BIOGAS PLANT DESIGN

by: Arthur IT. Tambong

Introduction
It is alarming to realize that the oil reserves of the world will eventually be exhausted in
just a few decades. The global demand for energy is increasing as triggered by the fast-increasing
human population and the rapid technological advancements. On the other hand, fuel formation
is a very slow natural process. Nature needs thousands of years and considerable underwater
mass in the earth to form the drop of oil that can be consumed by just one person in less than a
minute. Inevitably, man has to find alternative sources of energy.
The gradual shift to nonconventional energy may be one answer to the problem. Energy
sources like the sun and the wind are inexhaustible. Unfortunately, energy systems utilizing them
are still beyond the reach of the large segment of society.
Biogas technology is one of the most mature and economically viable alternatives.
Indeed, it is an appropriate technology.

Chapter 1

Biogas Production and Utilization Practices

Biogas production technology has been in existence since before World War I.
Harnessing flammable gas from organic matter has been reported as early as the last decade of
the nineteenth century. The technology has evolved in time from the initial crude practices to its
present relatively advanced stage. Practices vary slightly from one part of the globe to another
mainly because of differences in local temperatures. However, all biogasification systems use the
same basic principles and attainment of condition - the anaerobic environment.

1.1 The Purpose of Biogasification

All biogas plant designs seek to accomplish two major goals: energy generation and
pollution control. In the rural areas not reached by electrification, the former goal takes
precedence, while in large animal farms near population centers, the pollution control objective
is typically more of a driving force in adopting biogas technology. Regardless of the primary
purpose, the recovery of organic materials as fertilizer or feeds is an added advantage.

1.2 Raw Materials

Animal manure is the most common raw material used as input to the biogas digesters.
Crop residue, kitchen waste and human excreta in correct proportion with water have been found
to be good sources of gas. The use of a combination of raw materials is practiced by some biogas
plant operators. Nightsoil or human waste which is the most abundant organic waste material
found in households is used dominantly in China and to a certain extent in Thailand and in the
Philippines.
1.3 Plant Types and Construction
Three distinct types of biogas plants have been used so far. These are the floating, the
fixed and the balloon plants. These conventional names refer to the kind of gasholder the plant
uses; the gasholder being the device used to retain the biogas produced by the fermentation
process. The floating type is characterized by its moving gasholder that varies its volume to
regulate pressure. The gasholder may be integrated with or separated from the fermentation
chamber. The fixed type has less variability in storage but regulates pressure by controlling the
volume of slurry inside its fermentation chamber. Unlike the floating type, fixed type plants
always have the gasholder integrated with the fermentation chamber. The balloon type is made
of semi-elastic flexible material at its upper part; this material expands to collect gas. The
balloon plant is a special type for unchopped plant biomass and is rarely used.
Plants are usually constructed of solid concrete, bricks or concrete hollow blocks. To
improve water-retaining capability, the digester is plastered with waterproofing mix in the inner
surface of its walls and floor. Floating gasholders are commonly made of steel plates. Recently,
the use of ferrocement for both the digester and the gasholder has been practiced in some
countries and is gaining acceptance due to its low cost. Ferrocement is a type of thin wall
concrete reinforced with layers of continuous small diameter mesh.
In the tropics, digesters are commonly constructed partly overground and partly
underground with simple vertical walls. In temperate countries, most plants have digesters
constructed completely underground to minimize the effect of low atmospheric temperature
during night time on fermentation. In this situation, the digester is necessarily be in spherical
form or dome-shape to have enough strength to counteract the weight of soil it carries.

1.4 Fermentation
In preparing the feed for the fermentation process, water and manure are mixed to form a
slurry. A water-manure ratio of about 1:1 by volume is normally used for economic reasons
considering the size of structure needed. The slurry is charged into an oxygen-free or anaerobic
fermentation chamber called digester and retained inside for a certain
Figure 1.1 Three types of biogas plant
duration known as the retention period. The retention period used varies depending on the
temperature, the purpose of fermentation and the kind of manure feed used.
Fermentation for pollution control in the tropics takes 50 days or more to produce a clean,
non-odorous effluent or sludge, fermentation for biogas production takes 30 days, more or less,
A volume of starter or an actively fermenting slurry approximately 25 of more days old is added
at the start to speed up the fermentation process. Slow digestion means higher costs per unit
volume of gas produced, as the relative digester volume required is greater.

Fermentation is classified into three types according to the temperature prevailing inside the
digester:
1. Psychrophilic fermentation 10 to 20 C
2. Mesophilic fermentation -20 to 37°C
3. Thermophilic fermentation - 50 to 65°C

The higher the temperature, the faster is the rate of gas production. Thermophilic
digestion is accomplished in some countries by the use of artificial fermenter heating systems. In
the tropics, the mesophilic digester type is favored.
Slurry charging can be categorized into two methods: continuous-fed and batch-fed
Continuous-fed plants consist of single digesters charged with small amounts of manure each
day or so. In some instances, animal pens are provided with drainage canals leading to the
digester to effect charging while cleaning the pens with a predetermined amount of water. This
reduces labor requirement but the plant must be adjacent to the animal pens. Batch-fed plants, on
the other hand, have digesters that are discharged and recharged once for the entire fermentation
period. In batch-fed multi-digester systems, recharging is done in rotation so that the availability
of usable biogas is not completely interrupted.
The pH of the slurry, in some cases, is altered by the addition of other materials to
conform to the recommended range of 6.4 to 7.8. Nightsoil, for example, is augmented with ash
or lime to increase its pH.
Most digesters are equipped with mechanical stirrers. Stirring is done once or twice a day
to break the scum formed at the slurry surface. Stirring could further increase gas production by
improving the contact between feed materials and fermentative microbes.
In the tropics, biogas produced during the first two to three weeks of operation is not
usually flammable and is expelled from the gasholder. The gas produced early in the operation of
the fermenter is higher in carbon dioxide than in methane. This is because, for mesophilic
fermentation, methane-forming bacteria do not start to substantially act on the slurry until after
about the first 15 days of digestion.

1.5 Maintenance
The maintenance of biogas plants is typically a simple routine of cleaning the inside part
of the digester and repainting part of the steel gasholder in contact with the slurry or water. In a
continuous-fed digester, heavier slurry solids cannot be discharged totally. These need to be
removed manually. Cleaning of the digester is usually done at intervals of six months to one
year.
Due to the explosive anusuongly suitocating nature of biogas, extreme care is observed in
releasing the gas and in entering the digester during cleaning. Theoretically, a biogas-air mixture
of about 1:20 in an enclosed space is explosive.

1.6 Gas Utilization

Biogas is commonly used for cooking and other direct heating applications. For gasoline and
diesel engines, biogas is also utilized with reasonable efficiency. Due to the high ignition
pressure of biogas, it has to be mixed with a small amount of diesel fuel in running diesel
engines. To a lesser extent, biogas is used as a fuel in refrigerators designed to run on liquefied
petroleum gas or natural gas. Researches conducted in China revealed that biogas is also a good
preservative for grain and fruit storage and as wine flavor enhancer in distilleries.
Sometimes, biogas is "scrubbed" or purified before it is used. Scrubbing to remove
carbon dioxide (CO), which occupies about one-third to one- half of the gas volume, is done to
improve the biogas heating value and to reduce the storage volume required. CO, scrubbing is
done by bubbling the raw gas through a lime-water solution. The efficiency depends on the
concentration of the lime-water, the fineness of the bubbles and the length of travel of the gas
through the solution. The longer the gas remains in contact with the solution, the more CO, will
be dissolved out of the gas into the lime-water. Lime is up to an extent of 12.5 percent by weight
in the solution due to its limited solubility in tap water.
The corrosive component, hydrogen sulfide (H,S), is scrubbed off by simply running the
gas through layers of iron filing. In contrast, some biogas users prefer to use corrosive-resistant
steel utensils instead of scrubbing H,S. Biogas is always stored in gaseous state. No
economically sound technology has been developed yet for the liquefaction of biogas, though
doing so would drastically reduce the storage volume.

