DEVELOPMENT OF A BIOGAS PLANT FOR THE GENERATION OF COOKING GAS FROM ANIMAL DUNGS

Abstract

The need for alternative sources of fuel for domestic cooking has become apparent in the recent times. This is due to the high cost of cooking fuel, like dual purpose kerosene (DPK) and negative impact the use of this fuel has on environment and economy. In this research work, a biogas plant was developed through a well-designed and fabricated process. Having considered cost, ergonomics, availability, and design results, materials for the construction of the plant were selected. The digester has two chambers: upper and lower. The upper chamber was constructed to serve as a mixer and temporary storage for slurry (mixture of dung and water). While the lower chamber, which has a volume of 0.05 �3, was designed and constructed to anaerobically process slurry for the generation of biogas. The performance of the biogas plant was evaluated using animal wastes (cattle dung) as raw material under anaerobic condition that was monitored for a period of 30 days. The developed biogas plant which has a maximum temperature and pressure of 350C (308K) and 1555.29 ��/�2 respectively is capable of producing a total volume of 18 �3/�� of biogas in one batch using 15 �� of cattle dung. The biogas produced was collected, scrubbed by using Calcium Hydroxide solution and stored in a gas cylinder vessel. The biogas obtained (in �3/day) at different temperatures and pressures during experimentation was as follows: 0.000; 0.000;0.121; 0.121; 0.121; 0.169; 0.172; 0.151; 0.135; 0.142; 0.149; 0.186; 0.174; 0.254; 0.264; 0.278; 0.278; 0.278; 0.278; 0.292; 0.281; 0.299; 0.299; 0.241; 0.281; 0.169; 0.157; 0.150; 0.156; and 0.282. The biogas produced was tested and confirmed that the developed rig can anaerobically process animal dungs to biogas