is simple and easy to use and maintain. The lake is a very basic idea and design. The lake is created by digging up earth where it is deep enough that water in the ground from surrounding areas does not seep in. This is also prevented by having the lake possibly up on higher ground. The downside of having it up on higher ground is that it is harder for villagers to get to it. Another prevention method to stop the lake mixing and coming in contact with the surroundings is having a layer of thick plastic which is then reinforced by a layer of clay to act as a barrier between the lake and the outer earth. The lake also needs a cover on it to collect the methane and stop the smell of it. The gas can be collected in many ways with one of the easiest being attaching a bag and pipe to the top of the cover on the lake and having the plastic bag which starts empty filling with the gas. There are a few downsides to this design and one major one is changing bags when one is full to stop the methane being lost. A good suggestion to stop this would be to tie off both the bag and the pipe then separating them and untying the pipe of with a new bag. This bag can also be contained in a circular storage tank which will have an open top roof so the bag size can be checked while still keeping the bag out of the weather. Getting the fertiliser out of the digester is also quite a simple process, it could be stored in the lake and a pipe which can be opened to release some when needed, or it could be stored in a tank. The best idea for this type of situation is to have it on tap for when people need it. The best make up for input and output in the lake concept is to have a funnel for input and the on tap fertiliser. The gas will be collected using the bag in a storage tank that expands. These are the best ideas because they are also simple but very effective in what is needed.

Evaluation Matrix Property Setup Maintenance Gas Fertiliser Simplicity Accessibility Safety Skilled Labour Electricity Durability Cost Total Weight w 6 8 10 7 8 4 9 6 8 6 9 Design One S 6 6 6 8 7 10 8 5 10 8 10 sxw 36 48 60 56 56 40 72 30 80 48 90 616 Design Two s 4 8 8 6 7 5 6 7 10 9 7 sxw 24 64 80 42 56 20 54 42 80 54 63 579

Table 1: Evaluation Matrix

The above evaluation matrix was used to formalize the decision process for the bio-digester designs. The evaluation matrix splits up each design into its fundamental properties and each design gets a score (s), based on how well it would perform in each basic property. Some properties are more crucial than others because of the initial criteria and limitations of the designs, so each property is weighted (w) accordingly. All of the property values were based on the amount of bio-digesters that would be required for the 250 people village of An Minh, that meant design one was based on 15 Polyethylene tube bio-digesters and design two was based on one large pond. Setup; how fast and simple the designs could be setup, it was weighted 6. Even though most of the setup would have to be done by the villagers themselves, it was deemed unimportant because the bio-digester would only have to be setup once and some assistance could be given. Maintenance; if something was to go wrong with the bio-digester how easy would it be to fix, also what are the required routines for the bio-digester to continue to work, it was weighted 8. Once the digester is set up it would be up to the villagers to keep it running and fix any problems, which is also why simplicity was weighted 8. Gas; is the amount of gas that would be produced for a certain amount of matter, it was weighted 10 because the whole aim was to produce gas for cooking. Fertiliser; is the amount of semi solid produced from a certain amount of input matter, the aim was to produce this but because of the limited use for fertiliser on rice paddies, it was weighted 7. Accessibility; was only weighted 4 because the villagers are agricultural and so because neither design would be an excessive distance away the travel to the digester would not affect them very much. Safety was weighted 9 because if a design is to be chosen it must not have any potential harm to the villagers because their safety is more important than any methane or fertiliser.