1.7 Sludge Utilization

The sludge by-product remaining after digestion of waste materials can be beneficial in
many types of applications. In the Philippines, conditioned liquid sludge has been used as
fertilizer on croplands and in fish ponds. Sterilized dried sludge has also been used as feed
supplement. In China, sludge is not only used in soil conditioning, livestock feeding and fish
culture but also in mushroom culture, in seed soaking as dipping media and in earthworm
culture.
As the sludge fresh from the digester is toxic to both plants and aquatic animals,
conditioning is necessary. Sludge conditioning is accomplished by exposing the fresh sludge to
the atmosphere in thin layer for three to four weeks. In large biogas plants, structures or
mechanical devices may be needed to ensure uniform sludge aeration.
 Chapter 2

Preliminary Notes and Calculation

It is important that the feed inputs to the digester and the values of related parameters be
determined before designing the parts of the plant. Normally, these inputs are calculated based
on the biogas fuel requirement. In some cases, the biogas demand cannot be met totally, hence
the design may be sized to consume available manure. As a pollution control device, in contrast,
the plant size is made sufficient to handle all wastes regardless of biogas consumption.

2.1 General Design Procedure

It is a sad observation that many existing biogas plants have been constructed without
following the proper design procedure. Some plants have been constructed merely to fit the
standard cuts of the construction materials, for example, and not on the basis of the biogas
requirement of the intended user or the volume of the manure available daily. Some have been
made copying the designs of functional ones in other places without considering the local
conditions. Notably, these plants suffer a number of drawbacks. In most cases, their purposes are
defeated. Worse, sometimes they do not function at all.

To provide a general guide, the following steps are recommended in designing biogas plants:
1. Identify the establishment or household and the specific site where the biogas plant is to be
installed.
2. Determine the purpose of biogas plant installation.
a) If the purpose is mainly to meet the biogas needs, compute the biogas consumption
rate; in any other case compute the biogas production potential.
b) If the goal is to meet the biogas needs and the consumption rate is already computed,
test if the number of animals or persons supplying the waste is sufficient; if not, ure
biogas production potential instead of consumption rate.
3. From the results in Step 2, estimate the volume of the expected daily slurry input to the
digester.
4. Specify the appropriate retention period to be used (digestion for pollution control warrants a
retention period of 50 days or longer and, accordingly, a bigger digester).
5. Determine the appropriate type of plant and manure charging method to be employed.
6. Compute the required sizes of the digester, gasholder, mixing tank and sludge tank.
7. Decide on the kind of construction materials to be used.
8. Calculate the structural dimensions and specify details.

2.2 Biogas Consumption

The biogas consumption of a household or establishment is dependent on the gas-
consuming devices used and on the duration of use of each device. Biogas usage varies from one
device to another. The daily duration of use has a greater effect in cases where the consumption
rate of the device is high. A medium-size gas burner, for example, utilized only five hours a day
for cooking, has a much higher daily gas consumption than a 100- liter gas refrigerator running
all throughout the day.

The total daily biogas consumption C, when N devices are used, each with consumption
rate B and utilized for duration T, is given by
C=N1B1T1 + N2B2T2 + … + NnBnTn

The subscripts 1, 2 and n indicate the first, second and nth kind of device, respectively.
Values of B for common devices are presented in Table 2.1. In this table, the type of each device,
a useful information in

Table 2.1 Biogas consumption estimates B for common devices

 Table 2.2 Estimates of the daily biogas usage of households

the scaling of the gasholder, is likewise indicated.

For typical households, the value of C could be taken directly as one or the sum of the
appropriate values in Table 2.2. These values were estimated based on Table 2.1. The kind of
device and duration of usage are included in the table for reference.

Illustrative Problem 2.1

Estimate the daily biogas consumption of a certain household using a 10-cm gas burner
for 3 hours and 2 ordinary mantle lamps for 1.5 hours every day.

Solution
From Table 2.1, the hourly biogas consumption rates of 10-cm gas burner and ordinary
mantle lamp are 0.283 and 0.071 m³, respectively. Using Equation 2.1,

C=N1B1T1 + N2B2T2
= (1) (0.283 m3/hr)(3 hrs/day) + (2) (0.071 m3/hr)(1.5 hrs/day
= 0.849 m³/day + 0.213 m³/day
= 1.062 m³/day
2.3 Biogas Production Potential
The use of different animal manures as digester feeds typically results in production of
biogas at different rates. So far, chicken dung and hog manure have been found through
experiments to yield more biogas per unit volume of manure. A higher production is obtained
when different kinds of manure are mixed than when each is used alone. Another major factor in
determining the gas production rate is the duration of fermentation, or retention period. When the
temperature is low, a longer retention period is required to generate the same amount of biogas
produced at a higher temperature. Generally, for slurries older than 15 days, as retention time
increases cumulative biogas production increases at decreasing rate.
The biogas production potential P, or the maximum volume of biogas that could be made
available each day, based on the manure produced by the number of animals available N, can be
estimated as
Pb - NaMG
where Mand Gare the daily fresh manure production per head and specific gas production from
the manure, respectively.
If there are two or more kinds of animal, say layer, broiler, and cattle, and each kind of
manure is to be digested separately, the overall potential is obtained by summing up the
individual potentials of all kinds of animal.
Values of M for human beings and selected animals, determined by actual measurement
from different manure samples, are given in Table 2.3. Note that manure production rates can
vary considerably with breeds and feeding practices; the data reflected in Table 2.3 serve as a
guide. Moreover, mixing antibiotics on animal feeds may greatly reduce the specific gas
production of animal waste. These substances are detrimental to fermentative microbes.
 Table 2.3 Estimates of daily fresh manure production by source of waste

1
Group production data from F.D. Maramba, Biogas and Waste Recycling: The
Philippine Experience, 1978
2
Morning excretion is more of feces; all-day excretion is more of urine.
3
German observation
 Estimates of G for different retention periods, determined from performance data of
several plants, are given in Table 2.4. It should also be noted that the tabular values of Gare
specific for the indicated ratios of water to fresh manure by volume P w and for mesophilic type of
fermentation.

Table 2.4 Specific gas production G in m 3/kg of common manures for the entire retention period
under tropical conditions

1
For locations with average ambient temperature falling below 25°C, the digester is thick-
walled and separate from the gasholder; retention periods longer than 35 days are for
pollution control.
2
Roughly estimated data; manure seed starter used; ash or lime added to regulate pH at
about 7.8; retention time shorter than 100 days is not recommended for sanitary reasons.

A little complication arises when manure mixtures are dealt with. The computation for P b
is only valid when the number of heads in one kind of animal is in correct proportion with the
animal quantity in the other kind. This is required such that the resulting volumes of the two
kinds of manure produced each day are also in correct proportion. For instance, in a mixture of
90% cattle dung and 10% hog manure, about 14 heads of feedlot cattle are required for every 10
heads of porker.

The appropriate formula for determining the potential biogas production is given by

Pb=G ( N a 1 M 1+ N a 2 M 2 ) , N a 2 M 2=Pm 2 ¿ ¿

where the subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the first and second kinds of animal, respectively, and G is
the specific gas production of the manure mixture.
For the formula to be valid as explained above, the constraint of the equation has to be
satisfied. A difference of not more than 10 percent between the left and right members of this
constraint, based on the higher value, is acceptable.

