‫پوهنتون تخنیکی غزنی‬

‫پوهنځی الکترومیخانیک‬
‫دیپارتمنت انجنیری انرژی‬

Chapter 7: Biogas Production

Cand. Teaching Asst. S. Ah. Zamir FATEMI
Introduction To Biomass Energy Conversion, CRC Press, 2014
 Table of Contents
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Parameters that Influence Biogas Production

7.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Anaerobic Digestion Process

7.4 Methods For Determining Animal Manure Biogas Potential

7.5 Different Types of Biogas Plants

7.6 Design of Biogas Digester

7.7 Biogas Utilization

7.8 Biogas Value

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7.1 Introduction

❖ Biogas is a combustible gas, which can be used for both cooking and
lighting.

❖ Biogas is produced by the microorganisms through the anaerobic

fermentation of biodegradable biomass.

❖ As a result (50-70)% CH4, (30-40)% CO2, (5-10)% H2 and SOM are

produced.

❖ The net calorific value of biogas is 20 MJ/m3.

❖ The air to fuel ratio of biogas, required for its combustion is 5.7.

❖ The density of biogas is about 0.94 kg/m3.

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Cont. A Sample Biogas Plant

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Cont. A Sample Biogas Plant process

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Cont. ➢ Biogas production process (Anaerobic digestion): is a multiple-
stage process in which some main stages are as follow:
Complex organic matter
carbohydrates, proteins, fats

Hydrolysis 1

Soluble organic molecules

sugars, amino acids, fatty acids
Acidogenesis
(Fermentation) 2

Volatile fatty
Acetogenesis acids
3
Acetic acid H2 + CO2

Methanogenesis
4 4

6 CH4 + CO2 10/4/2023

Cont.
I. Hydrolysis: Complex organic matter is degraded to basic structure by
hydrolyic bacteria.

▪ Carbohydrate -------> sugar

▪ Fat ---------- ----------> Fatty Acid
▪ Protein --------------> Amino Acid

II. Acid Production (Acidogenesis):

In this step, the conversion of the soluble organics from hydrolysis into short-
chain fatty acids and alcohols.

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Cont.
III. Acetate Production (Acetogenesis): Converts higher organics and
organics acids into acetic acid.

▪ Volatile acids are classified as short-chain groups if the carbon atoms are
less than six.

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Cont.
IV. Methane Production (Methanogenesis): In this process, acetic acid, H2,
CO2, are converted into CH4.

▪ Methane-producing is very sensitive to PH, requirement (6.8 -9.1).

▪ In this process about 370L of biogas can be generated from 1Kg of

acetic acid or 390L of biogas can be generated from 1L of acetic acid.

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Cont. ➢ Classification of Biogas Fermentation Process
(Methods of Feeding)
I. Continuous Feeding: The manure is fed continuously into the
digester everyday.
▪ In this process, fermentation is constant, gas production is uniform and
easy to control.

II. Semi-Continuous Feeding: A large quantity of feedstock is put into the

digester in the first feeding. When gas yield gradually drops down, fresh
raw material is introduced and the same amount of effluent is being
discharged regularly.

III. Batch Feeding: Digester is charged with feedstock manually by batch.

When gas yield drops down to a low level after a period of fermentation,
the digester can be emptied and fed once again.

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Cont. ➢ Classification of Biogas Fermentation Process
(Temperature)
I. Thermophilic Process: the process is accomplished with a temperature
ranging from 45-60 degrees centigrade.
▪ The process is characterized by rapid fermentation, high gas yield and
short retention time.

I. Mesophilic Process: the process is accomplished with a temperature

ranging from 30-45 degrees centigrade.
▪ The process is characterized by low gas yield.

II. Ambient Temperature Process: the process is accomplished with a

temperature ranging from 18-30 degrees centigrade.
▪ This process is characterized by simple construction, low cost and low
gas production.
▪ Below 10oC, bacterial activity ceases, thus, gas production stops.
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Cont. ➢ Classification of Biogas Fermentation Process
(Fermentation Stages)
I. Single-Stage Fermentation: The four stages of biogas fermentation take
place in a single digester tank.

o HRT= V of sludge in digester / V of sludge withdraw daily

o SRT= m of solids of sludge in digester / m solid withdraw daily

II. Two-Stage and Multi-Stage Fermentation: The four stages of biogas

fermentation take place in two or more digesters.

