02 Jet 002 Kola Design

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/331385663
Design and Construction of a Domestic Biogas Digester
Article · June 2016
CITATIONS READS
2 28,561
1 author:
Oludayo Samuel Alamu

Morgan State University
16 PUBLICATIONS 42 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
Poultry Litter into Energy Project View project
Research Project View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Oludayo Samuel Alamu on 12 November 2019.
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

International Journal of Applied Engineering and Technology ISSN: 2277-212X (Online)
An Open Access, Online International Journal Available at http://www.cibtech.org/jet.htm
2016 Vol. 6 (2) April-June, pp.8-15/Bello and Alamu
Research Article
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A DOMESTIC BIOGAS DIGESTER
*S. K. Bello1 and O. S. Alamu2
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State,
Nigeria
*Author for Correspondence
ABSTRACT
Energy is a crucial element in industrialization and socio-economic development process of any nation.
While in developing economies the world overtakes proactive measures towards making for energy
shortfall and chart a new course for producing energy in the futurity, Nigeria is grappling with inadequate
power supply, and the need to develop an alternative source of energy cannot be over emphasized. This
paper suggests a way forward in the exploitation and development of biogas, for the rural communities.
The trend in household cooking energy requirement in the rural areas of the country was examined.
Domestic biogas plants convert livestock manure and night soil into biogas and slurry into fermented
manure. This technology is feasible for small holders with livestock producing 50kg manure per day, an
equivalent of 6 pigs or 3 cows. The size of the digester was focused to achieve desired output which is the
biogas itself using anaerobic digestion and the substrate used is cow dung. 1m3 of biogas produced was
used for different applications such as: generation of about 1.2kwatt of electricity, 0.7kg of petrol fuel
replacement, lightning of 60-100watt bulb for 6hours and cooking of 3 squared meals for 5-6 people. By
converting cow manure into methane biogas via anaerobic digestion, the millions of cows in many
countries of the world would be able to produce one hundred billion kilowatt hours of electricity, enough
to power millions of homes across the world.
Keywords: Biogas, Fermentation, Anaerobic, Manure, Slurry
INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy is that energy that comes from renewable resources such as the sun, wind, organic
matter and so on. These resources are constantly replenished by nature and cleaner sources of energy.
Agricultural waste such as cow dung, poultry droppings and so on pose a lot of difficulties in terms of
their disposal. These wastes from the basic raw materials are used for the generation of a renewable
energy known as bio gas.
Anaerobic treatment is the use of biological processes, in the absence of oxygen, for the breakdown of
organic matter and the stabilization of these materials, by conversion to methane and carbon dioxide
gases and a nearly stable residue. As early as the 18th Century the anaerobic process of decomposing
organic matter was known and in the middle of the 19th Century, it became clear that anaerobic
bacteria are involved in the decomposition process. But it is only a century since anaerobic digestion
was reported to be a useful method for the treatment of sewage and offensive material. Biogas refers to
the gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Organic waste
such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung, and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous
fuel called biogas.
Biogas is produced by the anaerobic digestion or fermentation of biodegradable materials such as
biomass, manure, sewage, municipal waste, green waste, plant material, and crops (Cheshire, 1979).
Biogas comprises primarily of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and may have small amounts of
hydrogen sulphide (H2S), moisture and siloxanes.
The gases methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide (CO) can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen.
Biogas is a renewable fuel, so it qualifies for renewable energy substitute in some parts of the world.
Biogas can also be cleaned and upgraded to natural gas standards when it becomes bio-methane. The
residues from agriculture and forest could provide 20% of the world’s energy constituent.
Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 8