2.4 Animal Sufficiency Test

Oftentimes the number of heads of animal required N r to produce enough manure for the
operation of the biogas plant needs to be determined as part of the planning for proposed
projects. For existing farms, Nr is a good indicator in testing whether the number of heads of
animal raised is sufficient or not to provide the projected daily biogas needs. The number of
animals required can be determined using
C
Nr=
GM

If the value of Nr has an appreciable fractional part, the fraction must be converted to unity. If
this fraction is dropped from the figure, the gas available during peak hours is likely to be
insufficient. For larger animals like cattle, this fraction need not be higher than one-half in order
to be converted.
When the slurry is a mixture of different manures and the number of animals is based on gas
consumption, the above equation is modified into
C Pm
Nr=
100 GM

where Pm is the corresponding percentage of the manure in the mixture and G is the specific gas
production for the manure combination. The number of heads of animal needs to be determined
using the same equation for each kind of manure used.
When the required number of heads in one kind of animal N rl is to be determined based on the
known number of the other kind Na2, the above equation is not applicable. This is replaced with

Nrl =
M1 [
N a 2 M 2 100
Pm 2
−1
]
When Nr is quantified and the number of animals available is known, the test for animal
sufficiency, with criterion
Nr ≤ Na
Or
C ≤ Na MG

can be carried out. The test criterion must be satisfied for the animals to be sufficient. The
second form of the criterion is useful when Nr is undetermined. Likewise, the first form is
important when dealing with manure mixtures. For proposed biogas projects, this test is
extremely important and should be done before proceeding with any project.

Illustrative Problem 2.2

If the household in Illustrative Problem 2.1 maintains a backyard piggery with 10 heads
of porker of mixed ages at a time, determine the biogas production potential of the animals
raised. Also predict if the number of heads of animal is sufficient to provide the biogas
requirement of the family. Use a retention period of 30 days.

Solution
Since the age and the weight ranges of the hogs are not specified, the manure production
of 2.2 kg/day per head for 3 to 8 months old porkers will be used. For the desired retention
period, the specific gas production as given in Table 2.4 is 0.063 m³/kg.
Using Equation 2.2, the biogas production potential is

Pb = NaMG
=(10 heads) (2.2 kg/day-head) (0.063 m3/kg)
=1.386 m³/day

and the number of animals required to supply the necessary manure, considering the biogas
consumption of the household as computed in Illustrative Problem 2.1, is
C
Nr=
GM
3
1.062 m / day
= 3
(0.063 m /kg)(2.2 kg /day −head )
= 7.66, says 8 heads

Inasmuch as the criterion for animal sufficiency N r ≤ Na is satisfied, the number of animals is
sufficient.
2.5 Biogas Consumption vs. Potential Production
Normally, biogas consumption is made as the basis in the design of plants. There are
times, however, when the designer has to decide whether to consider consumption or potential
production.
When the test criterion for animal sufficiency is not satisfied, consumption exceeds
production. In this case, the biogas production potential P, should be used instead of the
projected gas consumption in all other design computations, specifically for the determination of
the daily manure input and the size of the gasholder. Consequently, the consumption of some of
the devices scheduled for use will have to be reduced or eliminated.
Similarly, for pollution control, Pb replaces C in all applicable equations to totally
accommodate the manure produced regardless of biogas requirement. In many cases, this option
is still economical considering the cost of waste disposal.

2.6 Plant Type and Charging Method Selection

As pointed out earlier, there is no guarantee that a plant of certain type working perfectly
in one place will work in the same manner at another locality. It is even possible that the plant
will function in opposite manner. The type of plant is sensitive to variations in local conditions
especially differences in temperature. As a general rule, the floating type with integrated digester
and gasholder is selected when the average ambient temperature is greater than or equal to 25°C.
This selection considers cost of structures. For lower temperatures, either the fixed type
or the floating type with separate gasholder is chosen to minimize the influence of atmospheric
temperature on fermentation.
For plants utilizing manure as feed input, the continuous charging method is normally
used. Batch-fed plants require multiple digesters, relatively expensive and are preferable when
fibrous material, such as rice straw or a similar plant biomass, is mixed with manure for pulp
recovery and for increasing biogas production.

Illustrative Problem 2.3

A large poultry farm operating at a capacity of 10,000 layers plans to install a biogas
plant for both pollution control and biogas production. Biogas will be used for lighting the
animals at night and the miscellaneous uses in the residence of laborers located adjacent to the
poultry. As projected, 60 m³ of biogas is needed per day for lighting. To increase gas production
rate, chicken dung will be mixed with 50% cow manure by weight, manure being free from a
nearby cattle ranch.
Determine the following:
a) Size of feedlot cattle to supply the required cow manure for mixing:
b) Potential biogas production when employing manure mixing;
c) The volume of biogas available to the adjoining residence every day; and
d) The biogas production potential when the pure chicken and cow manures are digested
separately.
Solution
a Number of heads of feedlot cattle required

Nrl =
N a 2 M 2 100
M1 [
Pm 2
−1
]
=
(10,000)(0.075) 100
14.00 50
−1
[ ]
= 53.57, say 54 heads

b) Potential biogas production when employing manure mixing

Inasmuch as one of the purposes of biogasification is pollution control, a retention period

of 50 days will then be used.
Pb = G (Na2M2 + Nr1M1)
= 0.082 [10,000(0.075) + 54(14.00)]
= 123.492 m³/day

Satisfaction of the Pb equation constraint need not be tested since the computed N r1, which is in
this case equal to the available number of heads Na, is used.

c) The volume of biogas available daily to the residence is the difference between the 123.492 m³
production and the 60 m³ farm consumption or 63.492 m³.

d) Total biogas production potential when chicken and cow manures are digested separately
Pb = Nr1M1G1 + Na2M2G2
= 54(14.0)(0.043)+10,000(0.075) (0.078)
= 91.008 m³/day
Note the reduction of 32.484 m³/day in biogas production.

2.7 Slurry Input

The volume of the mixture of manure and water known as slurry which is charged into
the digester daily can be determined once the ratio of water to manure by volume P w, the weight
of the daily manure input Im and the fresh manure bulk density Dm are known. In the
determination of Im , estimates of G provided in Table 2.4 and the value of C computed using
Equation 2.1 are important. Im can be quantified by

Im =
GD
m
[
C 100 − P a
100 ]
where Pa is the percent air space in the fresh manure. When different manures are combined, G is
the specific gas production of the mixture, The values of D m for selected animal wastes and
human excreta are presented in Table 2.5.
 Considering an approximate value for Pa of 20 percent, although the air content of
manure varies depending on the kind of animal, the above equation can be simplified into
o .8 C
Im =
GDm

Table 2.5 Estimates of fresh manure bulk density Dm

The daily slurry input volume Is is, then, computed as

Is = Im (1 + Pw )

In practice, water-manure ratio of 1:1 by volume is usually used as it gives higher daily
biogas production per unit volume of the digester than other mixture ratios. In this case P w is
unity and Equation 2.9 simplifies to
Is = 2Im
Correspondingly, the daily water input I into the digester can be determined using
Pw I s
Iw =
1+ P w
and for water-manure ratio of 1:1 by volume.
I
Iw = s
2
The water input volume is important when slurry charging is done while cleaning or
flushing the waste. This is particularly true to nightsoil digesters and continuous-fed plants with
slurry fed directly from the drainage canal of animal pens. In these plants, the amount of water
used for cleaning should be predetermined to conform with the recommended water-manure
ratio.

Illustrative Problem 2.4

A biogas plant is to be installed for the household referred to in Illustrative Problem 2.2.
Determine the daily input volumes of manure, slurry and water into the digester. Use a water-
manure ratio of 1:1 by volume and assume a 20% air content in hog manure.

Solution
Obviously, the purpose of biogas plant installation is to meet the energy needs for
cooking and lighting since 10 hogs are so small a number to cause air pollution. Hence, gas
consumption, not biogas production potential, will be used in the computations. Using the hog
manure density in Table 2.5, the daily manure, slurry and water inputs will, respectively, be

o .8 C
Im =
GDm
2
0.8(1.062 m /day)
¿
(0.063 m3 /kg)(965 kg/m3 )
= 0.014 m3 /day

Is = 2Im
= 2(0.014 m3 /day )
= 0.028 m3 /day

and

Is
Iw =
2
3
0.028 m /day
=
2
= 0.014 m3 /day

Chapter 3
Single-digester Plants
The formulas presented in this chapter and the succeeding one were developed with small
to medium-scale biogas plants in mind. With some minor modifications, however, the same
formulas and principles may be applied to large-scale plants. One should note that additional
accessories or structures may be needed for the bigger installations. An industrial-size plant, for
instance, may need a pumping system and a multi-stage pond for sludge conditioning. Another
consideration is that, since industrial-size plants are generally large, the individual volumes of
the digester and the gasholder should not exceed their maximum economic sizes. The economic
size of a structure largely depends on the cost of conventional fuels and construction materials in
the locality. In the Philippine countryside, for example, the maximum economic size for high-
walled digesters is in the neighborhood of 70 cubic meters.

