Department of Technical Education

Andhra Pradesh
Name : MAHAMOOD
Designation : Lecturer
Branch : Civil Engineering
Institute : GPW, Hindupur
Year/Semester : VI Semester
Subject : Environmental Engineering II
Subject Code : C 605
Topic : Rural Sanitation
Duration : 100 minutes
Sub-topic : Rural sanitation - Biogas plants
Teaching aids : PPT, Animation, photographs
Revised by : G.Appa Rao
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 OBJECTIVES
On completion of this Period, you would be able to :
• List the raw materials required for biogas production
• Explain the process of bio gas production
• List the factors affecting bio-gas production
• Explain construction and working types of bio-gas plants
– KVIC Model
– Janata Model
• Advantages and disadvantages of bio-gas plants

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 RECAP

In the previous class, we have learnt

• The precaution to be take for rural sanitation

• The construction and working of rural latrines
i) Pit privy
ii) Bore hole latrine
iii) Aqua privy
iv) Cess - pools

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 What is Bio-gas ?
• It is the fuel gas produced with the organic waste from

living things

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 Why bio-gas ?

• Crisis on conventional energy sources like coal,

petroleum and natural gas

• It is another source of alternate energy

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What are the raw materials for bio-gas
production ?
• Common animal dung

• Dry crop residue

• Poultry litter

• Fruits and vegetable wastes

• Kitchen and dining hall wastes

• Agro-processing waste or effluent

• Crop wastes
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 INTRODUCTION
• Bio-gas :
• Fuel gas produced with the organic waste from living
things

• Bio-gas plant :

• A container where the organic waste is digested to

produce the fuel gas

• Biogas technology provides an alternate source of energy

in rural India

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Biogas Plant contd..

• It is an appropriate technology that meets the basic need

for cooking fuel in rural areas

• Using local resources, viz. cattle waste and other organic

wastes, energy and manure are derived

• The anaerobic digestion of biomass leads to the

production of the combustible gas methane

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Biogas Plant contd..

• Methane - 60% and Carbondioxide - 39% are the two products

obtained from biogas plant

• The calorific value of biogas depends on the amount of methane

gas present in it

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 Typical composition of biogas

MATTER %

Methane, CH4 50 - 75

Carbon dioxide, CO2 25 - 50

Nitrogen, N2 0 - 10

Hydrogen, H2 0- 1

Hydrogen sulphide,H2S 0- 3

Oxygen, O2 0- 2

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 Principles of Biogas Production

• Anaerobic digestion is a process in which

microorganisms break down biodegradable material in
the absence of dissolved oxygen

• Anaerobic digestion produces methane rich biogas,

suitable for energy production

• Also, the nutrient-rich solids left after digestion can be

used as fertilizer

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 Principles of Biogas Production contd..

• The three stages of in the process of

biogas production are :

1. Hydrolysis

2. Acidification or acid formation

3. Gasification or methane formation

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 Principles of Biogas Production contd..

1. Hydrolysis :

• In this stage, complex substances are converted is to

soluble carbohydrates

• Through hydrolysis anaerobic bacteria break down

organic matter into simple sugars, amino acids, and
fatty acids

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 Principles of Biogas Production contd..

2. Acid formation & Acidification :

• In this stage soluble oragamic compounds are

converted into volatile fatly acids by anaerobic and

facultative bacteria

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 Principles of Biogas Production contd..

3. Methane formation or gasification :

It this stage the soluble acids are converted into

methane and carbon dioxide by the methenogenic
bacteria

• This bacteria is sensitive to both high and low pH’s

and occurs between pH 6.5 and pH 8

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Factors affecting biogas production
1. Influent Solids Content
2. Seeding
3. pH
4. Temperature
5. Nutrients
6. Toxic Materials
7. Stirring
8. Quality of raw materials

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 Factors affecting biogas production contd..

1. Influent Solids Content

• Production of biogas is inefficient if fermentation

materials are too dilute or too concentrated

• Optimum gas production is obtained with 1:1 slurry of

cow dung and water

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Factors affecting biogas production contd..

2. Seeding

• The seed material should be twice the volume of

the fresh manure slurry during the start-up phase

• Amount of seed material is gradually decrease

over a period of three weeks

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Factors affecting biogas production contd..

3. pH
• Low pH inhibits the growth of the methanogenic
bacteria and gas generation
• A successful pH range for anaerobic digestion is
6.0 - 8.0
• Efficient digestion occurs at a pH near neutrality
i.e. 7 to 7.2

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 Factors affecting biogas production contd..

4. Temperature

• Best range of temperature is 300 to 600 C

• For optimum process stability, the temperature

should be carefully regulated within a narrow range

of the operating temperature

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 Factors affecting biogas production contd..

5. Nutrients

• Two of the most important nutrients are carbon and

nitrogen

• The overall C/N ratio should be in range of 30:1 to

50:1

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Factors affecting biogas production contd..

