Title: Biogas production potential from cow dung to be used in the Vedic farm

Authors: Pratima Jeetah; Neeraj Reetoo

Addresses: Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Mauritius, Le Reduit, Moka, Mauritius ' Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Mauritius, Le Reduit, Moka, Mauritius

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to assess the potential of biogas production from cattle waste and residues of cattle feed. The ratios of cow dung to feed residues were: 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 and 100:0, respectively. It was observed that the 100% cow dung set-up generated the maximum volume of biogas, amounting to 12,785 ml, while the 50% cow dung set-up produced only 7300 ml of biogas which was the least amount generated from any of the four digesters, at the end of the 30 days of evaluation. The biogas produced can be expressed as volume of gas produced per unit weight of volatile solids added or destroyed. The Volatile Solid (VS) is the organic matter present in the total solid, thus the total solid was measured. The maximum Total Solid (TS) recorded was 8.37% for the 100% cow dung feedstock and the minimum value was 1.25% for the 50% cow dung feedstock. The maximum volatile solid calculated was 49.2% for the 75% cow dung feedstock and the least value was 16.7% for the 100% cow dung feedstock.

Keywords: biogas production; cattle waste; feed residue; cow dung.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGEI.2016.076349

International Journal of Global Energy Issues, 2016 Vol.39 No.3/4, pp.241 - 252

Received: 02 May 2015
Accepted: 31 Jan 2016

Published online: 04 May 2016 *

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