3.1 Digester Size

The volume of the digester must be accurately determined even for very small plants.
Underestimation of digester size will result in insufficient biogas production. This will cause
frequent low pressure situations in gas lines, or possibly total stoppage of gas supply during
some hours of the day. On the other hand, overestimation of the digester size may result in
excessive expenditures for materials and construction, as well as an unnecessary increase in the
cost of operation and maintenance of the plant. In worst cases, operating the plant may become
uneconomical when the cost of the oversized plant surpasses the benefits it provides.
Since the effective digester volume V,should accommodate the slurry charge for the
entire duration of fermentation, it should be the product of the daily slurry input volume I, and
the retention period R in days, or, mathematically,

Vd = I5R. (3.1)
From Equation 3.1, it is apparent that under normal operations the slurry charged into the
digester on any day does not remain, on the average, in the fermentation chamber longer than the
desired retention period. It will only stay longer in the digester under conditions where the
volume of the slurry charge is below the volume required; under these conditions, biogas
production can be reduced. On the other hand, the retention period can be decreased if the daily
slurry input is greater than what is required. As long as the correct water-manure ratio is
maintained, this can produce an increase in gas production for digester designed to work for
retention period longer than 25 days. However, when I>(V/25), or when slurry input is increased
causing the retention period to be shortened to less than 25 days, the gas production may be
reduced since the average age of slurries in the digester is too low to effectively digest the
incoming feed. Moreover, gas produced under these circumstances may be higher in carbon
dioxide and lower in methane; a carbon dioxide scrubber may be needed to make the gas
flammable.

3.2 Gasholder Size

Determining the volume of the gasholder is perhaps the most tedious task in biogas plant
design. This is also the part of the design work that, in most cases, yields less accurate results
due to the many interlinking factors that affect the volume of the gasholder required. In fact, one
may need to use a digital instrument like an electronic computer in order to prepare an accurate
estimate. As in digester volume, gasholder size should neither be underestimated, in order to
minimize gas wastage, nor overestimated in order to keep costs as low as possible.
Gasholder size is affected by the following factors:
1. Biogas production rate 2. Biogas consumption rate
2. Types of biogas-consuming devices
3. Schedule of daily gas usage
4. Type of biogas plant, and
5. Prevailing ambient temperature.

As the type of devices used affects the gasholder design, it needs to be expounded. For
the purpose of differentiation, biogas-consuming devices are categorized into two types, namely:
noncontinuous and continuous. The noncontinuous type devices are those that are used only
during certain hours of the day. Examples under this type are gas burners, mantle lamps and
flatirons. The continuous type appliances, on the contrary, are those which are used throughout
the day without interruption. Gas refrigerators and chick brooders are of this type. In some cases,
two or more noncontinuous devices of the same kind can act effectively as one continuous
device when used in an alternating fashion or one immediately after another. For instance, when
three generators are used for power generation in three equal shifts every day, the generator
group could be considered as one continuous device.
As a guide, common household devices are categorized by type in Table 2.1. As
explained earlier, however, one should always remember that the type of any device is not
inherent to the device itself but is based on the continuity of its usage.
Figure 3.1 depicts a typical household using biogas for cooking three meals a day,
lighting every night, and continuous refrigeration. It can be noticed in this figure that when no
noncontinuous type device is in use, the gas storage curve rises linearly. Since the slope of the
curve is uniform, the largest rise in storage is the product of the maximum idle or unused time
for noncontinuous type devices U and the steepest positive slope of the storage curve. This slope
is actually the hourly biogas excess E, quantified in a manner similar to that described by
Equation 2.1 as

E= C - (N1Bcl + N2Bc2 +…+NnBcn) (3.2)

24
or the difference between the total hourly consumption and the hourly consumptions of all
continuous type devices.
In practice, the daily fluctuation in gas production in the tropics falls within the range of
about 70 to 130 percent of calculated gas production. Considering a margin of 30 percent for
fluctuations in production, irregularity in use and gas expansion caused by temperature increase,
the effective gasholder volume V for both floating and fixed gasholders can be estimated as

V 3= 1.3UE (3.3)

Strictly, gas production at night is ordinarily less than the production at day time. This is
caused by the diurnal difference in ambient temperatures. When the effect is appreciable, it can
be compensated
through an appropriate choice of gasholder type (e.g. fixed instead of floating) or by other
methods, thus, it is not considered in Equations 3.2 and 3.3.
In applications in which the cycle of the biogas-consuming routines is not daily, U and E
are based on the duration of the routine cycle and not on a 24-hour basis. For instance, in an
establishment that uses a large quantity of biogas only for 3-hour water pumping every other day,
U is equivalent to 45 hours and E is the biogas production rate in m/hr. This results in a large
gasholder volume. It is evident, therefore, that proper distribution of biogas-consuming activities
within a day is necessary for a minimum gasholder size.

3.3 Mixing Tank Volume

The effective volume of the mixing tank V is simply equal to the product of the slurry
input rate and the interval of slurry charging!, that IS

Vm = IsIx (3.4)

If the interval of charging the slurry is daily, I is equal to 1.00. For daily charging,
therefore, the size of the mixing tank assumes the volume of the daily slurry input.
When I is relatively large and the cost of materials is high, the slurry can be charged in
two or more batches each day and is a fraction of a day. For two batches a day, Ix is 0.50 day; for
three batches, Ix is 0.33 day.

3.4 Sludge Tank Volume

The effective volume of the sludge tank Vis primarily dependent on the daily slurry input
and the interval of sludge collection I. The sludge tank volume is given by

Vs = IsIc (3.5)

Daily collection of sludge is recommended in order to minimize the cost of construction

materials. If collection is done on a daily basis, th tank capacity is equal to the volume of the
daily slurry input. Equatio 3.5 then reduces to

Vs = 1s(1 day)
Or simply

Vs = Is (3.6)

Since I is taken from the product of I, and 1.0 day, its unit is in unit of volume ,not the
same with that of I .
 When the topography of the digester site allows the sludge to flow directly from the
digester to a natural depression that can be used as leaching and conditioning pond, the sludge
tank can be omitted.

Illustrative Problem 3.1

Determine the required volumes of digester, gasholder, mixing tankard sludge tank for a
biogas plant that will accommodate manure from a 20,000-broiler farm. Use a continuous-fed
digester with retention period of 25 days. Biogas is primarily used for heating in the canning
operation from 7:00 o’clock in the morning to 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon. Several units of
refrigerator with combined consumption of 0.78 m/hr are also used continuously, Sludge
collection is done daily

Solution

a) Volume of digesters

The biogas production potential P,, daily manure input andslurry input 7 need to be
quantified before the volume of thedigester v_{1} can be determined. Assuming 20% air
space in chickendung and using a water-manure ratio of 1:1 by volume,

Is = 2Im
=2(0.421)
= 0.842 m³/day

Vd =IsR
 = 0.842(25)
=21.05 m3

b) Volume of gasholder

Since the gas is not used from 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon to 7:00o’clock in the
morning, the idle time U is 14 hours. The hourly gas accumulation rate E and volume of
the gasholder V are

E = Pb - NbBcl
24
= 30 - (1)(0.78)
24
=0.470 m3/hr

V3 = 1.3UE
= 1.3(14)(0.47)
= 8.554m 3

c) Volume of mixing tank

For slurry charging done in one batch a day, the value of 1, is 1.0 day.

Vm = I3 IX
=0.842(1.0)
= 0.842m 3

d.) Volume of sludge tank

Since sludge collection is done daily, the sludge tank volume is equal to the mixing tank
volume and is also equal to the volume of the daily slurry input.