Research Article
Biogas contributes to the technological and economical advancement of an economy by reducing energy
cost and contributing to the social structure. It is an alternative source of energy in many countries of the
world. Apart from the great potentials, it does not contribute to global warming Biogas production takes
different time depending on the temperature, and process adopted. All types of organic wastes are suitable
for producing biogas by the process of anaerobic digestion in a bio plant. Animal waste, poultry waste
and so on are easier into biogas. The organic materials sourced from human, animal and plants wastes,
reduced to 3-6mm in size for adequate digestion (Eze et al., 2009). Also water is needed in the
bioconversion process. It enables quicker decomposition and fermentation of the wastes. It is sourced
from the streams, ponds, rain and underground sources.
In recent time, the provision of adequate and readily available power supply has been a major concern in
this country. The major means of generating power supply presently is through Hydro- electric source.
Biogas is a suitable, affordable and alternative source of energy, as it entails conversion of waste to
wealth, easy and simple to generate without necessarily requiring high skilled man power for its
operation. Lack of biogas industry especially in Nigeria, increase in fuel prices and availability of waste
makes biogas inevitable. With the incessant felling of trees which does not promote environmental
aesthetic and wild life reserve, there is the need for an alternative source of energy. Thus, they increase
the availability of oxygen in the air and reduce the effect of carbon on the ozone layer. The extraction of
crude oil from earth crust has increased natural disaster such as earthquake, fire outbreak and so on.
This design provides a lot of benefits economically and technologically. In the rural sector, biogas finds
great application in cooking, lighting, and power generation
MATERIALS AND METHODS

Materials Used
The materials used in the fabrication of the biogas plant are as follows:
i. Mild steel (1.2 mm thick)
ii. Gas hose: it is used to transfer the gas from the digester to the gas holder.
iii. Black paint: it is used in the digester after sealing the top to maintain the temperature.
iv. ½’’ control valve: It controls the gas going into the gas contain
Since the motive of this design is to obtain biogas (methane) which is the popular cooking gas, the
presence of impurities in the gas produced may lead to high consumption of the gas during usage, hence
the need for purifiers to remove impurities presents in the gas. Such impurities include carbon (IV) oxide,
moisture, and hydrogen sulphide. The gas produced in the digester is channeled through the pipe to the
purifiers so as to remove these impurities. The purifiers are enclosed in a casing below the digester
connected through 2 rubber pipe to the digester. The housing is made from material which will not react
with the chemicals used as purifiers or gas produced so as to obtain the pure gas in the latter. Chemicals
used in this design as purifiers are calcium chloride (CaCl2) hydrated iron (III) oxide and calcium
hydroxide. Calcium chloride solution has a high affinity for water thus; it helps remove any traces of
moisture present in the gas. Hydrogen Sulphide is a corrosive gas which does not contribute so to say in
the combustion of fuel. It is removed from the gas by hydrated iron (III) oxide. This can be shown by the
equation below.
Fe203 + 3H2S Fe2S3(S) + 3H20(L)
Carbon (iv) oxide does not support combustion but it is produced along with the gas from the digester,
which is then removed using calcium hydroxide. This can be shown by the equation below:
Ca(OH)2+ C02 CaC03 + H20
Digester Design Considerations
Digester tanks may be of any convenient shape and provided with a cover to retain the gas. The cover
may be a fixed one or floating. A number of factors are to be taken into account to arrive at an optimum
size of a biogas plant. These are: the volume of waste to be digested daily; the type and amount of waste
available for digestion consistently; methods of stirring the contents if any; the availability of other

Research Article
cellulosic fermentable waste in that area and the type of cover. Generally no separate heating and stirring
of the contents are needed for digesting cattle waste. Stirring arrangement may however be provided for
farmyard waste and plant wastes. The design of any biogas plant depends on the objective of use. For
this paper, the biogas plant is of a small size for ease of maintenance, and the waste material involved is
limited to cow dung.
Method of Fabrication
The Mild steel of 1.2mm thickness was cut into required sizes for the cylindrical and conical part. Using a
bending machine, the cylindrical part was bent and tacked at different points using a stainless steel
electrode. The cylindrical part is therefore welded together. The truncated conical part is tacked and
welded to the cylindrical part. A 2’’plug and socket valve is welded along the length of the digester
creating both inlet and outlet for the slurry since it is a horizontal digester. A 2mm steel rod is welded to
both ends of the digester to provide support and a stirring arm for the digester. Both sides are passed
through two journal bearing bolt the angle steel in the form of a table for stability with wheels attached
for easy transportation. A typical biogas digester for home use is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: A Typical Domestic Biogas Digester
Biogas as a Source of Energy

