Studies in biogas technology. Part I. Performance of a conventional biogas plant

Rajabapaiah, P and Ramanayya, KV and Mohan, SR and Reddy, Amulya Kumar (1979) Studies in biogas technology. Part I. Performance of a conventional biogas plant. In: Sadhana - Academy Proceedings in Engineering Sciences, 2 (3). pp. 357-363.

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Abstract

This paper gives an account of a conventional 5.66 m3/day (200 cubic ft/day) biogas plant which has been instrumented, operated and monitored for 2 1/2 years. The observations regarding input to the plant, sludge and biogas outputs, and conditions inside the digester, have been described. Three salient features stand out. First, the observed average daily gas yield is much less than the rated capacity of the plant. Secondly, the plants show ease of operation and a very slow response to reductions and cessations of dung supply. Thirdly, the unexpectedly marked uniformity of density and temperature inside the digester indicates the almost complete absence of the stratification which is widely believed to take place; hence, biogas plants may be treated as isothermal, ‘ uniform ’ density, most probably imperfectly mixed, fed-batch reactors operating at the mean ambient temperature and the density of water.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Sadhana - Academy Proceedings in Engineering Sciences
Publisher:	Springer
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Springer.
Keywords:	Cattle wastes - biogas plant - anaerobic digestion - manure - sludge - yield - gas production - material balance - nitrogen - pH - temperature - density - plant-scale studies - stratification - reactor - steady-state reactor - batch reactor - constant flow reactor - completely mixed reactor - stability - solids - total solids - volatile solids
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Inorganic & Physical Chemistry Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Sustainable Technologies (formerly ASTRA)
Date Deposited:	27 Dec 2010 12:11
Last Modified:	27 Dec 2010 12:11
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/33926

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