V3=I 5
= 0.842m 3

Chapter 4
Multi-digester Plants

Biogas plants consisting of multiple digesters may either employ continuous or batched
charging method. The details of the design procedures involved between the two methods are
different. A continuous-fed multi- digester plant closely follows the same design procedure for
single digester plants already presented, except for some additional information discussed in
Section 4.9. This chapter emphasizes mainly on the design of batch-fed plants

4.1 Slurry Charging

Rice straw or a similar fibrous plant residue is sometimes mixed with the feed manure.
This is done to increase biogas production while at the same time recovering the pulp of the plant
residue for other uses such as paper-making. For easy handling of the feed materials, multiple
smaller digesters are assembled into a large plant. Fermentation in this kind of digester is
typically handled by batch or by chamber, hence, fermenters of this kind are collectively called
batch-fed digesters. One digester is discharged and recharged each day. Since the entire volume
of old slurry is removed from the digester, a starter of about 25 percent of the computed input
slurry volume is added in each batch. If the retention period is close to 25 days, discharging can
be done such that 25 percent of the original slurry volume is left to serve as a starter culture for
the newly charged slurry.
Pure or mixed manures can also be charged into the digester by batch but structures
required are generally higher in cost compared to continuous-fed plants. Besides, no substantial
advantage is gained in most cases.

4.2 Manure-biomass Input

When the percentage by weight of plant biomass in the manure.biomass mixture P and
the bulk density of the biomass D – are knownthe daily volume of manure and plant biomass
mixture could be quantified as

(4.1)

where Pa and P ap are the percent air spaces of manure and plant biomass on pile, respectively,
and G is the specific gas production of the manure biomass mixture.
When P is placed at 20 percent, as earlier assumed for most manures The above equation
becomes

(4.2)

The value of Pap is for the biomass on pile ready for mixing and not for the individual
pieces. It can have a wide range since it depends on how the biomass is prepared. A reliable
estimate can be taken by employing the displacement method. This is done by submerging a
sample of the prepared biomass in a container full of water and measuring the volume of water
displaced. The bulk volume of the sample when subtracted by the volume of the displaced water
then divided by self and converted to percentage gives an estimate. Several trials are needed The
estimate is rough inasmuch as the sample ordinarily floats in water and it does not include the air
spaces within its individual pieces.
If pure manure or manure mixture is used without plant residue, the above equation is
replaced by Equation 2.8.To conform to the correct proportion of the plant biomass in the
manure-biomass mixture, the weight of the biomass needed daily for particular number of heads
of animal is determined using

(4.3)

The daily slurry and water input rates are determined using Fquations 2.9 and 2.11, respectively.

4.3 Gas Production

As in manure mixtures, a corresponding increase in the biogas production potential

results when plant biomass is added to manure in correct proportion. The proportion is made
such that the carbon to nitrogen ratio of the resulting mixture is not deviating much from 30:1.
The biogas production potential is determined using

Pb=G(Na M + Mp) (4.4)

where G is the specific gas production of the mixture.

4.4 Number of Digesters

The number of digesters N, is based solely on the retention period R measured in days. It
can be determined using the formula
 Nd=R+1 (4.5)

The number of digesters must exceed the number of days of fermentation by one so that
when recharging is done in rotation, one digester will be recharged each day. Charging
fermenters every other day is not a good practice as the biogas production potential of manure is
reduced by prolonged storage. Fresh manures should always be used..

4.5 Digester Size

The volume per digester unit V is affected by the daily slurry input 7, and the percentage
of starter P, used. Thus,

(4.6)

Using the recommended starter amount of 25 percent, the preceding formula is reduced to

Vs =1.25Is, (4.7)

From the above equation, one could surmise that batch-fed plants require bigger digester
volumes when compared with single-digester continuous-fed systems. This difference is due to
the necessity of using volume of starter culture in every batch. The volume of masonry material
needed can be minimized as the digesters are typically constructed clusters. Most of the walls are
thus shared by two separate chamber Clusters consist of two rows of digesters to facilitate sludge
removal by gravity. Digesters clustered in this manner also tend to insulate each other which
lessens the effect of low external temperatures on fermentation rates.

4.6 Single Gasholder

Smaller installations need only one gasholder for the entire cluster of digesters. The same
formula employed for single-digester plant,

Vg=1.3UE
 Is also applicable in determining the required volume of the gasholder. In instances in
which a carbon dioxide scrubber is installed along the gas line between the digester and the
gasholder, the size of the gasholder can be reduced. In very efficient scrubbers, the gas volume
reduction reaches up to about 40 percent of the raw gas volume.

4.7 Multiple Gasholders

In large systems, the gas produced needs to be contained in two or more gasholders. This is
usually the configuration of choices, since tall giant drums for storing gas are uneconomical to
construct. Specific biogas consuming devices may be supported by one gasholder or all
gasholden may be connected to one gas line in such a way that the unit with the higher gas
pressure supplies more of the load.

When all of the gasholder units are set up to supply a common gas line the hourly biogas excess
E can be calculated using Equation 3.2, and the volume per gasholder Vg is modified into

Vg = 1.3UE (4.8)
Ng
Where N is the desired number of gasholders. The above formula can also be used for
single-gasholder plant if N is set equal one.
 For a situation in which the gasholders are independent from each other or when one
gasholder takes gas from specific group of digesters and is supplying specific devices,
computations become complicated. The values of E and V g, have to be competed separately for
each gasholder. In this case the value of C in Equation 3.2 is just a fraction of the total daily
consumption and is proportional to the number of digesters supplying gas.

4.8 Plant Accessories

Unlike single-digester continuous-fed systems, batch-fed digesters do not require
individual sludge and mixing tanks for each chamber. They are actually inappropriate for these
installations. Only one mixing tank is needed for the whole cluster of digesters and slurry may be
charged either manually, by gravity, or through powered mechanisms.
As in continuous-fed single-digester plants, the use of stirrers is common in batch-fed
multi-digester plants to minimize scum formation and to increase the rate of biogas production.
This is particularly important when biomass like rice hull, which develops excessive scum on the
slurry surface, is mixed with manure. The use of stirrers is only practical however, when the
fineness and proportion of plant biomass in the slurry are manageable for mixing. High
proportions of unchopped biomass will not allow mixing.
A well-equipped installation includes a pump and a plumbing system as accessories to
the biogas plant. These accessories are used in the charging of slurry from the mixing tank to the
digesters and discharging of sludge from the same digesters. Sludge is typically disposed of by
routing it to a large or multi-stage pond for conditioning.

4.9 Continuous-fed Multiple Digesters

In large applications utilizing pure manure wherein the daily slurry input could not be
easily managed in one digester, the better choice is to have multiple continuous-fed digesters of
manageable size. The number of digesters is left at the discretion of the designer. The volume pe:
digester unit V based on the total capacity V, and

The number of digester units N, is given as

Vu = Vd
Nd (4.9)
Illustrative Problem 4.1

Five percent by weight of fresh rice straw is to be mixed with manure from 5,000 heads of
breeding buffalo. Rice straw is chopped. Its bulk density and percentage air space are estimated
to be 330 kg/m³ and 65% respectively. A retention period of 25 days is to be used. The specific
gas production of the combined feed materials is expected to be 10% higher than that of pure
buffalo manure. Determine the weight of chopped fresh rice straw needed daily, biogas
production potential, slurry input rate, and volume per digester unit if a batch-fed multiple
digester is to be constructed

Solution

a) Weight of fresh chopped rice straw required

b) Potential biogas production

The specific gas production is increased by 10%, hence, using a 1:1ratio of water to manure and
biomass,

G =1.10(0.030

= 0.033 m³/kg

And the production potential will be

Pb{1} = G(Na M + Mp)

= 0.033[5000(14) + 3, 684.21]

=2,431.579 m3/day

c) Slurry input rate

Since all the 5,000 heads of animal are utilized, C is equal to PAssuming a 20% air space in
manure, then the manure-biomassinput rate is

And using the recommended ratio of water to manure-biomass mixture, the slurry input rate is

Is = 2Im
=2(20.646)
= 41.292 m3 / d zzzay

d) Volume per digester unit

Vu = 1.25I
=1.25(41.292)
= 51.615 m3

Illustrative Problem 4.2

Derive Equation 4.3.

