What is biogas?

A mixture of methane
and carbon dioxide

CH4

CO2

Methane or swamp
gas, produced
naturally in swampy
ponds

What is it used for?

Biogas is a fuel used as an
energy source for light, heat
or movement

BIOGAS PRODUCTION PROCESS

Biogas production process (Anaerobic digestion)

Chemical reactions involved in biogas

production

C6H12O6 +H2 0 3CO2 +

3CH4
CO2+4H2>CH4+2H2O

Aerobic bacteria

Anaerobic bacteria

The breakdown of organic waste by bacteria without

oxygen (anaerobic digestion or fermentation).

Mixing pit

Propellers for mixing and/or chopping the substrate

Pump to transport the substrate into the digester.
Pre-heated in the mixing pit in order to avoid a temperature
shock inside the digester.

Fermenter or digester

Concrete or steel.
The gas can be collected
inside the digester, then
usually with a flexible cover.

The digester can also be filled completely and the

gas stored in a separate gas-holder.

Gas-holder is usually of flexible

material, therefore to be protected
against weather. It can be placed
either directly above the substrate,
then it acts like a balloon plant, or in a
separate 'gas-bag'.

Slurry store for storage of slurry

during winter. The store can be open
(like conventional open liquid manure
storage) or closed and connected
to the gas-holder to capture remaining
gas production. Normally, the store is
not heated and only agitated before
the slurry is spread on the field.

Types of bio gas plants

1. Floating gas-holder type

2. Fixed dome type

Floating-drum plants
KVIC model with a cylindrical digester, the oldest and most
widespread floating drum biogas plant from India.
Pragati model with a hemisphere digester
Ganesh model made of angular steel and plastic foil
floating-drum plant made of pre-fabricated reinforced concrete
compound units
floating-drum plant made of fibre-glass reinforced polyester low
cost floating-drum plants made of plastic water containers or
fiberglass drums: ARTIBiogas plants
BORDA model: The BORDA-plant combines the static advantages
of hemispherical digester with the process-stability of the floatingdrum and the longer life span of a water jacket plant

Drum
Inlet

Gas
outlet
Outlet

In let
Pipe

Digester

FLOATING DRUM TYPE

BIOGAS PLANT

Out
let
Pipe

Pragati model

Ganesh Biogas Plant

FLOATING DRUM TYPE BIOGAS

PLANT

20 m3/day Capacity Biogas Plant installed

at IIT Delhi

BORDAs Approach

Decentralised
Wastewater
Treatment
Systems
(DEWATS)

Biogas recovery

Community and
Environmental
Sanitation

Fixed-dome plant
Chinese fixed-dome plant is the archetype of all fixed dome
plants. Several million have been constructed in China. The
digester consists of a cylinder with round bottom and top.
Janata model was the first fixed-dome design in India, as a
response to the Chinese fixed dome plant. It is not constructed
anymore. The mode of construction lead to cracks in the
gasholder - very few of these plant had been gas-tight.
Deenbandhu, the successor of the Janata plant in India, with
improved design, was more crack-proof and consumed less
building material than the Janata plant. with a hemisphere
digester
CAMARTEC model has a simplified structure of a hemispherical
dome shell based on a rigid foundation ring only and a
calculated joint of fraction,
the so-called weak / strong ring

In let

Gas Out
let

Dome

Out let
Digester

FIXED DOME TYPE

BIOGAS PLANT

Basic function of a fixed-dome biogas plant (Chinese model)

1 Mixing pit, 2 Digester, 3 Gasholder, 4 Displacement

pit,
5 Gas pipe

1. Mixing tank with inlet pipe and sand trap. 2. Digester.

3. Compensation and removal tank. 4. Gasholder. 5. Gas
pipe. 6. Entry hatch, with gastight seal.
7. Accumulation of thick sludge. 8. Outlet pipe. 9.
Reference level.
10. Supernatant scum, broken up by varying level.

Deenbandhu Bio Gas Plant

Fixed dome plant CAMARTEC design

Low-Cost Polyethylene
Tube Digester

Factors Affecting Optimum Biogas Production

Temperature ( 35-37 C Mesophilic condition )

C/N ratio ( optimum between 25:1 to 30:1)
pH ( optimally pH between 6.8-7.2)
Solid content ( feed material should have approx.
10:1 )
Should not have toxic material/ harmful material to
bacteria in digester
HRT ( Hydraulic Retention Time 30, 40, 55 days)
Loading rate

POTENTIAL OF BIOGAS IN INDIA

*

Cattle population
: 340 million
* Farm families
: 75 million
* Own 4 or more cattle :
43 million
* Potential of setting up
family size BGP
:
12 million
* Established till march :
4.1 million
* Dung collection (55% efficiency) : 1575 million
kg/day
*Gas production
:
39.85million
cu.m.gas/day
*Assuming 60% eff.equivalent to = 112695 million
K.cal/day
=
12.37 million lit.of kerosene
=
14.54 million lit. of crude oil
=
16.26 million Kg.of coal
=
23.94 million lit. of fire wood

ORGANIC WASTES & THEIR ESTIMATED

AVAILABILITY IN INDIA
Sr.
No.

Organic Wastes

Estimated Quantity

1.

Municipal Solid waste

30 million tons/year

2.

Municipal liquid waste

12000 million litres/day

3.

Distillery (243 units)

8057 kilolitres/day

4.

