5/28/12 9:43 PM DIY Methane Generator

Page 1 of 5 http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/methane_generator.html
DIY Methane Generator
You can make biogas energy with a DIY methane generator.
Producing methane from manure using your own small scale waste to
energy biogas digester is feasible for many small farms.
What is Biogas Energy?
Biogas energy is fueled by burning
methane produced by the decomposition
of organic wastes.
Small scale biogas generator
Methane is a gas chemically CH4. It is
colourless, odourless and, of course,
flammable. Methane is widely used as the
main constituent of mains natural gas.
Whenever organic materials are decomposed by bacteria anaerobically (i.e.
in the absence of oxygen) methane and carbon dioxide are produced.
Small scale manure-to-energy methane generator plans are available here.
Sources of Biogas Energy
Just about any organic waste can be decomposed as a methane generator -
plant (soft material is better than woody material) and animal wastes, and
even human waste.
On a municipal level, rubbish tips act as biogas digesters and are prodigious
methane generators. Even in Perth, Australia, companies are actively
harvesting this methane to produce climate friendly biogas electricity.
In fact, because un-burnt methane released into the atmosphere is a
powerful greenhouse gas, 10% of our personal impact on the climate
comes from the food refuse we put in our garbage bins that ends up
decomposing under landfill.
In a small scale waste to energy situation it is possible to generate
methane from manure or even sewerage. And biogas energy is constantly
being manufactured in digestive systems like yours and your cows yes,
farts are methane too!
Check out this video to see how to make a simple home digester:
[?] Subscribe
To This Site
5/28/12 9:43 PM DIY Methane Generator
Page 2 of 5 http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/methane_generator.html
Pros and Cons of Methane Generator Systems
Advantages
Makes good use of organic wastes. You can obtain fuel from sewage
sludge and animal slurries first, and prevent runoff and methane emissions
at the same time and you still get fertiliser at the end of the process.
Is a clean, easily controlled source of renewable energy.
Uses up methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Reduces pathogen (disease agent) levels in the waste.
Residue provides valuable organic fertilizer.
Simple to build and operate.
Low maintenance requirements.
Can be efficiently used to run cooking, heating, gas lighting, absorption
refrigerators and gas powered engines.
No smell (unless theres a leak, which youd want to know about and fix
immediately anyway!).
Disadvantages
Most practical to be generated and used at the source of the waste. This
is because the energy needed to compress the gas for transport, or convert
it into electricity is excessive, reducing the efficiency of biogas energy
production.
For safety, basic precautions (see below) must be adhered to.
Small Scale Waste to Energy Methane Generator
Systems
Biogas Energy
5/28/12 9:43 PM DIY Methane Generator
Page 3 of 5 http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/methane_generator.html
Biogas Energy
Each kilogram of biodegradable material yields around 0.4 m! (400l) of
gas.
So in practice, in small scale waste to energy systems, if you have some
livestock, plus kitchen and human waste you can meet your cooking and
lighting needs easily:
2 gas rings for a couple of hours a day will use between 1-2 m!
Gas lights need around 0.1 m3 (100l) per hour.
Driving any kind of engine (eg a generator or a pump) is, however, way
beyond the domestic-scale. (Better to go for algal biodiesel!)
What Size Methane Generator is Needed?
If generating methane from manure, collect dung for several days to
determine average daily dung production. On this basis, the appropriate
size biogas digester plant can be calculated.
For example, where 55 kg of dung a day is available a 8 m3 plant is
warranted; where its only 6 kg of dung a day, a 1 m3 plant will suffice.
For a family of 8 with a few animals (say 8-10 cows), a 10m! digester is a
commonly used size in India, with 2 m! gas storage.
Ideal Temperatures for Producing Methane from Manure
How long you leave the material in a batch digester depends on
temperature (2 weeks at 50C up to 2 months at 15C). The average is
around 1 month so gauge how much material you will add each day, and
multiply it by 30 to calculate the size of the digester.
While anaerobic digestion occurs between 32 F (0C) and 150 F (65C),
the optimum temperature range for methane generating microbial activity
is 85F (29C) to 95 F (35C).
Little gas production occurs below 60F (16C). In colder climates placing
the digester in a greenhouse, and perhaps using some of the methane to
warm the system, are possible strategies.
Methane Generator Systems
The biogas digester is the system component where the animal, human
and other organic wastes are introduced, usually as a slurry with water, to
break down anaerobically.
A storage container is used to hold the gas produced, from which it is
piped for burning as a fuel. Variable volume storage (i.e. flexible bag or
floating drum) is easier, cheaper and more energy efficient than high
pressure cylinders, regulators or compressors.
When the digester is emptied, the spent effluent is dried for later reuse
as a fertilizer.
Types of Biogas Digesters
The two main digester types of digesters are the continuous and the batch.
Continuous digesters have a constant throughput of material, and batch
digesters extract the gas from a contained batch of material, which is then
emptied and a new batch added.
5/28/12 9:43 PM DIY Methane Generator
Page 4 of 5 http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/methane_generator.html
As firewood for cooking has become scarce, millions of small scale
continuous digesters are in use in developing countries, especially India and
China. Digesters tend to be larger-scale in developed countries, taking
animal slurries and human sewage.
Methane Generator Design
The Indian cylindrical pit design has become a popular choice around the
world due to its reliability and simplicity. It comprises two basic parts: a
slurry tank and a covered by a gas cap or drum to capture the gas released
from the slurry.
Domestic Scale Batch Biogas Digestor
Small experimental biogas digester at
Redfield.
Waste material is put into the oil drum,
neoprene cover rises when full of gas,
gas is tapped into container (upside-
down plastic drum with water seal) which
rises as more gas enters.
When full, gas can be tapped off and
used with the little gas ring.
Batch digesters based on a container (see photo, above) are feasible on the
domestic scale.
Mini Methane Generator Project
Instructions to make a mini methane generator (suit education project) are
in the "Methane-Biogas Production Guide" which, along with heaps of other
free eBooks on sustainable living, can be accessed free here.
Methane Safety
Like electricity and other energy systems, safety is usually assured so long
as the risks are understood and sensible precautions are followed.
Fire or Explosion Risk
Methane is obviously flammable, and can even be explosive. With this in
mind...
The methane generator digester area must be well ventilated to prevent
the accumulation of trapped gases.
In the vicinity of a digester no naked flames are permitted, electrical
equipment must be of suitable quality, normally "explosion proof", and
other sources of sparks are any iron or steel tools or other items, power
tools, normal electrical switches, mobile phones and static electricity kept a
safe distance away.
A flame trap should be incorporated in the supply line, which must be of a
minimum of 20 m long. Instructions on building a flame trap can be found
here.
Asphyxiation Risk
Biogas displaces air, reducing the oxygen level so any digester area needs
to be well ventilated.
5/28/12 9:43 PM DIY Methane Generator
Page 5 of 5 http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/methane_generator.html
Disease
While the spent slurry has lost a lot of its pathogens, theres a lot of
microbial activity at work in producing biogas energy!
So avoid contact with the digester contents and wash up thoroughly after
working around the methane generator (especially before eating or
drinking).
Return from DIY METHANE GENERATOR to GREEN ENERGY
Share this page:
What's This?
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
This site gets over 170,000 visits a month.
Check out how here!
SBI!