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  • The Biogas/Biofertilizer Business Handbook

    (Peace Corps, 1985)

    Third Edition

    By: Michael Arnott

    Table of Contents

    o Main Points of the Handbook

    o Preface

    o Chapter one: An introduction

    o Chapter two: Biogas systems are small factories

    o Chapter three: The raw materials of biogas digestion

    o Chapter four: The daily operation of a biogas factory

    o Chapter five: The once a year cleaning of the digester

    o Chapter six: Tanks and pipes: Storing and moving biogas

    o Chapter seven: The factory's products: Biogas

    o Chapter eight: The factory's products: Biofertilizer

    o Chapter nine: The ABCs of safety

    o Chapter ten: Conclusion: Profiting from an appropriate technology

    o Appendix

    New ideas




    Facts & Figures

    Sources & Resources

    Feasibility Studies

    Problem solving


    Main Points of the Handbook

  • I. Purpose and Scale

    A. The subject of this book is one approach to building and operating biogas systems, not biogas digesters.

    Biogas systems include raw material preparation, digesters, separate gas storage tanks, use of the gas to run

    engines, and the use of the sludge as fertilizer.

    B. The systems can be profitably operated as cooperatively or privately owned labor-intensive small

    businesses. They are designed to meet local fertilizer and fuel needs, using local resources and skills.

    C. Like rice and corn mills, ice plants and general stores, biogas businesses have supply, production,

    distribution, and management responsibilities. Operated as businesses, biogas systems have the potential to

    make a rewarding return on investment and a contribution to the wealth of the community.

    II. Raw Materials

    A. Animal waste.

    1. Manure is the most common raw material.

    B. Plant waste.

    1. It is useful when shredded, ground or pulped, and partially composted before being put in the digester.

    C. Digester slurry.

    1. Slurry is raw material mixed with water or the liquid portion of used slurry.

    2. Slurry is mostly water; it should be only eight to ten percent solid.

    3. Slurry should have a 30 to 1 carbon to nitrogen ratio and a neutral to slightly base (alkaline) pH.

    4. No floating matter, dirt, or sand should be in the slurry.

    5. A 40 day digester detention time is recommended, with slurry added once or twice a day.

    III. The Digester

    A. Horizontal, above ground digesters with a two to three percent tilt down from inlet to outlet are

    recommended in this book.

    B. A digester length-to-diameter ratio of five to one is recommended.

    C. Ferrocement, mild steel, and galvanized iron, are the recommended digester and gas storage tank

    construction materials.

    D. Separate gas storage tank(s) are recommended in this book.

    E. 10 to 30 cubic meter capacity systems may be practical, but 50 cubic meter capacity and larger systems

    are practical.

    F. A continuously maintained digester temperature of 35 degrees centigrade (96 fahrenheit) is


    G. An annual cleaning of the digester to remove scum and dirt is recommended.

  • IV. Biogas

    A. Biogas can be produced by anaerobic digestion at rates of one to two cubic meters of gas per cubic meter

    of digester space per day in the digesters described in this book.

    B. Biogas composition is 60 to 70 percent methane which burns, 30 to 40 percent carbon dioxide which does

    not burn, and a trace of hydrogen sulfide which smells like rotten eggs.

    C. Condensation traps are needed to remove water vapor from Biogas pipes.

    D. Biogas (methane plus carbon dioxide) or methane alone can be used for several purposes.

    1. The gas can be used for cooking, gas lights, and gas refrigerators.

    2. The position taken in this book is that the best use for the gas is as fuel for stationary spark-ignition and

    dual-fuel diesel engines for mechanical power and with generators for electrical power.

    3. It may be possible to use the gas to heat boilers that power simple "rankine-style" engines for mechanical

    and electrical power.

    E. The carbon dioxide in biogas may have some uses.

    1. Carbon dioxide should not be removed from biogas unless there is a practical use for it. The process of

    separation must be simple and low cost.

