Effect of Pretreating Cattle Dung with Granulated Plantain Peel on Biogas Production

Abstract

Biogas technology is a way of tackling the increase in the production of organic wastes and rural energy problems in many developing  countries like Nigeria. This study investigated the effect of granulated plantain peels on the biogas yield from cattle dung. The volume of  gas produced was measured on a 5- day basis, and the pretreated substrate produced 46,151.6 cm³ against 17,224.7 cm³ from the  untreated sample. Results showed a 168% increase in biogas produced when cattle dung was pretreated. The flammability test showed  that production started on the first day after retention for the substrate pretreated and that an appreciable amount of methane content  was produced only on the third to fourth day. In contrast, in the control, production started on the third day, and appreciable methane  was observed on the fourth to fifth day. The compression test showed that biogas could be compressed with minimal changes in  temperature as the temperature observed amounted to only a 0.19 ℃ rise per bar increase in pressure. The biogas compression  experiment gave an accumulated mass of 214 g at 6.34 bar compared to 1000 g at 6 bar for standard LPG refilling. It is recommended  that the produced biogas be purified before commencing compression in future works.