Solution

If the weight of the manure produced daily Na M is Pm percent of thetotal weight of manure and
plant biomass Na M + Mp , then

Chapter 5
Nightsoil Digester
A special type of biogas plant is needed for the digestion of nightsoil or human excreta due to its
unique hygienic characteristics. No direct handling of human waste should be involved,
otherwise nobody will dare to work in the plant for health and aesthetic reasons.

5.1 Considerations

Pollution control should be the primary consideration in designing nightsoil digesters. The
sludge should not retain its characteristic pre- digestion smell upon its exit from the fermentation
chamber. To accomplish this deodorizing and sterilization, the retention period should be
reasonably long. Unfortunately, long retention time can cause problems of its own; as the
fermenting slurry degrades, its solid component eventually becomes denser and settles to the
bottom of the tank. If it is allowed to build up, as with long retention time, there is a strong
possibility that the inlet and outlet pipes will become clogged. Because of this problem, a multi-
stage digester is necessary for a bigger plant. The toilet bowl serves as the inlet tank. Once the
bowl is flushed with water, the waste is charged into the digester. Providing a stirrer may create
an outlet for odorous gas; as a consequence, no stirring may be done. A leaching chamber with a
permeable bottom and of a size equivalent to one stage should be placed next to the last digester
stage. This chamber must have an outlet to expel the unleached sludge,
Another consideration is the effect of detergents on the biogas production rate. As much as
possible, entry of detergents into the digester should be ininimized. These substances slow down
the microbial activity inside the digester and, consequently, reduce the biogas production rate.
Moreover, the amount of water used in flushing the waste needs to be adequate for hygienic
consideration and must be controlled in order not to deviate much from the recommended water-
nightsoil proportion. Flushing toilet bowl assemblies available commercially charge water much
more than the required amount. Bowls flushed manually are preferable. To facilitate flushing, the
bowl should be well above the highest slurry level in the connecting pipes.

5.2 Digester Capacity

Nightsoil digesters are normally continuous-fed. Existing designs belong to the floating type
plants with separate gasholder, although efficient fixed type ones may be developed.
The same formula for digester volume,

used for other continuous-fed plants, is applicable in the determination of the total digester capacity of
nightsoil digesters.
The capacity per digester must be limited to about 50m3 avoid clogging problems. If the total digester
volume is in m3, the number of digesters per biogas plant, therefore, is

must be rounded to nearest nonzero integer.

5.3 Uniform Multi-stage Digesters

Roughly, one digester stage should be provided for every 10 m³ of digester volume. For capacities greater
than 10 m³ , a multi-stage digester is recommended to prevent newly fed slurries from being expelled
prematurely. The partition wall between stages acts as a baffle. When I is in m³ and R is in days, the
number of stages N therefore is

which should also be rounded off to the nearest nonzero integer. For applications with one or a few
households providing the feed material, the number of stages will rarely exceed one.
The volume per stage V is not always equal to 10 m³ since Nͧ rounded to the nearest whole number. It is
calculated from the same N formula as

The value of V is useful in the determination of the dimensions of the digester stage. In multi-digester
plants and multi-stage digesters, dimensions cannot be determined directly from the total digester
capacity Vɗ
Figure 5.1 Uniform of Three-stage nightsoil digester

5.4 Decreasing Multi-stage Digesters

Stages of decreasing sizes may be opted. Stage sizes are assigned by splitting the total digester volume
V b / N d into N u , and assigning capacities of about 15 and 5 m3 to the first and last stages, respectively.
The capacities of the middle stages are calculated by interpolation based on the extremes. The terminal
leaching chamber will assume the size of the last stage. Mathematically, the volume of the jth stage is

where the subscripts j, 1 and n indicate the jth, first and last stages, respectively and the nonsubsript j is
the number corresponding to the ordinal number of the stage considered. For example,j=2 for the second
biggest stage of the digester.
When N , ,, 115 m³ and V,,,= 5 m³,

Equation 5.5 assumes that V d /(N d N u )is close to 10 m³, hence when
used, volume per digester results to 10N m³

With the exception of the leaching chamber, the slurry level in all units of the digester must be the same.
A decreasing multi-stage digester could have stages of different depths by varying the floor elevation.

5.5 Connecting Pipes

The pipes connecting between the stages serve two purposes: to facilitate the flow of slurry from one
stage to another and to reduce scum development at the slurry surface inasmuch as the stirrer is omitted.
They are so placed such that older slurries settling at the bottom are transferred to the next stage and
disturbance at the slurry surface is effected during the time of charging.
Specifications for digester pipes are presented in the next chapter.
5.6 Number of Persons Required

A procedure very similar to the one outlined in Section 2.4 is used in the determination of the optimum
number of persons that could the required input material for the digester. The number of persons required
Np is

Again, if the criterion for the sufficiency of the number of heads

available,

is not satisfied the biogas production potential Pb , should be used instead of biogas consumption C in all
other design computations. A prioritizing of the uses of gas should then be done to ensure that the most
important enduses are met first.

Illustrative Problem 5.1

Two adjacent dormitories, each having a capacity of 650 persons, are to be constructed in a certain
university. A common nightsoil digester with separate plumbing system connecting the toilet bowls to the
digester is to be installed. Dormitory residents are male students of small to medium built. A retention
period of 100 days and a water-nightsoil ratio of 4:1 will be used. Find the expected daily biogas
production, slurry input rate, total digester volume, number of digesters, number of stages per digester
and volumes of all stages if a decreasing multi-stage digester is opted.

Solution

a) Daily biogas production

Only two-thirds of the excreta production will be considered since students are mobile during some hours
of the day which reduces the amount of manure collected.

b) Slurry input
Since nightsoil has more liquid part, 5% air space is assumed. Manure produced is utilized totally, hence
C=P, and the manure input rate is

= 0.896 m³/day
Considering a water-nightsoil ratio of 4:1, the corresponding slurry
input will be

c) Total digester volume

d) Number of digester

e) Number of stages per digester

f) Stage volumes

Placing the first and last stages at 15 and 5 m³ respectively, the

stage volume for the second stage is

Applying the same formula for the third and fourth stages,

Dimensions and Specifications for Vertical-walled Floating Type Plants

In this chapter, rule-of-thumb methods of calculating the dimensions of the digester and of the
other structures that make up a biogas plant installation are presented. Except for plants with fixed
gasholders, the formulas are applicable to all of the kinds of plant discussed in Chapters 3, 4 and 5. To
avoid ambiguity, it should be noted that, unless specified otherwise, all dimensions given here are inner
measurements. Cross- sections referred to are always horizontal.
Suggestions on the positioning of the parts of the plant relative to the floor of the digester is based
on the normal operating pressure at the gasholder of 5 to 20 centimeters of water head. In rare cases in
which the application does not comply with this normal pressure range, corresponding adjustments have
to be made.
An extra depth of 15 percent of the design height is considered in the dimension calculations for
the digester and the gasholder. This is intended to create headspace and to compensate the reduction in
effective volume due to the presence of internal structures such as the baffle board and the inner wall of
the liquid jacket.

6.1 Digester

The dimensions of the digester are easily determined once the digester volume is known and the shape of
the cross-section is chosen. A circular section gives a bigger volume for a certain amount of construction
since it is simpler to construct. When built completely underground to material. In practice, however, a
square or rectangular one is often used minimize the effect of low night temperatures, spherical shell
digesters are used, for example, in China and Germany, as the spherical shape provides as tronger
structure against the weight of the soil. For rectangular section, the volume of construction materials is
minimized when the width of the tank approaches its length. Hence, a square section is the next best
choice to a circular cross-section whenever possible The actual cost differences, however, are generally
slight. As illustrated in Figure 6.1, the optimum height/diameter ratio for cylindrical digester is 0.50 for
plant with floating gasholder and 1.00 for plant with fixed gasholder. The same optimal height/side ratios
hold true for tanks with square cross-section. At an optimum ratio, the volume of construction materials
required is minimized. A summary of the recommended ratios for different cross-sections is given in
Table 6.1. From this table, it could be noted that the best ratio for an integrated plant with a floating
gasholder is half of the corresponding ratio for a fixed type
plant. This is due to the absence of the masonry cover in the former.

