Experiment on biogas production by anaerobic fermentation of maize straw and cattle dung in lab-scale fermentor

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion is becoming more and more attractive for the treatment of high strength organic wastes. It is a microbial process for production of biogas, which consists of primarily methane (CH4) & carbon dioxide (CO2). Mixture of maize straw residues along with cattle dung was anaerobically digested in a 3 Lit capacity lab scale batch reactors. Biogas can be used as energy source and also for numerous purposes. But, any possible application requires knowledge & information about the composition and quantity of constituents in the biogas produced. Anaerobic co-digestion strategies are needed to enhance biogas production when treating certain residues such as cattle dung. Co-digestion of agricultural waste i.e., maize straw with cattle dung or other feedstocks with low carbon content can improve process stability and methane production. In this study, anaerobic digestion and co-digestion of cattle dung with maize straw using microbial consortium have been experimentally tested to determine the biogas potential. Among two treatments and intervals the TS % was found highest with the treatment T2 (Biogas production with pretreatment) i.e., 9.30 % as when compared to T1 (Biogas production without pretreatment) i.e., 7.00 %. pH was found to be highest in the treatment T2 (Biogas production with pretreatment) i.e., 6.30 as when compared to T1 (Biogas production without pretreatment) i.e., 6.20. At the end of the anaerobic fermentation process the methane gas production was significantly more in AW-T2 (Biogas production with pretreatment) 3531.10 ml, compared to AW-T1 (Biogas production without pretreatment) 3381.00 ml, HW-T2 (Biogas production with pretreatment) 2620.70 ml and less in HW-T1 (Biogas production without pretreatment) 2381.40 ml.