Skilled labour; how much knowledge and effort would be required from the villagers, it was weighted 6. Electricity; was judged on how minimal the energy usage would be. It was weighted 8 because in the aim and problem definition the lack of electricity source was evident and was a clear limitation; also the aim of an engineer is to design products that are more sustainable. Recommend Solution This is the basic layout for the recommend solution. At the top there is a small work station for the waste to be processed and inputted into the digester itself. Once the waste is in the digester it slowly flows down through the tube as more waste is put in and fertiliser is taken out the other end. The waste is aerobically digested by bacteria breaking down the waste and producing bio-gas. This gas is collected from the top of the tube towards the output end as it will naturally rise to this point. The output waste can either be disposed of or used as fertiliser by opening the PVC ball value and letting it flow out. This is also aided by the body of the digester being dug into the ground so that it sits on a 2.5% downward slope. This is the processing station of the digester, it consists of a 40 gallon drum (plastic or metal), a stand for the drum and a cutting table or bench. The cutting table is not essential to the design but as the paddy straw need to be broken down as much as possible, a large amount of straw can be cut quickly with a machete then scraped directly into the drum. The table itself is fastened to the drum with 2 metal angle braces that are bolted into the drum and bench. The drum needs to be raised off the ground so that the waste is gravity fed into the digester. This is important as if raw human waste is sitting in the drum it will create a stench and cause diseases. For this same reason the output from the drum is at the very base and is a large diameter. The process of putting in a days worth of waste is pouring the liquid human waste into the drum, add water as required. Finely chopping paddy straw and adding water as required. Then mix well with a stick so the slurry mix will easily flow through the input tube. Next open the value and let the mix flow into the digester, once the barrel is empty rinse drum with another bucket of water and then close the value This is a safety device that stops the system over-pressurising as well as scrubbing the bio-gas of any corrosive components. This is set up along the gas line from the digester to the gas reservoir. In the cross of the T there is a metal Steello (steel wool) or similar pot scrubber. This is so it is the first metal contact with the gas, so if there are any corrosive elements in the gas they will react with the Steello. It acts as a sacrifice so that the gas does not corrode the burner or any of its fittings. The Steello can be easily replaced once it stops doing its job. The other function of this device is that if the reservoir becomes full it will not build up pressure which is dangerous. Instead the excess gas is expelled out the bottom of the T and up through the water inside the bottle. This is the reservoir, it has a volume of 2m3 which is just enough for 1 days cooking. This is so that excess gas in not stored which can be 9

dangerous. The reservoir is suspended from the rafters of the roof in the kitchen or somewhere close to the burner. The rope noose is a simple method for keeping the gas pressure constant when the gas is in use. It is only single ply polyethylene as it is indoors and not exposed to the elements. If the reservoir gets torn or starts to leak there is very minimal danger as since the gas is not pressurised so it will naturally disperse in the room. Calculations Gas required cooking needs According to Ethnomed (2012), rice is the staple of a Vietnamese diet, it is consumed in almost every meal. The number of people living in a close enough proximity to the gas and input there was is estimated to be 15 (Nguyen, T.B, 2011) This is the size of 3 households. Clusters of 3 houses are typical of Mekong rice farms as they live and share the same cooking space. Since rice is cooked 3 times a day, two burners are needed to prepare one meal. Cooking for each meal is likely to take 30-45min for 15 people so a good estimate is that there needs to be 4 cooking hours worth of gas per day. Volume of Digester Tube The size of the digester is dependent on the volume of gas that needs to be produced and the amount of waste to be digested. Using 15 people the amount of human waste input per day is: On average, one human produces 1 kg of urine and 0.23 kg of faecal matter or a total of 1.23 kg waste in one day. Urine has a high nitrogen content which has to be compensated for by adding rice straw to achieve the required C: N ratio of 30:1. Assuming that the average density of human waste slurry is 1.0 g/cm3, the volume of human waste per house per day is ( ( ) )

The amount of paddy straw needed to balance the nitrogen levels and keep the anaerobic digestion happening is 14 kg/day assuming that sawdust and paddy straw have similar chemical compositions. The paddy straw needs to be chopped up to increase surface area and turned into a wet mixture. To do this the mixture must be one part paddy straw to 4 parts water which makes a total volume per day to be Adding this to the of human waste there is a total input of . Max gas production is reached in approximately 98 days. The amount of waste the digester has to hold is 98 days worth of input so the digestion process can be at its most efficient.