Anaerobic digestion provides some exciting possibilities and solutions to such global concerns as
alternative energy production, handling human, animal, municipal and industrial wastes safely,
controlling environmental pollution, and expanding food supplies. The digestion process takes place in
three stages: Degradation of the complex molecules (cow dong + water) into fragments of lower
molecular mass by several types of fermentative enzymes; Further degradation of the fragments into
acetic acids, hydrogen and carbon dioxide; The acetic acid, hydrogen and carbon dioxide produced
in the above stages are then used by methanogenic archer (methane formers) to produce methane
and carbon IV oxide from the acid and methane and water from hydrogen and carbon IV oxide. The
reaction that takes place in the digester can be represented thus:
Cow dung + Water --> Methane + Carbon Oxide + Impurities + Slurry.
Research Article
Table 1 shows the technology involved for biomass conversion in both wet and dry process as reported by
Maishanu and Maishanu (1998). Biogas production takes different time depending on the temperature,
and process adopted. El-Wakil (2002) in his findings reported the retention time for complete combustion
which took place when used different substrates as shown in Table 2. All types of organic waste are
suitable for producing biogas by the process of anaerobic digestion in a Bio Gas Plant. The organic
materials sourced from human, animal and plant waste reduced to 3-6mm in size for adequate
digestion. Water is needed in the bioconversion process, as it enables quicker decomposition
and fermentation of waste. In this paper, emphasis was placed on anaerobic digestion. According to Rai
(2004), methane production varies for different agricultural waste used as substrates as shown in Table 3.
The general equation for anaerobic digestion is given as:
CxHyOz + (x-y/4-z/2) H2O→ (x/2- y/8 + z/2) CO2 + (x/2 + y/8 – z/4) CH4
For cellulose this becomes
(C6H10O5)n + n H2O → 3n CO2 + 3n CH4
Table 1: Biomass Conversion Technology: Wet and Dry Processes

Conversion Process Principal Further Treatment Product Fuel
Product
Anaerobic Digestion Methane and Carbon dioxide Methane
carbon dioxide removal
Wet Process
Fermentation Ethane is Distillation Ethanol
produced oil
Chemical Reduction Mixture of oil Fractional distillation Hydrocarbon
liquids
Liquid Faction Char Steam reforming Methane
Gasification Char and/or shift reaction Methanol
Dry Process Steam Gasification Char Higher alcohols
Hydrogenation Mixture of oils Fractional distillation Hydrocarbon
liquids
Source: Maishanu and Maishanu (1998)
Table 2: Retention Time (Time for Complete Decomposition) for Different Material
S/N Material Period
i. Cow and Buffalo Dung 50 days
ii. Pig Dung 20 days
iii. Poultry Droppings 20 days
iv. Night Soil 30 days
Source: (El-Wakil, 2002)
Table 3: Methane Production from Typical Agricultural Waste

Type of Waste Volume of Yield/kg Concentration in Biogas (%)
Cow Manure 180-250 60-70
Pig Manure 210-300 58-60
Poultry Manure 350-400 58-65
Human Content 160-300 60-65
Green Plant 250-450 55-62
Straw 150-180 58-60
Source: (Rai, 2004)
Research Article
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Biogas Properties
Energy value- 21,000-23,000 kJ/Kg
Generation velocity- 0.2 m/s
Air demand- 6.14m3 of biogas
Pressure- 75-250mm H2O
Density- 1.2 kg/m3
Specific weight- 0.9
The Digester
The following equations are used for determining the size of digester and gas holder:
Vb= CMO…………………………..1
Vr= MO/Pm……………………….. 2
Vd= VrTr…………………………..3
Where: C= biogas yield per unit mass of feed stock (m3/kg)
MO= mass of dry feed stock (m3/kg)
Vb= volume of biogas (m3)
Pg= density of feed stock
Tr= retention time (days)
Vr= volume of slurry (m3)
The dimension of the digesters:
Depth of digester =540mm
Diameter of digester = 350mm
Diameter of inlet/outlet = 2’’
Height of inlet/outlet = 70mm
Volume of the Digester (Vd)
∏r12h1 +1/3∏r12h2 + ∏r22h3
r1= 0.175m
r2= 0.07m
h1= 0.45m, h2= 0.09m
h3= 0-07m
= (22/7*0.1752*0.45) + (1/3*22/7*0.1752*0.09) + (22/7*0.072*0.07)
= 0.043301+0.00289+0.000108
= 0.04727m3
= 47.27 litres
Approximately 47 litres.
Maximum Acceptable Slurry in the Digester
3/4 of the volume of digester
3/4*47 = 35.25 litres
Approximately 35 litres
Drum density of slurry- 50kg/m3
Gas Yield- 0.22m3 (table cattle)
Using equation 1-3
Volume of Slurry= mo/pm
Mo= 0.6kg
Pm= 50kg/m3
Vr= 0.6/50= 0.012m3= 12 litres
For every 12 litres of slurry,
Volume of Biogas (m3) Produced (Vb) = Cmo
Mo= 0.6
C= 0.3m3/kg

