Biogas Production from Rumen, Municipal Waste and Co-digested Substrate: An Opportunity for Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SME)

Abstract

Comparative study of anaerobic digestion of rumen, municipal waste and co-digested feedstock in Minna, Niger State, Nigeria were investigated. The substrates were designated R (rumen), M (municipal waste) and R+M (mixture of both). 10kg of rumen, municipal waste and co-digested feedstock each was used in a 30 litres anaerobic digester. Each substrate was digested separately before co-digestion. The digester was loaded batch wise for 30 retention day runs up to 80% volume of the digester nominal volume. The cumulative biogas production was recorded as 181900, 217350 and 180250 ml/g VS-1 respectively. Methane percentage in the composition of the various biogas were 56.42, 55.81 and 58.820 % for untreated biogas samples. When treated, (scrubbed) the percentages were 84.08, 51.54 and 95.52 % respectively, as methane produced from various feedstock. Co-digested substrate has higher significant effect on production and composition of the gas produce. Additionally, the fermented manure residues from the biogas plant contain significant amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and can thus be used as organic fertilizer for a variety of crops