Anyone ever build a methane digester?

[MrJeff]

This is something I have been looking into for some kind of home heating. No shortage of the raw materials here. I would love to hear of anyone's personal experiences.

 

[sunsaver]

I saw a thing that was built in India (no shortage of raw materials there either). They had a pit that they filled with manure and pond water. A large dome made of brass fit over this, and slid down into the circular sistern of scum. As the bacteria produce methane under the dome, the wieght of the dome compressed the gas, which was fed out the top of the dome with a flexible hose. They used the gas for cooking and lighting.
I'm planning do something similar. Im working on an solar powered electrolysis tank for generating hydrogen gas for use in cooking. I prefer cooking with gas, and to cook with solar electric would require more panels and batteries than i currently have. I usually cook only at night. I eat fresh fruits and salads or sandwiches during the day. So i figure a 100 watt panel burning water into oxygen and hydrogen all day, would give me enough gas by night to cook with. Think of it as a type of solar battery. I'm not sure how much gas i'll get at 100 watts per hour, or if i want seperate tanks and a mixing valve at my cooker, or just let the oxygen go, etc. Im going to build a small model first to work out some of the details.
I'm planning to use drums or poly ag tanks, and salt for the electrolyte, unless there's something way better or cheaper. I'm not as good with chemistry.

 

[MrJeff]

Thanks for the info. I've seen the large scale stuff they do in India and Europe, etc... I hope someone has done something for home supply and can share their experience with me. It sounds like you have quite a project going with your electrolysis experiment. Very ambitious.

 

[Denim Deb]

Maybe I should try something like that. My hubby produces quite a bit of methane at times.

 

[Lesa]

I am fascinated with this idea. If you google chicken manure power ( or something along those lines) you will find all kinds of people using poop for power. For their cars, houses, etc.
Whenever I think about it, I remember the "Good Life" on PBS. That was his idea to heat his house....
Keep us posted with your progress.

 

[Ed Nigma]

You might want to check out this link http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/MethaneDigesters/MD1.html The system he built is expensive, but, the detail he goes into enabled me to build a scaled down system. How I used mine to produce concentrated nutrients for my kitchen garden and did not worry about collecting and storing the methane.

 

[dacjohns]

It's used a lot on Wisconsin dairy farms.

 

[MVchickens]

Hi there. Im new here but have some experience and knowledge with methane digesters. Turns out it is not feasible to build a small scale digester, I built and studied everything from table-top models to larger models. I am still working on some projects but that will come later on as I go onto college to study chemical engineering.

 

[FarmerChick]

Farmer31 posted this a while back.

very cool and the dog park gets its lights powered by poop


http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...omplete News&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13219168886591

 

[Marianne]

Hi there. Im new here but have some experience and knowledge with methane digesters. Turns out it is not feasible to build a small scale digester, I built and studied everything from table-top models to larger models. I am still working on some projects but that will come later on as I go onto college to study chemical engineering.

Just wanted to say hi and welcome!