Methane Generation

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

Have been researching Methane Digesters for generating and storing methane for use as a cooking and heating fuel.

Sources I have read indicate that as little as 3 pounds of chicken manure per day can generate enough methane for cooking for two people. Manure from 2 cows can produce enough methane for the needs of a small family.

The technology is not difficult, but you have to be careful not to let it mix with air or it gets explosive.

[SolarGary]

Hi,

Some Methane generator plans and calculators you might not have yet:

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects...l/biofuels.htm

If you have found some good information sources on Methane generation, please post them.

Gary

[Janon]

Methane generation for cooking and heating appears to be common in 3rd world countries. From what I've seen, not a very complex setup.

cheers,

[Cabin Fever]

The problem with methane (or biogas) is its storage. It's really economically impossible to store. It can't be compressed (economically). When I was a grad student, I worked on a biogas project. We stored the gas in what we called a "giant pillow." The rubber pillow was Army surplus and it was the size of a large garden shed or 1-car garage. The prof calculated that the pillow contained the equivalent BTUs as a gallon of gasoline.

At any rate, with biogas, you have to use it while it's being generated. In other words, use it or lose it.

[snoozy]

The Seattle Public Library has a book on methane production writen by Peace Corps people about their work on Chinese farms. Unfortunately, I haven't got the title or author(s) for you. But it certainly sounded doable -- since they had done it -- but you need more pigs than I had intentions of raising.

Peace Corps people put out excellent info for homesteading...

[southerngurl]

Have been researching Methane Digesters for generating and storing methane for use as a cooking and heating fuel.

Get your fart-broiled burgers!! Get em while they're hot!

Brr, let's go warm up by the poot!

Chestnuts roasting on an open turd!

Ok, I'm done, sorry.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

The problem with methane (or biogas) is its storage. It's really economically impossible to store. It can't be compressed (economically). When I was a grad student, I worked on a biogas project. We stored the gas in what we called a "giant pillow." The rubber pillow was Army surplus and it was the size of a large garden shed or 1-car garage. The prof calculated that the pillow contained the equivalent BTUs as a gallon of gasoline.

At any rate, with biogas, you have to use it while it's being generated. In other words, use it or lose it.

Im kinda cornfused. can you store it, or do you have to use it as you make it?

[WisJim]

Old city waste treatment plants used to store and use methane to run engines to run generators to produce electricity to use in the plant and in nearby neighborhoods. Coal gas was generated in some cities quite a few years ago, for residential and city lighting, etc. At least some volume of gas was often stored, because peak generation and peak use didn't always coincide. A large tank could store it under low pressure, and I mean a LARGE tank, and LOW pressure, not much different than the Pillow previously mentioned.

[Pony]

We have a small methane storage unit. We call it Buster the Wonder Dog. Whew! If that animal gets hold of something not in his regular diet, he can make a green cloud that I'm sure would power a small town!

Pony!

[Ed K]

Originally Posted by michiganfarmer

Im kinda cornfused. can you store it, or do you have to use it as you make it?

You can store it but as Cabin indicates storing useful amounts becomes expensive. It's better to use it as you make it. Certainly if we're only talking about 3 lbs of chicken manure worth a day to cook your food you can store it. Many of the home scale digestors I've read about have a floating dome cover where the gas is stored until used.

[southerngurl]

Im kinda cornfused. can you store it, or do you have to use it as you make it?

Most people can store it and release it on demand.

[mightybooboo]

Some good MEN articles on the subject.....

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Alter...ent_and_Future

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green..._Ram_Bux_Singh

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natur...w__L__John_Fry

[mightybooboo]

Sources for SolarGary if you havent read em already.......

http://www.motherearthnews.com/index...num=0&limit=50


BooBoo

[mightybooboo]

With a good enough source of biogas,add a fuel cell (convert excess to electricity,store that).....
Power and super fertilizer,pretty good combo that would be.

BooBoo

[Quint]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

At any rate, with biogas, you have to use it while it's being generated. In other words, use it or lose it.

I seen some greenhouses next to a landfill once and when I asked the guy I was with about them being in such an odd pace he told me that they use methane from the landfill to heat the greenhouses. Landfill must really be putting out the methane because the greenhouse appeared to be heated and there were several flares buring excess methane from the landfill.

[Cabin Fever]

Quint

Yes, that is right; active landfills produce a continuous flow of biogas. Here in Minnesota we have a couple of landfills that use the biogas to generate electricity. And as someone else said, wastewater treatment plants produce biogas IF they use anaerobic digestion to treat their sewage sludge. The biogas from these digesters are used to heat the sludge in the digester (which is generally hundreds of thousands of gallons) to about 95F. These digesters have floating covers so they can store some of the gas produced.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

From what I can gather the technology is VERY SIMPLE, the results are useful, and the catchment and short term are doable. Compared to solar, wind, etc the cost is miniscule. Now how to figure out how to power a small generator off of the methane for maybe 4 hours a day to charge batteries. POOP on a homestead is always available.

[Cabin Fever]

Lets put this into perspective. One cubic foot of biogas contains about 600 BTUs of energy. One gallon of gasoline contains about 125,000 BTUs of energy. Consquently, the energy in 208 cubic feet of biogas is equivalent to one gallon of gasoline. 208 cubic feet equals 1558 gallons. So, in other words, you would need a 1,500 gallon tank to store the equivalent energy value of 1 gallon of gasoline. And that tank better be made of a non-corrosive material...biogas is extremely corrosive.

[Janon]

Originally Posted by YuccaFlatsRanch

Have been researching Methane Digesters for generating and storing methane for use as a cooking and heating fuel.

Makes ya wonder if you could use biogas to supply a propane type refridgerator as well???

That giant "pillow" that Cabin Fever mentions - the third world applications I've seen used something similar, with the large plastic-like pillow secured to the ceiling of the kitchen. The cook would reach up and sometimes push the pillow, I'd assume to draw more gas in from outside or keep the flame going on the stove.

cheers,

[MELOC]

i wonder if anyone has experimented with harnessing their own waste gases from a septic system. i am sure a family of four could make some gas. (especially the ones i know). every system has a vent. i would start by putting a balloon on it and seeing how fast it will fill up.