Figure 6.1 Relationship between height/side (or height/diameter) ratio and volume of construction
materials in digesters of square and circular cross-sections for volume of 5 m³ and wall thickness of 10
cm

In some constructions, a conical digester base is used. This is made to distribute the weight of the load
carried by the digester walls to he entire base. In this case, the small extra volume created by the conical
part is not counted as part of the digester volume since it is occupied by solid deposits some time after the
start of plant operation.

Table 6.1 Optimum height/length ratios of digesters and tanks (freeboard excluded) for volume of up to
70 m³ and wall thickness of up to 25 cm
The following formulas in this section are applicable to single-digester plants. In multi-digester
installations, the volume per digester unit V u must be used instead of the total digester capacity per plant
V d in equations where it is applicable. The same substitution must also be done when dealing with multi-
stage nightsoil digesters.
For cylindrical digesters, the diameter D d , can be derived from the cylindrical tank volume formula, as

where r is the optimum height/diameter ratio. Considering a normal 15 percent freeboard, the
corresponding height of the digester is

H d = r Dd

The above freeboard percentage is not mandatory. When desired, the

coefficient in the above equation can be changed.
For digesters with square cross-section, the side Sd , can be derived as

And the corresponding height included freeboard is

H d = r Sd
 Similarly, for digesters with rectangular cross-section, the width W d length Ld , and height H d , can be
determined as follows:

where p is the desired length/width proportion. The value of p can be determined from the length-width
relationship found in the first column of Table 6.1. For L=1.2W, for example, p is equal to 1.2.
In the actual construction of the digester, the height is sometimes limited to a certain depth, say 1.83
meters (6 feet), for case in the construction, for minimal use of reinforcing bars, for convenience in the
charging of the slurry, or for other reasons. Height limitation usually comes into play when the digester is
constructed above ground. When the computed H d , exceeds the desired value, the desired H d can be used
and the other dimensions can be calculated from the general tank volume formulas. For the rectangular
section, calculations are simplified when the proportion between two dimensions is predetermined. The
resulting dimensions may no longer be optimized.
If the desired pressure head at the gasholder H d exceeds 0.125H, H d should necessarily be increased to
have sufficient gas pressure.

In cylindrical digester, the diameter D d is

For digester with square cross-section, the side dimension Sd is

While for tanks with rectangular cross-section, the width W dand Legth are

And
Ld =pW d

6.2 Gasholder

When the gasholder is floating directly over the digester, not exceeding 5 meters in length or diameter
and is in contact with the slurry. the side dimension of the gasholder is 10 percent shorter than the inner
length of the digester side. This will give enough clearance from the digester walls to allow the gasholder
to float freely. Based on the computed gasholder volume V g, it follows that for a square or rectangular
gasholder with pyramidal roof (the best inclination is 9.5’) and with gashoider wall thickness w in cm, the
length Lg , width W g and height of roof hare

Where Ld Lg ; W d W g∧h are∈meters

And the height of the gasholder, including a 15 percent extra length is gives as

With Lg =W g∧W d =W sfor square cross-section.

Equations 6.12 through 6.15 can be used for wedge-shape roofs with minimal error. When the gasholder
is fabricated out of steel sheets, its wall thickness w is insignificant and can be omitted. The inclusion of
w in the calculations makes sense only if the gasholder is made of thicker material such as ferrocement.
For cylindrical gasholders, the diameter D g, height of the conical roof h and the height of the gasholder
H g, are determined as
If the roof is flat, h is equal to zero and the formulas for the height of the gasholder H g still apply.
When the digester is double-walled in the upper part as in Figure 6.3, the clearance between the inner
digester and gasholder walls is still 5 percent of the inner dimension of the digester. The gasholder,
however, is wider than the digester. In this case, Lg =W g∧W d in Equations 6.12, 6.13 and 6.16 are
computed as

Where t is the thickness of the inner digester wall in centimeters, all

other variables in meters.
The total depth of the liquid jacket, including freeboard, should be about 95 percent of the computed
height of the gasholder wall H but not less than 30 centimeters in order to develop sullicient gas pressure
and to accommodate the rise of the gasholder due to pressure and gas accumulation. This depth allows a
minimum gasholder wall submergence of about 10 percent at the time of peak gas storage.
If the gasholder is too light or too heavy, the gas pressure and storage volume can be corrected by
adding an external weight on the gasholder or by providing counterweights to lift the structure up. The
counterweights may be attached using a rope with one end tied to the gasholder and provided at opposite
sides of the gasholder. These situations are normally passing through an elevated pulley. Usually, two
counterweights are true to very small and large biogas plants.
 A floating gasholder can be made so that it is effectively separated from the digester. This minimizes
temperature decrease inside the fermentation chamber during the night. In this design, as shown in Figure
6.4, the gasholder is not in thermal contact with the fermenting slurry. A liquid jacket must, however, be
provided for scaling the system since the gas container has to be airtight. When the optional
measurements are assigned values, the same formulas for wall and roof heights presented ahead can be
used. A gasholder of shorter height is preferable but the effective volume must remain the same. The
depth of the liquid jacket should be about 95% of H, but not less than 30 centimeters. The clearance
between the pair of walls enclosing the liquid jacket is typically 15 to 30 centimeters in order to facilitate
cleaning. The inner structural braces of the gasholder must not res' on the inner edge of the jacket wall
even when no gas is stored in the gasholder.

When the horizontal length or diameter of the gasholder exceeds 5 meters, the clearance between the
walls of the digester and the gasholder should be limited to 25 centimeters. In such a case, the
measurement for gasholder length, side or diameter can be determined directly. For instance, in an
integrated plant with single-walled digester, the inner width of the digester is simply subtracted with 50
centimeters to get the corresponding outer width of the gasholder.
For the gasholders shown in Figures 6.3 and 6.4, H in Equations 6.15 and 6.18 could be omitted but H g
should not be less than 30 centimeters.

6.3 The Filling Line

The level of slurry when the digester is normally full and gas storage is zero is referred to as the filling
line. It is an imaginary boundary line between the digester and the gasholder when the two are integrated.
It is also referred to as the zero line. For a floating type system, it is an important reference when
determining the position of other parts of the plant. In a fixed-gasholder system, the position of the
auxiliary chamber relative to this line is critical.
The distance of the filling line above the floor of the digester F for cylindrical plants is

For square cross-section,

And for rectangular cross-section

When freeboard is zero, the heights of the filling line and the digester are equal. Equation 6.22, for
instance, becomes

6.4 Gasholder Retainer

In an integrated plant with single-walled digester, the gasholder retainer is an important part. It
functions not only to retain the gasholder in position but also to direct the escaping gas from the slurry
underneath it to the gas container. Because of its second function, it has to be continuous at all sides of
the digester.
The length of protrusion of the retainer from the digester wall should be slightly longer than twice the
clearance between the walls of the digester and the gasholder. This length of protrusion is about 11
percent of the inner digester length.
The retainer should be 0.13H, +0.87(H-H,) below the top of digester wall.
Obviously, the gasholder retainer has no use in plants with fixed gasholder, floating gasholder installed
separate from the digester, and double-walled digester.
The retainer is considered as a cantilever beam loaded with the weight of the gasholder. Its strength
against the load is critical and the structure should be analyzed for safety against failure.

