Document Type : Research Paper
Abstract
Globally, energy supply remains one of the inevitable challenges bedevilling numerous underdeveloped and developing countries. It is well known that a lot of companies and industries have faced closure, with some encountering difficulties to establish themselves, due to the cost and availability of energy in certain regions. This necessitates the quest for an alternate sustainable source of energy. In this study, three biogas digesters were set up for the production of biogas. Also, three fermentation slurries were prepared (pig dung, cattle dung and water alone); (pig dung, banana waste and sugar wastewater); (pig dung, corn waste and sugar wastewater) for the anaerobic digestion experiment. The process was carried out at the following operating conditions: temperature 38 0C, pH6.5, total solid content 8% and retention time of240 hours. Gas production was collected by means of connecting a hose to an air bag. The bacterial population of the fermentation slurries were counted at intervals of time at varying dilution rates using a colony counter. The total solid content of pig dung, cattle dung, banana waste and corn waste were 46.5%, 29.4%, 25.1% and 41.8% respectively, while the corresponding volatile, carbon, and moisture content were 76.56%, 0.425, and 41.35%; 76.87%, 0.427, and 5.5%; 78.09%, 0.434, and9.05%; 83.9, 0.494, and50.05% respectively. Additionally, the cumulative biogas yield was highest in the mixture of pig dung, cattle dung and water alone, which produced3.35kg of biogas, while the mixtures of pig dung, banana waste, sugar waste water and pig dung, corn waste, sugar waste water produced 3.15kg and 2kg of biogas, respectively. Also, the kinetic parameters (specific growth rate and doubling time) for dilutions 10-2 and 10-4 were determined as hr-1 and respectively
