Utilization of poultry, cow and kitchen wastes for biogas production: a comparative analysis

ABSTRACT

The amount of solid wastes generated in developing countries such as Nigeria has steadily increased over the last two decades as a result of population explosion and continuous growth of industries and agricultural practices. In agriculture, particularly cattle rearing, large quantities of cow wastes are generated, which could be used as biogas inputs to compliment the fuel usage alternative. In addition, a large number of families generate heavy wastes in the kitchen on a daily basis, which could be converted to economic benefits. In this work, a comparative study of biogas production from poultry droppings, cattle dung, and kitchen wastes was conducted under the same operating conditions. 3kg of each waste was mixed with 9L of water and loaded into the three waste reactors. Biogas production was measured for a period of 40 days and at an average temperature of 30.5°C. Biogas production started on the 7[th] day, and attained maximum value on the 14[th] days for reactor 1. Production reached its peak on the 14[th] day with 85xl0[-3] dm[3] of gas produced in reactor 2. For reactor 3, biogas production started on the 8[th] day and production reached a peak value on the 14[th] day. The average biogas production from poultry droppings, cow dung and kitchen waste was 0.0318dm[3]/day, 0.0230dm[3]/day and 0.0143dm[3]/day, respectively. It is concluded that the wastes can be managed through conversion into biogas, which is a source of income generation for the society