On average 80% of the total volume in the tube corresponds to the liquid fraction, so to provide a liquid volume of 8.82 m will require a bio-digester with a total volume of:

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There are three different standard diameters of polyethylene tubular film. Using a 0.80 m diameter tube results in a 22 m long digester to hold 11 m3, 1.25 m results in a 9 m long digester and 2.00 m diameter only needs to be 3.5 m long. The most suitable width for this design is the 1.25 m diameter and means the digester will be a manageable length. The hole in the ground will not need to be too deep which is important due to the low water table. Gas produced from an 11 m3 paddy straw and human waste digester This cannot be properly worked out without building a digester in Vietnam and recording gas outputs but a rough approximation can be made from similar design using similar inputs. From a batch digester using 870 kg of Paddy straw it produced 160 m3 of gas. The average gas that it produced per day was around 0.9 m3 and biogas was generated after 29 days with a high enough CH4 to be used for cooking. The input for our own design makes the C: N ratio closer to the ideal 30:1 ratio so it is safe to assume it will produce more gas per unit of input. Cooking hours per day from digester Again a direct calculation cannot be made as we dont have a working digester to test. Instead an estimate can be made using existing research. A 2L volume of water was boiled using biogas from the same digester that was previously mentioned. The time it took to boil was 17 min and 21 seconds and it used 0.071 m3 of the gas. As the digester produces 0.9 m3 of gas per day it means that a single burner can be used for about 3 and a half hours per day. This makes the design suitable as the requirement is that it produces 4 cooking hours per day and from the calculations and assumption made it is likely the design will meet this specification. Parts List 25 m of Polyethylene tubular film (1.25 m diameter) (200 to 250 microns thickness) 1 PVC ball valves of 75 to 100 cm length and 80 mm internal diameter or similar Hosepipe (can be recycled as long as it is air tight) ideal internal diameter is 10-20 mm, length is the distance from the digester to the burner. 2 PVC adapters (male and female) of the same internal diameter as the hosepipe. 2 rubber washers (from car inner tube) of at least 70mm diameter with the central hole being the same diameter as the hosepipe. 2 rigid plastic washers of 10 cm diameter and a central hole with the hose pipe diameter. Old buckets and other thick flat plastics can be used to make these 0.40 m of PVC pipe of hosepipe internal diameter. 0.80 m lengths of PVC tube internal diameter 80mm 4 used inner tubes (from bicycle, motor cycle or motor car) cut into bands 5 cm wide. 1 2 L plastic bottle (coke bottle or similar) 1 PVC "T" that will tightly fit inside the plastic bottle. Silicone Sealant. Miscellaneous fitting to connect the gas hoses. 11