6. Toxic Materials

• The slurry not contain toxic materials as they

destroy anaerobic bacteria

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 Factors affecting biogas production contd..

7. Stirring

• It ensures exposure of new surfaces to bacterial

action

• It accelerates the digestion process

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 Factors affecting biogas production contd..

8. Quality of raw materials

• Based on quality of raw materials gas production may

increase or decrease

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 Types of biogas plants
• First floating dome model (KVIC) biogas plant was
commissioned In India in the year 1962

• First fixed dome model (Janata) was commissioned In

India In 1979

• Government of India launched ‘National Biogas

Programme’ countrywide through Ministry of Non-
conventional Energy Sources In 1982

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 Types of biogas plants contd..

Some biogas plants recognized by MNES

(Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources)
1. Floating-drum plant with a cylinder digester (KVIC
model)

2. Fixed-dome plant with a brick reinforced, moulded

dome (Janata model)

3. Floating-drum plant with a hemisphere digester

(Pragati model)

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KVIC (Khadi and Village Industry Commission)
Model

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 Construction of KVIC model

• It consists of a circular tank with brick masonry in C.M.

1:4 on C.C. floor

• Inside of the tank is plastered with CM 1 : 3

• The tank acts as an anaerobic digester

• It is divided into 2 parts by a vertical partition wall

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 Construction of KVIC model contd..

• A steel gas holding dome placed on the top of digester

• It is provided with an inlet tank and out let tank

connected by AC inlet and outlet pipes

• The steel dome rests on a beam when there is no gas in

it and floats in the slurry when gas is accumulated

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 Working of KVIC model

• Cow dung and water mixed in the ratio of 1 : 1

• The slurry is fed into the digester through inlet tank

• The slurry slowly passes through inlet pipe, digester and

outlet pipe

• Detention time for the digester is 55 days

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 Working of KVIC model contd..

• During that period, the slurry is digested and aerobically

and biogas is produced

• The accumulated gas can be taken to the kitchen

through a pipe

• Daily, a volume of slurry equal to that fed inside is drawn

out through outlet chamber

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 Janata Model

Fig 2 9C 605.54 & 55 32

 Construction of Janata model

• It can be completely constructed with locally available

materials like bricks, cement, sand etc

• Steel is not used any where in the construction

• It has a circular masonry tank constructed on concrete

floor

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 Construction of Janata model contd..

• It is provided with a dome shaped fixed roof constructed

with bricks and cement mortar

• The entire structure remains below the ground level

• At the middle of the depth, two rectangular openings are

provided connecting the adjacent inlet and outlet
chambers

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 Working of Janata model

• Cow dung and water are mixed in the ratio of 1 : 1

• The digester is fed with slurry to a level above inlet and

outlet doors

• Every day dung slurry is fed through inlet chamber and

an equal quantity can be withdrawn from outlet chamber

• Detention time collected into the dome position can be

draw to the kitchen through a pipe

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 Advantages of Biogas plants

1. Provides a renewable fuel source

2. Ground water pollution is prevented

3. Handling and disposal of digested sludge is easy

4. Digested sludge can be used as manure

5. Consumes methane that might otherwise leak

into the atmosphere and increase the greenhouse
effect

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 Advantages of Biogas plants contd..

6. Pathogenic organisms are destroyed

7. House fly and mosquito breeding is eliminated

8. Destruction of weed seeds present in the dung

9. Esthetic value of surroundings improved by the

disposal of waster through these plants

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 Disadvantages of Biogas plants

1. The main disadvantage is the loss of the organic waste for

compost or fertilizer

2. Very limited quantity of electricity can produced on on the

global scale

3. There is little or no control on the rate of gas production,

although the gas can, to some extent be stored and used

as required

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 SUMMARY
In this period, we have discussed about :

• Raw materials for biogas production

• Bio gas production technology

• Factors affecting bio-gas production

• Types of bio gas plants

• KVIC Model

• Janata Model

• Advantages and disadvantages of bio-gas plants

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 QUIZ
1. Biogas is

a. Fuel gas from coal

b. Natural gas

c. Fuel gas from organic waste

d. None of the above

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 QUIZ contd ..
2. Stages of biogas production

a. Hydrolysis

b. Acid formation

c. Methanogenesis

d. All of the above

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 QUIZ contd ..
3. The first floating dome biogas plant in India

a. Janata model

b. Deenbandhu model

c. Pragathi model

d. KVIC model

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 QUIZ contd ..

4. Factors affecting biogas production

a) Temperature

b) pH

c) C/N ratio

d) All the above

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 Frequently Asked Questions

1. Enumerate the factors affecting biogas production

2. Explain the construction and working of KVIC model

biogas plant with sketch

3. Explain the construction and working of Janata model

biogas plant with sketch

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of biogas

plants ?

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