Press mud

9 million tons/year

5.

Food & fruit processing wastes

4.5 million tons/year

6.

Willow dust

30000 tons/year

7.

Dairy industry waste

50-60 million litres/day

8.

Paper & pulp industry waste (300

mills)

1600 m3/day

9.

Tannery (2000 units)

52500 m3 waste

BIOGAS PRODUCTION POTENTIAL FROM

DIFFERENT WASTES

UTILIZATION OF BIOGAS

Cooking: Biogas can be used in a specially designed burner

for cooking purpose. A biogas plant of 2 cubic metres capacity
is sufficient for providing cooking fuel needs of a family of
about five persons.
Lighting: Biogas is used in silk mantle lamps for lighting
purpose. The requirement of gas for powering a 100 candle
lamp (60 W) is 0.13 cubic metre per hour.
Power Generation: Biogas can be used to operate a dual
fuel engine to replace up to 80 % of diesel-oil. Diesel engines
have been modified to run 100 per cent on biogas. Petrol and
CNG engines can also be modified easily to use biogas.
Transport Fuel: After removal of CO2, H2S and water vapor,
biogas can be converted to natural gas quality for use in
vehicles.

ENERGYCONSUMPTION PATTERN IN
RURAL AREAS
Cooking

Biogas

Domestic

Lighting

Agriculture

dung,

Agri.residue
kerose Lighting
Electricity

Biogas

Water Pumping

wood

Diesel
Electricity

Diesel
Agri.operations
electricity
Animal
Human

Kerosene

Vehicle Diesel/ petrol

Transportation
Cart

Animal
Electricity

Industries

Cottage Ind.

Coal
Diesel /Petrol
Bio mass / Biogas

Comparison of various Fuels

Name of
Calorific value
Thermal
replace
Useful heat
Fuel
cal/kg)
Efficiency (%) (1m3) Biogas
(k cal/kg)
Gobar gas (m3)
4713
Kerosene (lit.)
9600
Fire wood (kg)
4700
Cow dung cake (kg)
Char coal (kg)
6930
Soft cake( kg)
6292
Indane (kg)
10882
60
Furnace oil (lit)
9041
Coal gas (m3)
4004
Electricity
860
70

60

2770
50
0. 62 lit.
4800
10
3. 474 kg
470
2090
10
12. 29 kg
28
1. 458 kg
2079
28
1. 605 kg
1887
0. 433 kg
6529
75
0. 417
6780
60
1.177
2400
4. 698
602

To
(k

209

Possible Application of Biogas - Cooking. Lighting Motive power

Generation
Table: Quantities of Biogas consumed for different
applications.
Use
Cooking
6 Burner

Specification
consumed (M
2 Burner
4 Burner
0.62

Quantities of Biogas
0.47

Per person Per day for cooking

0.33

0.24 m3/day

Gas Lighting
mantle lamp of

100 Candle Power

Dual fuel Engine

bhp /hour.

75-80% Replacement

Electricity

1kwh

0.75

0.13 cum/hr
0.50 m3/

CONTRIBUTION OF BIOGAS
TECHNOLOGY TO RURAL AREAS
*Better and cheaper fuel for cooking, lighting and power
generation.
* Produces good quality enriched manure to improve spoil
fertility.
* Effective and convenient way for sanitary disposal of human
excreata, improving the hygienic conditions.
* generate social benefits - reducing burden on forest, reduction
in drudgery of women and children.
* As a smokeless domestic fuel it reduces the incidence of eye
and lung diseases.

Cooking
for 16
Person
Mantle lamp (100
C.P.) 25-28 Hrs.
5 hp
Engine
for 1.5
10Hrs.
Cattle or
6 buffaloes
or 8 bullocks

100 kg.
Dung +
water
equal

4 cum
gas/
day

70-80 kg.wet
Digested slurry
Enriched manure

Electricity (5
Unit)

POSSIBLE APPLICATION OF BIOGAS

methane

Keywords in
Digestion

biogas

environmen
tal
Anaerobic
digestion

electricity
pollution

greenhous
e gases

organic
manure
waste

Pyrolysis
pyro = "fire"

lysis
"separating".
Thermo chemical decomposition of organic
material at elevated temperatures without the
participation of oxygen.

C 6 H10O5 3.74C 2.65H 2O 1.17CO2 1.08CH 4

Biomass gasifier

Energy available from a

biogas digester

E= eta*Hb *Vb

E= eta*Hm *Fm *Vb

Where
Eta = Combustion efficiency of burners, boilers
Hb =Heat of combustion per unit volume (calorific
value) of biogas
Vb = Volume of biogas = C*mo
C=biogas per unit dry mass of whole input or biogas
yield input
mo =mass of the dry input
Fm = Fraction of methane in biogas

Volume of the digester

Vd = Vf *tr
Where
Vf = mo / rowm = Volume of the fluid in the
digester
tr = retention time in the digester
rowm = density of dry material in the fluid (~
50 kg/m3 )

The following data are given for a family biogas digester

suitable for the output of five cows,
The retention time is 20 days
Temperature 30 deg cel
Dry matter consumed per day = 2 kgs
Biogas yield = 0.24 m3 per kg
The efficiency of burner is 60 %
Methane proportion is 0.8
Heat of combustion of methane =28 MJ/m3
Calculate
1) The volume of biogas digester
2) The power available from the digester