A cost estimate for a similar design in Vietnam that uses most of these materials is estimated to be $25 USD. This is still a lot of money for Vietnamese farmers but it can be done cheaper as everything apart from the polyethylene tubing could be recycled from other things. The design itself has been left open so that any materials that are available can be used to construct the design. Construction Construction of the bio-digester is broken down into several parts, selecting a site to build, creating a trench for the digester, constructing the drum input, making the digester tube and gas reservoir and connecting the gas and safety. What follows is a brief outline of what is involved. Selecting a site to build and creating a trench The site needs to dry land that is at a minimum of 0.7 m above the water table. The closer it is to the kitchen the less piping that will be need. The trench needs to be 9 m long and between 0.5 m and 0.65 m deep. It must be on a 2.5 % downwards slope so the bottom end must be around 0.013 m lower than the top. Then mark out the area for the trench and move the dirt out well away so that it doesnt wash back in during the rainy season. Constructing the drum input Set up a raised stand for the drum that is 0.2 m off ground level and 0.2 m back from the edge of the digester pit. The stand can be anything that will provide a stable base of support, an option for this is 2 large cinder blocks or 4-6 lengths of bamboo (1 m) tightly bound vertically to the side of the drum then burry the ends of them in the ground. The side bench adjacent to the digester is connected to the drum by two angle brackets on the underside of the bench top. This is optional and a simpler alternative is to place a thick piece of 0.6x0.6 m wood on top of the drum like a lid and cut the paddy straw on that and then slide the over and scrape the waste in that way. The drum can be connected to the digester in two ways depending on what tools are available. The simplest option is to invert the drum and cut out the bottom. Then take the cap off and use a fitting that can be screwed on then a hose pipe can be attached that goes to the digester (This is not a great solution as the hole is small (between 40-50 mm DIA) so is likely to get clogged. The other solution is to cut a hole in the base of the drum so that an 80 mm DIA tube can be inserted and then sealed in place. Making the digester tube and gas reservoir Cut two 10.5 m length of the polyethylene tube and insert one layer inside. Mark a line 0.75 m from both ends. Cut two 0.40 m lengths of PVC tube (80 mm DIA) and at one end scrunch up the polyethylene tube and push it through the PVC tube up to the line on the polyethylene tube. Fold the short end of the polyethylene tube back over the top of the PVC tube. Bind the plastic on the top of the tube with rubber tubing. Mark a point 4 m from the line at the other end of the tube in the centre. Cut out a (20 mm DIA) hole through both layers of the tube and put in the gas outlet as shown in the appendix. Next repeat the same steps for the other end of the tube and attach the other PVC tube. The process for the reservoir is exactly the same except that only one layer is used and the length of polyethylene tube used is 2.6 m. Mark a line 0.3 m from each end and cut two 0.2m lengths of PVC tube (20 mm DIA), no centre hole is needed. Place the large tube in the trench that has been prepared for a tube and connect the end that is furthest from the gas outlet to the input drum. Connect the other end to a PVC ball valve and then place a water trough or other receptacle to collect the fertiliser. 12

Gas reservoir and connecting the gas and safety Get a PVC T tube and push a Steello pad into the junction. Push the long end of the T into a 2 L plastic bottle. Cut a hole (60 mm DIA) half way up the bottle and fill up to the hole with water. Connect the hose pipe from the gas output tube to one end of the T and then another length to the reservoir. Finally connect another length from the reservoir to the cooker or burner. Maintenance/Use The maintenance required for this design is very minimal. Filling up the safety value with water and replacing the Steel Wool scrubber is the only regular maintenance required. Once a year the dirt around the digester may need to be cleared back, this is so the digester does not become buried. The cost estimate for this is less than 5 USD per year. This includes replacement or patching up of any leaking gas fitting and the steel wool. If the system is checked regularly and used with care, the digester will not fail. Step 1- Pour 1 unit of human waste into the empty drum Step 2- Chop 5 units of paddy straw finely (approx. 1-2 cm length) & scrape into the drum Step 3- Add 5 units of water to the drum and mix with the rod so that the waste will easily flow into the digester. Use extra water if required Step 4-Open valve and let all the waste flow in, rinse drum with water and then close valve. If the digester seems like it is not producing gas the most likely fault is the gas line. In which case follow it checking for leaks or kinks and insure that the noose around the reservoir is loose. Design in Context Appropriateness of Design The design mostly uses locally available or recycled materials. This has benefits for the users of the digester as it decreases the overall costs and makes it easier to get replacements if it needs maintenance. It also benefits the local community as the money spent helps develop the community instead of going overseas. The skills needed for the construction of the digester are well within the grasp of local laborers. This means the there is an opportunity for the development of a local business that manufactures and installs bio-digester. The revenue and jobs created from this would help the Anh Minh district move forward and not rely on an external fuel supplier. The small digesters act as a stepping stone toward full power generation from bio-gas. The potential of this is that it could power a local rice processing plant so the farmers could cut out a middle man and get a greater return on their crops. The actual design of the digester is in line with local culture due to its simplicity. Vietnamese people are very traditional and the rice farming methods they used today are exactly the same as hundreds of years ago. This design harnesses gas that otherwise goes to waste and it is not a complicated or expensive process. Because of this the design will be readily accepted, especially by the woman as they will benefit the most from it. Life Cycle Analysis The average life cycle of the Polyethylene Bio-digester is around 3 years, until it needs repairs, but due to the extra precautions for UV protection and it being a simple design, it is easily fixed by the locals and could continue to be a viable source of fertilizer and bio-gas for many years.

