3.10.4 Classification of Biogas Plants Biogas plants are mainly classified as: (i) batch type Continuous type plants are further classified into (a) floating drum (constant pressure) type and (b) fixed dome type (constant volume) type. Batch type plant is charged at 50-60 days interval. Once charged, it starts supplying the gas after 8-10 days and continues to do so for about 40-50 days till the process of digestion is completed. Afterwards it is emptied and recharged. A battery of digesters are charged and emptied one by one in a synchronous manner to maintain regular supply of gas through common gasholder. The outline of such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 8.10. The installation and operation of such plants are capital and labor intensive and are not economical unless operated on large scale. Such plants are installed in European countries. These plants do not suit to conditions in Indian tural areas. and (ii) continuous type. Gas out Floating Gas holder N Digester 1 2 Figure 8.10 Biogas batch plant system i inuous type plant are shown in Fig. 8.11. The plant is fed daily curt features of conte mee quantity of biomass. ‘The gas Produced is stored in the plant or in a separate gasholder and remains available for use as required. The biomass while slowly passing through the digester is completely digested and the digested slurry is rejected through an outlet. The period during which the biomass temains in the digester is known as retention period, which depends mainly on the type of biomass and operating temperature. The plant operates continuously andstopped only for maintenance or for removal of sludge (undigested biomass residue), A thin dry layer often formed at the top of slurry is known as scum. The scum tends to prevent the escape of gas from slurry. The scum layer is broken by slowly stirring the slurry. This also helps in digestion process due to better mixing. Such plants are convenient for individual owners as feeding pattern matches with daily waste generation and do not require its storage. These types of plants are very popular in India and China. Stirrer Inlet x Scum Figure 8.11 Basic features of a continuous type biogas plant8.10.6 Availability of Raw Materials and Gas Yield Most of the organic matters containing proteins, fats and carbohydrates (except mineral oils and lignin) can be microbiologically transformed into biogas. These are: (a) animal wastes based resources, such as: animal and human excreta, slaughter house waste etc., (b) land based resources such as: crop wastes, byproducts of agro based industries, urban solid wastes and (c) water based resources such as: algae, sea weed, water hyacinth, etc. The availability and gas yield from some of these resources is given in Table 8.9. Raw material availability and gas yield S.N. Raw material Production rate Gas yield (m? per kg of dry matter) 1. Cow dung 10-15 kg/day/head 034 | Poultry manure 0.06 kg/day/head 0.46-0.56 | Sheep manure 0.75 kg/day/head "037-061 Night soil _ 0.75 kg/day/head ft Rice husk 1-13 tons/ha/year | Algae an 40 tons/ha/year pee | ane enn _O 2 HREM Water hyacinth 60 tons/ha/yearSome Facts about Biogas Plant ; ; Only 70 per cent of the cow dung produced can be collected, as 30 per cent is lost m fields during grazing. Solid matter content in cow dung is about 18 per cent. qual amount of water is to be mixed to reduce solid mater to 9%. Biogas required for cooking is about 0.227 m’/person/day. Gas required for lighting a 100 CP. (candle power) mantle lamp is 0.126 m?/hour. A biogas plant producing 2 m gas/day could replace a fuel equivalent of 26 kg of LPG (nearly two standard cylinders) per month. The density of slurry is about 1090 kg/m’. The required gasholder capacity is an important planning parameter. If the gasholder is insufficient, part of gas produced will be lost and the remaining volume of the gas will not be enough at the time of demand. If the gasholder is much too large, construction cost will be unnecessarily high. The gasholder must therefore be made large enough to accept the entire volume of the gas consumed at a time. It must also be able to accept all the gas produced between consumption times. It must be able to compensate for daily fluctuations in the gas production. These fluctuations range from 75-125 per cent.8.10.7 Floating Drum (Constant Pressure) Type Biogas Plants Numerous models of floating drum type biogas plants are developed in various countries. Most representative of this type is the KVIC model (Khadi Village Industries Commission), developed in India, shown in Fig. 8.12. Water seal €3= > Gas outlet Inlet mixing | Metal Outlet tank