Biological conversion of biomass to methane. Annual progress report, June 1, 1976--May 31, 1977

Technical Report · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5228973· OSTI ID:5228973

Pfeffer, J T

A large scale laboratory system was constructed to evaluate the methane yields from various organic materials. The initial substrate for these studies was beef feed lot manure. Methane yields ranged from 0.11 to 0.259 m/sup 3/ per kg volatile solids fed with a fermentation temperature of 58/sup 0/C. The gas yield for a given manure was a function of retention time. However, fresh manure produced substantially more gas than manure that had been on the lots for several months. Retention times of 3.7 days and loadings of 8.76 kg per m/sup 3/ per day resulted in stable operation. The results of a separate study of the effect of reactor type on methane production showed that if a balanced population of organisms can be maintained in the initial stage, a multi-stage fermentation is more efficient than a complete-mix system. However, when the system is stressed, failure of the multi-stage system is more rapid. If the objective is to maximize the conversion of solids to methane, a staged system will produce more methane per unit volume of reactor. If the objective is to maximize methane production per unit volume of reactor, a single stage complete-mix reactor operating at near the critical retention time is required.

• Research Organization: Illinois Univ., Urbana (USA). Dept. of Civil Engineering
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 5228973
• Report Number(s): COO/2917-5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090122 -- Hydrocarbon Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
140504* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Biomass Production & Conversion-- (-1989)
AGRICULTURAL WASTES
ALKANES
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
ANIMALS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BIOCONVERSION
BIOSYNTHESIS
CATTLE
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONFIGURATION
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DIAGRAMS
DIGESTION
DOMESTIC ANIMALS
FERMENTATION
FLUIDS
GAS YIELDS
GASES
HYDROCARBONS
INFORMATION
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
MAMMALS
MANAGEMENT
MANURES
METHANE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PROCESSING
RUMINANTS
SOLID WASTES
SYNTHESIS
TABLES
VERTEBRATES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
YIELDS