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Construction and Usage Most of the materials used are recycling waste products such as used bottles and buckets, items that would otherwise go to a landfill. The input materials that keep the bio-digester producing methane and fertilizer are all organic products that would usually be disposed of. The organic waste would usually produce methane (an air pollutant) and be a ground water pollutant in An Minh. Instead the Bio-digester makes it possible to harness the methane for cooking energy and change the solid matter into a semi solid fertilizer. As stated by GreenHouse Gas Online ..... rice agriculture is a large source of methane in the atmosphere and the semi solid fertilizer produced by the bio-digester is said to reduce the amount of methane produced by rice paddy fields. The groundwater and flood plains of An Minh means that the fertilizer produced could become a source of water pollution (Morison, 2012). The bio-digester poses no threat of land degradation because of how small scale and unobtrusive it is once built. Disposal and Recycling The design is 15 small scale bio-digesters, so therefore once they are beyond repair each one can be removed separately and because they are small scale there is no lasting impact from them. The bio-digesters consist of local and reused materials and so it is likely that the materials would be able to be re-used again and again. PVC is a major component in the digester, and it is possible to recycle it after use, but only if it is separated from other plastics before incineration (Greenpeace, 2002). It also has to be relatively undamaged for this. This is all possible because the PVC can be easily separated from other parts and based on other case studies (Rodriguez and Preston n.d.) When the digester became clogged from hardened waste and damaged by UV rays, the inner PVC layer was gas tight and still in good condition. Final Evaluation The final design for the bio digester works extremely well. Along the design process it has been improved and adapted to meet all of the design specifications. It has also had work on it throughout this design process to minimize the limitations and create a design that will succeed in a real work situation. The bio digester works well in meeting the design specifications because it has a varying amount of materials that can be used as input. The digester can handle all the types of input specified such as animal dung, human waste and all plant matter. It also outputs the correct materials to satisfy the specifications and the needs of the people in the Anh Minh district, Vietnam. The design put forward is also very safe and smart. There is a number of safety features designed into the bio digester so that while it is in use, people can be safe and not need to worry about the dangers of it. For example one of the safety devices is to stop the system over pressurizing yet also working to purify the bio gas output. There is also safety advice for the construction of the bio digester. This again is to make sure that people always remain safe while around the digester. Cost has been a big factor in the design of this project because it has been designed for a third world country. The cost of this design has been minimized as much as possible because it is one of the biggest design constraints. The estimated cost to make one bio digester is $25USD which is expensive for a Vietnamese farmer yet has the ability to be done cheaper because most items needed in the design can be recycled. The design that has been specified is very simple, and has been used in developing countries around the world before so there is a lot of knowledge in the world about how they work. Therefore it is very simple and easy to share the knowledge of other similar designs around the 14