    2. Carbon dioxide can be used in greenhouse operations to increase crop yields, and it may be practical to

    freeze the carbon dioxide to make dry ice.

    F. The waste heat from engines fueled by biogas or methane must be used to maintain digester temperature

    at 35 degrees centigrade.

    G. Only when digester capacity is big enough to make the use of an engine practical is it likely that the

    system will be profitable.

    V. Biofertilizer

    A. Biofertilizer is used digester slurry and is often referred to in this book as sludge.

    B. Only when the sludge is used as a fertilizer can a biogas system be profitable.

    C. After the sludge has been exposed to the air for a couple of weeks, it makes an excellent soil conditioner

    and organic fertilizer for crops and fish ponds.

    D. The liquid portion of the sludge (90 percent) can be recycled and used in place of water to dilute fresh

    raw materials.

    VI. Secondary Biogas System Projects

    A. Flat-plate solar collector water heaters can be used to heat digesters and in a dual-fuel system with biogas

    to power rankine-cycle engines.

    B. Composting can be a useful and necessary part of biogas systems.

    C. Bioinsecticides can be a safe, simple method of pest control. When bioinsecticides are used with organic

    fertilizers, there should be an increase in crop yields and a decrease in crop losses.

  • Preface



    If you've heard of biogas, odds are you connect it with one of the following: a technology that could make

    the world or at least the Third World completely or partly independent of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal;

    or, a "small is beautiful" idea that flopped.


    Most of my first year back in the United States was devoted to the study of biogas technology. The product

    of my experiences and studies is The Biogas/Biofertilizer Business Handbook.

    The purpose of the book is to answer the question: How can appropriate technology biogas systems

    contribute to the process of rural community development?

    The Larger Issues

    Biogas technology has been studied and applied in small, medium, and large scale projects since the 1940's

    and World War II. However, only since becoming a category of appropriate technology (a community

    development concept of the 1970's) have biogas systems enjoyed widespread success and failure.

    Witold Rybcznski repeatedly cautions: "What if biogas plants benefit the rich and not the poor? What if

    wind machines are often too expensive? What if the solar heater falls apart after six months? What is no one

    wants to buy homemade soap? What if [appropriate technology]...cannot deliver the goods?" (Paper Heroes:

    A Review of Appropriate Technology, 1980).

    The Canadian Hunger Foundation expands on these considerations by drawing attention to a full range of

    development needs in both Third World and industrial nations. "Some [groups] strongly advocated smaller-

    scale, nonpolluting, locally made technology. Their critics initially viewed them as anti-technology or anti-

    progress. In the face of formidable resistance, these alternative technologies tended to overpromote their

    cause. Hand, wind, [biogas], and solar power became panaceas [universal remedies]. In retrospect, those

    advocates generally agree that their emphasis on small scale was only part of the solution.

    "A network of development issues--land reform, education policies, decentralized decision making, suitable

    consultants, and agricultural and industrial strategies, among others--must also be addressed...[Appropriate

    technology should ask] what style of progress or industrialization is wanted, what balance between large-

    and small-scale production is needed, what choices of technology will promote development, and who will

    participate in the selection of options" (Experiences in Appropriate Technology, 1980).

    The ABC's of Biogas

    Biogas technology is based on a simple principle: anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is the biological

    breakdown of organic matter by living organisms in the absence of oxygen. A liquid organic fertilizer,

    carbon dioxide, and flammable methane gas are the primary products of the digestion of organic waste by

    anaerobic bacteria. A natural place for this bacterial activity would be a swamp.

    Composting is also based on a simple principle: aerobic digestion. Aerobic digestion involves the

    breakdown of organic matter by organisms that live in the same oxygen rich environment as we do.

    Compost fertilizer and carbon dioxide are the main products of aerobic digestion. Diagram 1 charts these

    two processes for organic decomposition.

    The anaerobic digestion of biogas systems takes place in airless metal, concrete, plastic, or brick tanks

    which can be built