Comparison of Biogas Production in Ambient Temperature Condition and under Green House Canopy

Abstract

The current study focuses on the production of biogas from pine needles. The experimental study was conducted at Himachal Pradesh, India where temperature hardly exceeds 350C. There are various type of organic waste used for biogas production such as food waste, cow dung and agricultural waste but the use of pine needles has not been used so much for biogas production. The batch study was done in a plastic made floating type biogas digester. In the biogas digesters, one fermentation bucket and 2nd gas holder was used. The capacity of fermentation bucket and gas holder was 45 l and 20 l respectively. The feed materials were collected from the local sources. The study was batch operated and daily gas production from the digesters was measured. In this study comparison of biogas production under green house canopy and the ambient temperature condition has been made. The ambient temperature range measured within the testing period was 150C-280C and green house canopy temperature inside the digester range was between 180C-320C. The both digesters have same capacity of slurry. In both the digesters inoculum was prepared from the cow dung. The ratio of substrate and water is (1:15) in both the digesters. The retention period of both digesters was 70 days. The different parameter like Total solid (TS), Volatile solid (VS), Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and Chemical oxygen demand (COD) before and after digestion was measured. The pH and temperature was measured on daily basis because temperature plays vital role in the biogas production. The cumulative biogas production in ambient temperature condition and green house canopy was recorded 7.7l and 10.9l respectively. The biogas production under the green house canopy was noticed more as compare to without green house canopy digester.