world and the knowledge needed to work this design by locals. Since locals will have the knowledge in how to run and operate the digester it will not be hard for them to fix and maintain the digester. It may happen that every three years when materials need to be replaced that an expert is needed but then after long enough locals will have the knowledge to do it themselves. This idea is applied in the construction of the digesters also. When the first digester is made, there may have to be several experts there to set up and assist locals but after a short time, locals should easily be able to set up a digester on their own. Another very major constraint in the brief was to minimize the amount of power needed by the digester. The digester that has been specified doesnt use any power whatsoever because it works completely through anaerobic digestion and agitating the digester. This design should thrive in meeting the criteria to succeed in the brief. It succeeds by turning local waste products into methane and fertilizer, has a simple design that after a short time, locals will have the knowledge to repair and maintain and is durable in lasting for several years. It is also a safe and easy to manage design which will help it to succeed. Improvements There are multiple improvements that can be made to this design to improve the overall effectiveness. The input could be improved by a more efficient by having more specialized mulching or shredding equipment but this would require prior knowledge about the specific waste materials that are going to be fed through the digester. The gas collection method could also be improved by using a more durable scrubber to ensure clean gas. Extra storage could also be considered depending on how much use the digester gets since the current design only accommodates space for gas for one day, however if the gas is constantly being used then there would be no need for the extra storage. The output from the digester could also be improved to ensure that nothing could block the valve and also to ensure that the digester would not be overfilled with waste materials. Team Learning and Experiences Throughout the group there was little knowledge of Vietnam and the An Minh district. Through the research process we all gained an understanding and an insight into the lifestyle and culture of the An Minh people. We learnt about their preserved traditions of wet rice farming and learnt about the geography of Vietnam, which is vastly different from our own, the high water table and flooded plains affects the possible modes of travel and developments of infrastructure. As engineers we learnt about designing realistic solutions that are flexible and will be effective in different situations. This showed to us how important it is to collect knowledge and research about the people and area you are designing for. It surprised us how such a simple idea can become very complex in the finer details and requires technical decisions about each component. The biggest learning curve came from the teamwork aspect, we found communication and time management were the biggest issues. We found it helpful once systems were developed to communicative effectively and share information. It was hard to link ideas while writing separate sections that interrelate, but we found it unproductive to write the report together. What we have learned from this project is that learning that everybody has different ideas and ways of interpreting situations but to find the most effective solution, you need to incorporate everyones ideas.

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References Anaerobic Digestion. (2008). Retrieved May 6, 2012, from Patervis Corp: http://www.patervis.com/ana.html Anaerobic Digestion (2011) Anerobic Digestion: How Biodigesters Work retrieved from http://www.digtheheat.com/Biofuel/biodigesters.html Bio-digestion design (n.d) Biogas and biodigester FAQs retrieved at 2nd May 2012 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/2083877/Biodigester-Design Binh, T. (2011). The trend of Vietnamese household size in recent years. Berlin: Free University of Berlin. Bui Xuan An, T. R. (n.d.). The Introduction of Low-Cost Polyethylene Tube Biodigesters on Small-Scale Farms in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City: University of Agriculture & Forestry, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Elijah T. Iyagba, I. A. (2009). The study of cow dung as co-substrate with rice husk in biogas production. Scientific Research and Essay Vol.4, 861-866. Fry, L. J. (1973). Methane Digesters For Fuel Gas and Fertiliser. Santa Barbara, California: The New Alchemy Institute. Fulford, D. D. (1996). Biogas Stove Design. UK: University of Reading. H.M.C.K.Bandara, K. G. (n.d.). Application of biogas technology as a renewable energy source. Greenpeace Toxic Site. (2002). PVC Waste and Recycling. Retrieved from http://archive.greenpeace.org/toxics/html/content/pvc3.html PACE. (2007, 3 6). Biogas Action Sheet. Retrieved May 2, 2012, from Pace Project: http://www.paceproject.net/UserFiles/File/Energy/biogas.pdf Reay, D. Methane Sources- Rice Paddies. Retrieved from http://www.ghgonline.org/methanerice.htm Rodriguez, L and Preston, T, R. (n.d.). Biodigester installation manual. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGA/AGAP/FRG/Recycle/biodig/manu al.htm Ruhuna: Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. Mekong Delta. (2009). Retrieved May 4, 2012, from Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation: http://www.arcbc.org.ph/wetlands/vietnam/vnm_mekdel.htm Santa Fe Womens Group (2007) article, Biogas Alternative Energy at Work retrieved from www.ruralcostarica.com/biogas.html. Society & Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved 5 3, 2012, from Engineers Without Borders: http://www.ewb.org.au/explore/initiatives/ewbchallenge/hfhewbchallenge/hfhenvironment#Envir onment Weather in Vietnam. (n.d.). Retrieved 5 3, 2012, from Travelfish: http://www.travelfish.org/weather/vietnam Webb, M (n. d). Bio Rock UK. Retrieved at 2nd May 2012 from http://www.biorockuk.com/biodigester.html