floating Digested gas holder slurry INNT7RNS7777 xx SR XS cere, cee, SOR =< KKK XXX RKO xxx XXX |< Masonry work Partition wall Figure 8.12 Floating drum type biogas plant{thas an inverted mild steel drum to work as gasholder. This is the most expensive component of the plant. The drum floats either direct on fermentation slurry or in a water jacket of its own. Most Indian plants now have a pair of central guide pipes. ‘he gasholder is free to tise or fall depending on the production and use of gas. It js also free to rotate on its axis. Gasholder rotation will also be useful as a device to break the scum in the digester. A flexible hosepipe is attached at the top of the sholder for gas dispersion. The gas passes through a moisture trap before supplying tothe utility/house. ‘The digester is a deep circular pit or a well, built of bricks, mortar and plaster, witha partition wall. The bifurcation of digestion chamber through partitioning wall provides optimum conditions for growth of acid formers and methane formers as the requirement ofp, values for these bacteria are different. Therefore, this plant operates very well with good biogas yield. The underground structure helps minimize the heat Joss from the plant and the cylindrical shape has better structural strength. 8.10.8 Fixed Dome (Constant Volume) Type Biogas Plants ‘This plant is more economical as only masonry work is required. Gas pressure in the dome varies depending on the production/consumption rate. By construction a dome structure is very strong for outside pressures but a weak one for inner pressures. As gas pressure is exerted from inside out, the dome structure may fail if proper care is not taken in its construction. The dome is constructed underground to maintain pressure over it. Skilled masonry workmanship is required for construction of dome. In case of any leakages/cracks the plant may fail. A typical family size Chinese model (Janata Model) is shown in Fig. 8.13. Many variations of this basic design are developed to teduce the cost by making use of different materials to suit local conditions. Removable cover sealed Gas outlet Loose Inlet with clay & cover Displacement tank Figure 8.13 Fixed dome type biogas plant The slurry enters from inlet and the digested slurry is collected in a displacement tank, Stirring is required if raw material is crop residue, There is no bifurcation in the digester chamber and therefore the gas production is somewhat less as compared to floating point design” ‘The gas produced is stored in the dome and displaces theliquids in inlet and outlet, often leading to gas pressure as high as 100 cm of water. ‘The gas occupies about 10 per cent of the volume of the digester. As complete plant is constructed underground, the temperature tends to remain constant and is often considerably higher than ambient temperature in winter. Many variations of the above two basic models are developed keeping in view the portability, ease of installation and maintenance, local availability of material and cost, etc. Some of them are: plastic bag reactor, prefabricated steel/bamboo/plastic reactors (both are portable models) and horizontal type reactors, etc. 8.10.9 Comparison of Floating Drum and Fixed Dome Type Plants ‘The relative merits and demerits of the two basic designs of biogas plants are summarized in Table 8.10. EEERLY Relative merits and demerits of floating drum and fixed dome biogas plants S.N.| Feature Floating drum Fixed dome [. Cost More (due to steel drum) Less 2. [Corrosion Yes (likely in steel drum) No Maintenance More Less * drum requires painting, * no steel part is used. . once or twice a year) © gas pipe isa fixed Gl. © flexible gas pipe requires pipe. Teplacement 4. |Thermal Insulation |Bad (heat loss due to steel drum) |Good (temperature will be constant due to complete underground construction) 5. |Scum troubles Less likely (as solids are More likely constantly submerged) 6. |Gas production —_|High (due to bifurcation, both |Low Per unit volume of acid and methane formers find digester better environment for growth) 7. |Scum braking By rotation of drum (no stirrer _ | External stirrer is required required) 8. |Leakage Less likely More likely 9. |Danger of mixing [No More likely with oxygen due to leakage/cracks 10. |Gas pressure Constant Variable 11. [Masonry Average skill Specialized, skilled masonry workmanship work required 12. |Repairing of defects| Easy Difficult in gas holder 13. |Choice of feed Can process dung and night soil |Itcan be easily adapted/mod- material slurry. Other organic materials _| ified for use of other materials| Can clog the inlet pipe along with dung slurry