Methane Production by a Portable Home made Biogas Digester

Biogas has a huge potential to be a clean, renewable and affordable energy provider for cooking in rural and urban areas, but currently its use is very minimum. Biogas is a clean, renewable source of energy, a mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2) and inflammable methane gas (CH4). During this study, a small scale homemade biogas digester was used to process household organic waste for the production of methane gas. This small scale biogas digester was constructed using readily available cheap materials, it was then used to break down kitchen waste for the production of biogas. Using river sediment as an inoculum, a starter fluid necessary for methano-bacterium cultivation for the production of biogas. The Initial production of the biogas formed between the 1st and 10th day consisted of more oxygen, carbon dioxide and some other gases and less methane. From the 24th day a strong blue flame was observed and it burned at a stable rate this biogas consisted of 60 ¿ 65% methane and 30 ¿ 40% carbon dioxide and other impurities. The average cooking time obtained from the volume of methane gas generated during this study was calculated and estimated to be between 2 and 4 minutes.