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Appendix Extra Research that was needed for the final design What is the output breakdown of gases in a bio-digester? There are a lot of different figures for the biogas outputted by a bio-digester. Bio Rock UK (N.D) say The gases breakdown output by a bio-digester roughly contains 60% methane, 30% Carbon dioxide and 10% Hydrogen Sulphide, Whereas in a 2011 online article called Anaerobic Digestion: How Bio-digesters Work it suggests that the Biogas breakdown is 50% - 80% methane, 20% - 50% carbon dioxide with small trace levels of gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, oxygen and hydrogen sulphide. Does temperature affect the bio-digester? Temperature is a big factor in a bio-digester; it can vary the rate of digestion and the biogas production. Bio Rock U.K (2011) suggests that the optimal temperature for a bio-digester to work is 38C. The reason why temperature is such a big factor in a bio-digester is because the input is broken down by anaerobic bacteria. The anaerobic bacteria can withstand freezing temperatures but optimally thrive at temperatures of 36.7C and 54.4C (Dig the Heat, 2011). The output of biogas decreases if temperatures are between 39.4 - 51.7C and from 0 - 35C. How can you maintain these optimum temperatures? The optimum temperature can be maintained by either insulting or cooling the bio-digester if it is over heating or cooling. Some bio-digesters burn some of their methane produced so that the temperature stays high and the bio-digester can keep producing methane (Dig the Heat, 2011). What else can affect the output of a bio-digester? Although not probably common in a developing country such as Vietnam Bio Rock U.K (2011) suggest that modern cleaning products and bleaches can kill the anaerobic bacteria. How can a cleaner safer gas be produces? Putting steel wool at the gas output end of the bio-digester can filter out impurities in the biogas. This is because the steel wool is the first metal contact so it stops elements that can stain pots and pans. How does pH affect a bio-digester? The pH of the materials in the bio-digester needs to stay at neutral. Anaerobic digestion produces acids and often the pH is to acidic. The pH of the bio-digester can be easily tested by the litmus test on its contents. If the pH is to acidic then lime can be added to neutralize the contents. A downside in using lime to neutralize the contents is that excess lime is not soluble and will harm the bacteria. The lime concentration that should be kept to is 500mg to every litre of contents in the bio-digester. Trouble shooting guide for final design No gas. First check the gas line for kinks and valves for leaks. Check to see that the safety has water in it. Has the digester had any waste put in it lately? There a smell of gas. 17

Check and sniff tests at each connection to identify the leak. Check the safety to see if it has water in it. Is the cooker valve been turned off after it was last used? The digester looks full of gas but there is none in the reservoir. Check to see if gas line has water in it, if so detach line from closest junction to the water, then drain it and reattach the gas line. Digester leaks or does not bloat with gas. Identify and patch any repairable hole, if not repairable replace plastic tubing and reinstall the digester. If fitting or valve is leaking either replace or seal the component. Input or output blocked Add extra water into the digester. If the digester is blocked from the output end, open the valve and dislodge blockage using the mix stick. If the mix inside the digester has become solid (usually after a few years use) the digester bag needs to be dissembled and fully emptied before reinstalled. Reservoir has not refilled over night or not enough gas pressure while cooking. Check that the noose around the reservoir has been slackened after gas use and tightened during gas use. Full size pictures of final design

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