▪ Feedstock is first charged in the first tank and the effluent coming
from the first digester is further digested in the second digester.

▪ Multi-stage digesters are characterized by long retention time,

good decomposition of organic matter and high investment.
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7.2 Parameters that Influence Biogas Production
The operational success of the digesters depends on the following parameters:

I. Types of raw material: The common materials used for methane

production are animal manure, crop residues, human excreta, food
processing plant wastes and etc.

II. Temperature: directly affects process conditions by microbial growth

rates.

▪ The methane bacteria are very sensitive to sudden temperature

changes.

▪ For optimum process and stability, the temperature should be controlled

carefully within a narrow range of selected operating temperature.

▪13 It should be remembered that higher temperature yields more gas.

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Cont.
III. Retention Time (RT): Retention time is the theoretical time that the
input material remains inside the digester before it is expelled.

▪ Temperature is inversely related to retention time; the higher the

temperature, the shorter is the retention time.

Preferable retention time and gas production at different temperatures

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Cont.
Retention time can be simply determined by the batch digestion system as,

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Cont.
IV. PH or degree of Acidity or Alkalinity: The optimum pH value for biogas
fermentation is 6.8 – 9.1.

▪ Under acidic conditions, pH values can be improved by adding ash

fertilizer, diluted ammonia water, fermented liquor and lime.

V. Carbon-Nitrogen (C/N) Ratio: The methane producing bacteria

consume carbon about 25 to 35 times faster than nitrogen.

▪ Proper digestion proceeds at an optimum rate when the carbon

content of the slurry or input materials used is about 20/1 to 30/1.

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Cont.
▪ High C/N ratio means short supply of nitrogen and fermentation is
subjected to acidic inhibition‫ اسید کمیدنه‬.
▪ Low C/N ratio means excessive ammonia.
▪ The common sources of carbon are leaves, grasses and raw materials rich
of cellulose.
▪ Sources of nitrogen are manure and urine.

C/N Ratio of some organic materials

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Cont.
VI. Agitation: Without stirring the small digester, the fermenting slurry
can be divided into three layers: scum in the upper part, liquid in
the middle and sludge at the bottom.

Mechanical Stirrer liquid Stirrer

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Gas Stirrer
Cont.
VI. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD): The amount of oxygen used by
microorganisms in the biological oxidation of organic matter is called
BOD.

▪ BOD is a function of time. It is normally measured for 5-days and the

result is called BOD5.

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Cont. Example 7.1

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Cont.
VII. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): The amount of oxygen needed to
oxidize the organic matter is called COD

▪ The theoretical COD of a sample is determined from the balance of its

chemical equation.

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7.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Anaerobic Digestion Process
❖ Advantages:
▪ Renewable combustible gas is produced
▪ This process removes objectionable odor after the conversion process.
▪ A highly valued sludge is coproduced which can be used as fertilizer.
▪ The amount of waste can be reduced by this process
▪ The waste is contained in closed vessel which helps in preventing the odor.

❖ Disadvantages:
▪ Needs high investment because of long retention time
▪ The microbe involved are very sensitive to environmental changes.
▪ If the sludge is not used as fertilizer, it requires further treatment
before disposal.

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7.4 Methods For Determining Animal Manure Biogas Potential
EPmanure = ABPmanure x LHVbiogas

Where,

ABPmanure = Σ (DMR x VS x Ybiogas)

DMR = DM x NA x FR x 365

In the above equations,

▪ EPmanur = Annual energy potential of animal manure (TJ/y)
▪ ABPmanure = Annual amount of biogas from recoverable manure (NM3/y)
▪ LHVbiogas = Lower heating value of animal manure (TJ/M3)
▪ DMR = Annual amount of dry mater recoverable (kg/y)
▪ VS = Fraction of volatile solids in the dry mater (kg VS/kg DM)
▪ Ybiogas = Biogas yield (NM3/kg VS)
▪ DM = Amount of dry mater (kg per head per day)
▪ NA = Number of animals
▪ FR = Fraction of animal manure recoverable
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7.5 Different Types of Biogas Plants
Different types of biogas plant are available in different countries from which
some common ones are as follow:
I. Fixed Dome Biogas Plant: Fixed dome plant is a single unit plant, where
the dome acts as a gasholder and there is no moving part. This plant is
constructed underground, which helps to avoid the effects of the
temperature variations and let the upper space to be used for other
activaties.

