Science fair project : bio-waste biogas production

 Courtesy, Ray Hull Human waste, from left, cow manure and food waste produce biogas next to a controlled environment in a science experiment led by California teens. The students found that food waste produced gas at the fastest rate.

 

It was an experimental tale of four B's: biomass, biogas, boys and a blue ribbon.
In May, three eighth-grade honors students from Santiago Charter Middle School in California completed a 21-day study of biogas generated from steer manure, human biosolids and food waste.
The experiment not only had a high gross factor, it earned the 14-year-old young researchers serious science credentials and a first place in the school's first science fair. Courtesy, Ray Hull From left, Charlie Hull, Bradley Warren and Justin Spitzer show off the blue ribbons they received for their project, “Biomass to Biogas,” in the Santiago Charter Middle School science fair. Charlie’s father, Ray Hull, is business manager for Central Region Landfills in Orange County, Calif.

Charlie Hull, Bradley Warren and Justin Spitzer's winning project, "Biomass to Biogas," showed how different types of biomass would generate different amounts of biogas in an anaerobic environment.
"If we change the type of biomass [steer manure, human biosolids and food waste], then we will produce different amounts of biogas," the students said in their report. "Also, we predict food waste will produce the most biogas of the three biomasses."
Bingo!
The trio had measurable success with the experiment facilitated by Charlie's dad, Ray Hull, the business manager for Central Region Landfills, who helped them obtain their raw materials. They collected human biosolids liquid from the Orange County Sanitation District, food-waste slurry from Waste Management Inc. and fresh steer feces from Orange High School's stables.
"We went to [sciencebuddies.org] for ideas about experiments and we chose this because it had the 'ick' factor and involved renewable energy," Charlie said.
From there they donned protective clothing – a hazmat suit, particulate respirator mask, protective face shield and latex gloves – and put the materials into separate plastic bottles. Then they filled the bottles with distilled water to make them anaerobic and covered the mouth of each soda bottle with a rubber balloon to capture any biogas produced.
For the next 21 days, the boys visited the Hull laboratory – aka Charlie's garage – and measured the circumference of balloons in centimeters.
The results: Biogas from human biosolids filled three balloons to an average circumference of 9.16 centimeters. Cow manure filled three balloons to an average circumference of 8.45 centimeters. Food waste filled three balloons to an average circumference of 17.8 centimeters.
The interesting part, Charlie said, was that the steer manure and biosolids began producing biogas in a few days. The food waste sucked the balloons inside the bottle necks.
"On Day 17 and Day 18, the food waste balloons ripped," he said. The boys replaced the balloons and the food waste began generating biogas just two days later and in the end, generated the most biogas of the three biomasses.
The scientific conclusion: All three biomasses generated biogas, but that manure and biosolids generated biogas in an anaerobic environment, while food waste preferred an aerobic environment.
The academic conclusion: A+.
Led by teachers Kim Meier and Dorothy Yan, the biomass project was one of more than 100 science fair projects implementing the scientific method involving a hypothesis, independent and dependent variables, collecting data and presenting it graphically and formulating conclusions about results.
Each team had to give an oral presentation and create visual displays of its scientific findings. Projects were reviewed by more than 35 judges, including veteran scientists, area business professionals and educators.
"The hardest part was all the research ... and the materials were kind of nasty," said Bradley. "There weren't really any surprises; our hypothesis was supported by the data."

Biogas From cow dung In Java, Indonesia

biogas store in polythene bag

In Java, Indonesia, people who had used firewood for cooking for a long time started using kerosene recently. But after the price of kerosene increased, some people in rural area had trouble getting enough fuel. Some had to collect firewood in the forests again. There was a concern that the forests would shrink due to tree cutting.

A village called Lembang of Java decided to use biogas instead of kerosene. Biogas is a gas generated from livestock manure or food waste through chemical reaction in the absence of oxygen. By processing livestock manure or food waste with bacteria in a closed container, a gas called methane is produced. Unlike the gases extracted from the oilfields underground, methane does not emit extra carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air when it is burned, which makes it an environmentally-friendly energy source.

In Lembang, people use plastic containers called "biodigester" (diameter 1m, length 7m). One biodigester can generate cooking gas for 1.5 families by processing about 100 kilograms of cow dung produced by one cow per week. In addition, as a byproduct, the biodigester produces about 10-20 kilograms of organic fertilizer per 100 kilograms of cow dung, which enables farmers to grow healthy vegetables without using chemical fertilizer.

By saving money for kerosene used for cooking and chemical fertilizers, more children who were once unable to go to school can receive education, and more sick people can afford adequate medical treatment. Livestock manure and food waste were mere wastes before, but now they are important sources of energy.

"What is Anaerobic Digestion?

Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes involving microorganisms that break down organic matter without gaseous oxygen. For about 150 years humans have explored how this natural process could be used to not only manage organic waste but also produce energy. The final products of the breakdown processes are biogas, mostly made up of methane, which can be used as a fuel to generate heat or electricity via a gas-powered engine. This technology is used in sewage-treatment, in the food industry, and here in New York state, especially on farms."

source: miracle-kids.net

Gases: Biogas & Electric Cuts Emissions from Anaerobic Digesters

Biogas & Electric, located in San Diego, California, has developed technology that reduces harmful emissions created during anaerobic digestion.

Anaerobic digestion may serve as a renewable energy source, and reduce methane when utilized at wastewater treatment plants, dairies, and landfills. Seth Burns was intrigued by benefits of turning waste to a resource, but realized one of the biggest challenges for the anaerobic digester industry was to reduce the harmful emissions generated by the process.

Stringent standards enforced by the California Air and Resources Board (CARB), and other regional air boards require the reduction of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emitted during the anerobic digestion process. NOx is known to cause an array of health problems including asthma.

In an effort to make the anaerobic digestion process more environmentally sound, Mike Matelich, process chemist and inventor of the process, and Burns partnered to develop a way to reduce NOx and SOx emissions.

The technology is an add-on solution to the biogas engine. The add-on puts the biogas engine exhaust in contact with the liquid waste stream from the anaerobic digester.

“Mike determined that certain chemicals are endogenous to the waste stream, such as ammonia, which can scrub the NOx out of the exhaust stream,” stated Burns.

The bench scale prototype chemical reaction that occurs reduces NOx and SOx, the precursors to smog and acid rain respectively, by greater than 95% each.

Burns and Matelich hope to replicate these results in the field at full scale. The following diagram outlines the process:

U.S. Patent No. 8,012,746, entitled “NOx Removal Systems for Biogas Engines at Anaerobic Digestion Facilities,” describes the Biogas and Electric technology (’746 Patent).

According to Burns, a provisional patent application was filed at the end of December 2009. The non-provisional, filed September 15, 2010, enjoyed accelerated examination via the now-defunct U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Green Technology Pilot Program (GTPP) (read about some fast track alternatives post-GTPP here). The ’746 Patent issued September 6, 2011, just under a year from the non-provisional filing date.

The company has received funding from USDA-NIFA SBIR Phase I and Phase II research grants and from Waste Management. A full-scale dairy-based demonstration project is being constructed in Imperial County, California. The technology will be utilized on a 300 kW biogas engine.

Previous technologies have only been able to reduce NOx to 9ppm, but Burns and Matelich are confident that their technology will be able to reduce NOx emissions enough to meet the stringent CARB standard of 2 ppm.

Burns and Matelich plan to build a demo project within the wastewater treatment industry, and begin installing their solution for revenue.
Source: www.greenpatentblog.com