6.5 Baffle Board

In a continuous-fed application, the baffle board is often provided inside the digester. It is located
midway between the inlet and outlet pipes and extends from wall to wall. Its function is to prevent the
slurry from premature exit to the sludge tank or to the auxiliary chamber in a fixed type plant. The flow of
slurry is still facilitated since the older manure becomes less dense, floats over its new counterpart and is
pushed towards
 the outlet with the charging of new slurries.
The height of the baffle board, based from the floor of the digester is, if possible, about one-half to one-
fourth the height of the filling line but must not be higher than the gasholder retainer if the latter is
present. The open space above the board provides the passage for the transfer of slurry to the other side of
the digester and makes room for the stirrer in some
cases.
The baffle board serves no purpose in batch-fed digesters.Hence,it is never used in this particular kind
of plant

6.6 Inlet and Outlet Pipes

The inlet and outlet pipes are important in continuous-fed digester but are not appropriate in batch-fed
plants.
One end of the inlet pipe is at the lowest point inside the mixing tank while the other end is inside the
digester. The inlet pipe is so positioned that its upper end is not less than 20 meters above the filling line
and its lower end is below the gasholder retainer and with enough clearance from the floor to avoid
blockade of solid deposits. If the gasholder retainer is not present, the lower end of the outlet pipe must
not be less than 20 centimeters below the filling line.
In a similar manner, the outlet pipe has its upper end level with the upper end of the inlet pipe or about
20 centimeters above the filling line and elevated from the floor of the sludge tank to prevent re-entry of
sludge into the fermentation chamber. Its lower end is about 10 centimeters from the floor of the digester
to facilitate the exit of the oldest portion of the slurry.
For a multi-stage nightsoil digester, the upper ends of the connecting pipes are level with the filling line
except for the one discharging to the leaching chamber which is about 20 centimeters higher.
The minimum recommended diameter for digester pipes is 10 centimeters. A smaller pipe has greater
possibility of clogging.
It should be noted that the elevation of the upper ends of the pipes is based on the normal operating
pressure of the plant. If a greater pressure is required, it has to be adjusted accordingly. This information
is presented in the early part of the chapter and is repeated here for emphasis.
 6.7 Stirrer
Except for nightsoil digester, the use of a stirrer is recommended. As mentioned earlier, regular stirring
improves the performance of the plant. Aside from mixing the slurry, the stirrer is also designed to break
the scums formed at the slurry surface. Therefore, it must extend up to a few centimeters above the filling
line.
The provision of the stirrer should in no case allow the entry of oxygen from the atmosphere to the
fermenting slurry. The guide pipe for the shaft of the stirrer must be extended well below the filling line
considering the maximum operating pressure and the weight of the gasholder.

height/side ratios given in Table 6.1 are useful. The formulas below are applicable only to square cross-
section. The side Sm and depth H m including freeboard of 15 percent are

And

In most constructions, the floor of the mixing tank is slightly inclined to facilitate the entry of slurry
into the digester. If the floor is inclined, the depth of the tank is measured at the center of the floor as
shown in Figure
6.6.
A practical way of holding the waste and water in the tank while these are being mixed into slurry can
be done by providing a plug made of heavy material wrapped with cloth at the entrance of the inlet pipe.
A string tied to the plug is also provided for easy unplugging.

6.9 Sludge Tank

When the sludge collection is done daily, the sludge tank can be the same in size and in form as the
mixing tank. The direct formulas for side S s, and height H s , are
 and

If the interval between sludge collection is longer, the sludge tank is bigger. A rectangular cross-section
may be chosen for some applications and the formulas for width W s, length Ls , and height H s , are

And

The auxiliary chamber serves as the sludge tank in a plant with fixed gasholder. Therefore, the sludge
tank is omitted in this kind of plant.

Illustrative Problem 6.1

An integrated floating type biogas plant with cylindrical single-walled digester is to be constructed for
the 20,000-broiler farm in Illustrative Problem 3.1. Mixing and sludge tanks of square cross-section and
gasholder of conical roof are preferred. The gasholder will be fabricated out of gauge 16 steel sheets. Find
the dimensions of the digester, gasholder, mixing tank and sludge tank.
If the operating pressure at the gasholder ranges from 5 to 20 cm of water head, also determine the
heights of the following from the floor of the digester:

a) Upper end of inlet pipe

b) Two ends of the outlet pipe
c) Topmost part of the gasholder retainer, and
d) Baffle board.

Solution
A. Dimensions of the digester, gasholder and tanks

As calculated in Illustrative Problem 3.1, the volumes of the digester, gasholder, mixing tank and
sludge tank are 21.050, 8.554, 0.842 and 0.842 m3, respectively.

a) Digester
Inasmuch as the plant is of integrated floating type and the digester is cylindrical, the optimum
height/side ratio is 0.50. The diameter of the digester is then.

= 3.950 m

And the height of the disgester including 15% freeboard is

 = 0.5(3.95)
= 1.975 m

b) Gasholder
the gasholder is to be fabricated out of thin steel plates, hence its wall thickness could be neglected.

=3.555 m

The height of the concial roof is

= 0.297 m

And the height of the gas holder wall, including 15% freeboard is

c) Mixing tank

The same optimum height/side ratio used in the digester is still applicable since the tank is to have a
square cross-section, the side of the mixing tank is

= 1.246 m

And the total height of the is

= 0.5 (1.246)
= 0.623 m
 d) Sludge tank
Since the sludge tank is of the same cross-section and volume as the mixing tank, the dimensions of the
latter apply to the former.

= 1.246 m

And

= 0.623 m

B. Locations of the pipes, gasholder retainer and baffle board relative to the digester floor

The distance of the filling line F above the digester floor needs to be computed first.

a) Upper end of the inlet pipe

The location of the upper end of the inlet pipe should be 20 cm above the filling line or 2.085 m above the
digester floor.

b) Two ends of the outlet pipe

As recommended, the upper end of the outlet pipe will be leveled upper end of the inlet pipe or 2.085 m
above the digester floor. To avoid clogging and to facilitate the exit of old slurry, the lower end will be
placed at 10 cm above the digester floor.

d) Topmost part of the gasholder retainer

The distance of the retainer below the top of gasholder wall is

= 0.13(1.975) + +0.87(1.221 -0.2)

= 1.145 m
and the height of topmost part of the retainer above the floor is

= 1.975 - 1.145
= 0.830 m

d) Baffle board

Taking the minimum height,

Hb = 0.25F
=0.25(1.718)
=0.430 m
The value of H b , need not be reduced since it does not exceed the height of the topmost part of the
gasholder retainer.

Illustrative Problem 6.2

Determine the appropriate dimensions of the following if freeboard is considered after calculating the
effective measurements (note the change in height/side ratio):
a) each digester unit of the batch-fed biogas plant referred to in Illustrative Problem 4.1; and

b) all stages of one of the nightsoil digesters asked for in Illustrative Problem 5.1 using uniform stage
height and side.

Solution

a) Batch-fed biogas plant

As computed in Illustrative Problem 4.1, the required volume per digester unit is 51.615 m³. Each digester
unit should have a square cross-section since, as recommended for a batch-fed multi-digester plant, all
units are joined in a cluster. Inasmuch as the plant, as usually constructed, is of floating type with separate
gasholder, a height/side ratio of 1.0 is optimum. Using Equation 6.3, the side of each digester unit is

= 3.723 m

and the corresponding height, including 15% freeboard, is

Hd = 1.15rSd
=
= 1.15(1.0)(3.723) = 4.281 m

b) Nightsoil digester

As determined in Illustrative Problem 5.1, the volumes of the first, second, third, fourth and the last stages
are 15.0, 12.5, 10.0, 7.5 and 5.0 m³, respectively. Similar to the batch-fed plant, the cross-section of the
stages should be rectangular or square since all the stages of the digester are connected in a row. For
simplicity, the middle stage will be assigned a square cross-section and its side S, and total height H are
= 2.154m

= 1.15(1)(2.154)

= 2.477 m

Which are equal to the sides and heights of all other stages

From the formula for volume of a rectangular tank of known height and side, the lengths of the first,
second, fourt, and fifth stages, respectively are

where the effective height

= 1.616 m and