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Cont.
A Common fixed dome plant used in Philippines is the DSAC-Model biogas
plant developed by Don Severino Agricultural College (DSAC).

▪ It was modified from the Chines and Indian models.

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Cont.
II. Floating Drum Biogas Plant: The floating drum biogas plant is
constructed underground from bricks and a metal circular dome.

▪ The gas produced is collected in the moveable metal structure.

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7.6 Design of Biogas Digester
There are two approaches to size the biogas digester:
I. Determining the size of digester for a specific amount of slurry to be
treated.

II. Determining the size of digester for a specific amount of biogas needed.

If the slurry to be digested is known equations in the next slid can be used to
size the DSAC-Model biogas plant (Jaimme Q. Dilidili, 2011).

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Cont.
Slurry volume (m3/day) = Animal manure (m3/day) x 2 (manure to water ratio = 1:1)
Digester volume (m3) = Slurry volume (m3/day) x RT (days)

Biogas storage dome rise from the top of digester, f (m) = 1/3 x W

Radius of the of the biogas storage dome, R (m) = (W2 + 4f2) /8f

Central angle of the dome arc, ø (degree) = 2 x tan-1{(W / 2) / (R – f)}

Biogas storage volume = L x (R2 / 2) {∏/180 x ø – sin (ø)}

Inlet tank volume (m3) = Slurry volume (m3/day)

Width of manhole (m) = 0.4 x W

Height of inlet pipe and manhole in the digester (m) = 1 / 2 x (H)

Outlet tank volume (m3) = 1/3 x {Digester volume (m3)}

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Cont.

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7.7 Biogas Utilization
Biogas can be used for cooking, heating and lighting.

❖ A double burner biogas stove consumes 0.44 m3 of biogas per hour

❖ A biogas lamps consumes 0.14 m3 of biogas per hour (Jaimme Q. Dilidili,

2011).

➢ In Afghanistan the average family size is 7.4 people (NRVA, 2011-12).

▪ For a family of 8 members, one double burner biogas stove for 5 hours
daily cooking and 4 biogas lamps for 4 hours in the night can be assumed.

▪ Based on the above parameters, the family requires 2.24 m3 of biogas for
daily cooking and 2.2 m3 of biogas for lighting and its total daily biogas
requirement is 4.44 m3.
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7.8 Biogas Value
The value of biogas can be estimated from its equivalent fuelwood or LPG.
1m3 of biogas equals to 3.47 kg of fuelwood or 0.45 kg of LPG (Jaimme Q.
Dilidili, 2011).

▪ In Kandahar, the cost of fuelwood was 10 Afg/kg and the cost of LPG was
52 Afg/kg in April 2018.

▪ From the above information, one can determine the value of biogas in a
specific location.

❖ The value of generated biogas can be further used as the income to the
owner in the financial analysis of the biogas plant.

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7.9 A Case Study (Homework)

A dairy in Bamian has 24 cattle and each cattle generates 19 kg per head per
day fresh manure. About 80% of the fresh manure is recoverable and its dry
matter proportion is 23.7%. A laboratory test showed that the fraction of
volatile solids in the dry matter is 0.52 kg VS kg per DM and from the
literature, it is known that 0.2 m3 biogas per kg of VS can be generated. As an
engineer, you were asked to,
I. Find the biogas potential for this case.
II. Design the DSAC-model biogas plant for this case.
III. How many families of 8 members can be served by this dairy biogas
plant?
IV. How much will be the daily generated biogas value (in Afg)?

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Thank You!