Production of Biogas From Vegetable Waste and Optimization

Abstract

In current scenario, due to depleting natural gas reserves and lack of infrastructure, it seems impossible for the Government to provide natural gas facility to the residents of rural areas. Biogas Technology, in this situation, can act as a useful tool to facilitate the residents of these rural areas. This research was conducted to observe production of biogas through vegetable waste. Two batches were run at parallel, one for thermophilic condition and the other for mesophilic condition. During the research a careful relation between temperature, pH and biogas production was observed For this purpose, food waste was collected from Sabzi Mandi of Islamabad located in I11. After segregation of vegetables they were shredded and left for hydrolysis for a week before adding to the digester. In the digester feed was homogeneously mixed and conditions were maintained. The production of gas started in the second week. Gradually increased; reaching a peak; sustained, and then declined. Certain parameters like pH, temperature, moisture content, and total volatile solids were monitored. Both the batches worked successfully and gave optimum gas production. A serious problem that was faced during the research was, scum formation that resisted the release of biogas from digester through the gas nozzle.