Research Article
Vb= 0.3*0.6= 0.18m3/day = 180litres/day
Retention Time
Vd = Vr*tr
Tr = Vd/Vr=47/12=3.92 days
Approximately 4 days
For every 3.5 litres of slurry charged into the digester, the retention time will be:
=4*3.5
=14 days
Estimated Efficiency of the Digester
µd=Theoretical gas yield per day/Gas yield per day
µd= (0.18/0.22)*100= 81.82%
Volume of the Gas Holder
∏r2h1 +1/3∏r2h2
(22/7*0.0752*0.35) + (1/3*22/7*0.0752*0.05)
=0.006186 + 0.000295
=0.006481m3
=6.481litres
Gas Burner
The gas delivery is determined from rated theme heat of family burner, which is 21,400kg/hr
Coefficient of discharge is 0.78
Specific gravity =9.8m/s
Pg= 1.2kg/m3
Vo= 6.14m3
Spencer (1985) gives the important requirement for combustion of biogas in burners. These dimensions
for burners consists of the nozzle primary mixing air, mixing throat, burner head and burner head number
of holes. These dimensions are obtained from the following;
Apr = 2.78 (aVo)/R……………………(4)
Dn = Cd*10(I/R)*4pg…………………(5)
Dt = Dn(I+Vo/g)………………………(6)
Using equation 4, 5 and 6 respectively
Apr= 2.78(6.14)/22,000
Apr=0.078
Dn=0.7*10(21,4000/22,000)*4(1.2/75)
=0.7*10(0.097)*0.058
=1.7mm
Dt=1.7(21,400+6.14/9.81)
=1.7(21,406.14)*2182.1
=11618.5mm = 11.6m
Gas Line
Gas hose= 5/16’’ diameter
Pressure drop= 10mmH2O
Design pressure for biogas= 75mmH20
Other dimensions are:
P = 10mmH20
P2= 75mmH20
P = P1-P2
P1=P+P2
P1=10+75
P1=85mmH2O

Research Article
From the results obtained, 180 litres of biogas was produced from 12 litres of the waste slurry. 35 litres of
slurry was maximum acceptable in the designed biogas digester having capacity of 47litres. As shown in
Table 4, 1m3 of biogas produced was used for different applications such as: generation of about 1.2k
watt of electricity, 0.7 kg of petrol fuel replacement, lightning of 60-100 watt bulb for 6hours and cooking
of 3 squared meals for 5-6 people.
Table 4: Application of Biogas

No Application 1 m3 Biogas Equivalent
1 Lighting Equal to 60-100 watt bulb for 6 hours
2 Cooking Can cook 3 meals for a family of 5-6
3 Fuel Replacement 0.7 kg of petrol
4 Shaft Powers Can run a one horse power motor for an hour
5 Electricity Generation Can generate 1.25 kilowatts of electricity
Conclusion
Provision of proper orientation and knowledge will help alleviate the problems of energy provision in
Nigeria. The design provides a means of converting waste to wealth, thus, if the knowledge is properly
disseminated, it will serve as a means of generating income for the unemployed youths in the society,
reducing the level of poverty and crime thereby creating a better Nigerian economy. Biogas is a viable
and alternative source of energy that is affordable, readily available, environmentally friendly and simple
to generate using a biogas reactor.
By converting cow manure into methane biogas via anaerobic digestion, the millions of cows in many
countries of the world would be able to produce one hundred billion kilowatt hours of electricity, enough
to power millions of homes across the world.
Other benefits which this study provides are listed as; Inexpensive solution to problem of rural fuel
shortage. Improvement in the standard of living of rural communities; Provides employment
opportunities in small scale industries; Residual sludge is applied as top dressing; good soil
conditioner and inorganic residue useful for land reclamation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is a pleasure to acknowledge everyone who had contributed immensely towards this research project.
The efforts of O.S Alamu who coauthored this work were sincerely acknowledged by the corresponding
author.
REFERENCES
Cheshire MV, Sparling GP and Inkson RHE (1979). In Straw Decay and its Effect on Disposal and
Utilization (E. Grossbard, edition), 65-71. (J.Wiley, Chichester, England).
El-Wakil MM (2002). Power Plant Technology, (McGraw Hill International, New York, USA).
Eze CL, Abowei MFN and Ayotamuno MJ (2009). Comparative evaluation of Batch and Continuous
anaerobic digesters in biogas production from municipal solid waste using mathematical models.
Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal Manuscript EE07 011 10 1-11.
Maishanu SM and Maishanu HM (1998). Influence of inoculums age on biogas generation from cow
dung. Nigerian Journal of Renewable Energy 6(1&2) 21-26.
National Non-Food Crops Centre (no date). NNFCC Renewable Fuels and Energy Factsheet:
Anaerobic Digestion [Online]. Available: http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/publications/nnfcc-renewable-fuels-
and-energy-factsheet-anaerobic-digestion .[Accessed 6th February, 2011]
Rai GD (2004). Non-Conventional Energy Resources (2nd edition), 331-3690, (India, New Delhi: Khpu
Khanna).
Spencer DF (1985). Method of selectively separating CO2 from a multi component gaseous [P]. The
Journal of Physical Chemistry 89 3279-3285
Research Article
Biogas & Engines [Online] (No Date). Available: http://www.clarke-energy.com/gas-type/biogas/
[Accessed 21st November, 2011]
Claverton-energy [Online]. Biomethane Fuelled Vehicles the Carbon Neutral Option Available:
http://www.claverton-energy.com/biomethane-fueled-vehicles-the-carbon-neutral-option.html. Calverton
Energy Conference, October 24th 2008, Bath, UK.
State Energy Conservation Office (Texas) (No date). Biomass Energy: Manure for Fuel. State Energy
Conservation Office (Texas), State of Texas [Online]. Available:
http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_biomass-manure.htm. [Accessed 3rd October 2009].
Alfagy [No Date]. Be Green- Make Gas [Online]. (No Date). Available:
http://www.alfagy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=31
Biogas- Bioenergy [Online]. (No Date). Association of New Zealand. Available:
http://www.bioenergy.org.nz/biomas.asp [Accessed 21st February 2010].
LNG Energy Projects [Online]. (No Date). Available: http://www.epa.gov/Imop/proj/
Safety Page, Beginners Guide to Biogas [Online]. (no date) Available:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/safety/), [Accessed 22nd October, 2007].
U.S Department of Energy, (No Date). What is Biogas? [Online]. Available:
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/emerging_biogas_what_is.html. [Accessed 13th April 2010].
View publication stats

02 Jet 002 Kola Design

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

02 Jet 002 Kola Design

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

02 Jet 002 Kola Design

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

Design and Construction of a Domestic Biogas Digester

Article · June 2016

Oludayo Samuel Alamu

Poultry Litter into Energy Project View project

Research Project View project

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Keywords: Biogas, Fermentation, Anaerobic, Manure, Slurry

Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 8

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 9

Figure 1: A Typical Domestic Biogas Digester

Biogas as a Source of Energy

Table 1: Biomass Conversion Technology: Wet and Dry Processes

Table 3: Methane Production from Typical Agricultural Waste

Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 12

Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 13

Table 4: Application of Biogas

Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 15

View publication stats

You might also like