ENACTUS ST.

STEPHENS
PROJECT
PROPOSAL - 2014
An Enactus St Stephens
initiative.

Enactus St Stephens:
We, at Enactus St Stephens are a fledgling organization.
Enactus was set up in St. Stephen's College in October
2013. We aim to bring the best minds together to start
projects which create an impact in as many lives as
possible. Being one of the premier colleges of the country
that produces leaders and innovators at a formidable rate,
Enactus is the perfect platform to begin our service to the
community at large. Any projects undertaken will be the
first of their kind at Enactus St Stephens. Thus our pilot
project needs wings to take off.
We acknowledge the importance of social
entrepreneurship in todays world and are committed to
the values of Enactus.

The Enactus St Stephens college team comprises of 75

members and we are one of the very few diverse
societys in St Stephens College with participation from
students of all courses in our college.

We have students from various disciplines of study

such as English, Mathematics, Economics, History,
and various Sciences.

Potential Project Ideas:

1.Biogas Digester

BIOGAS DIGESTER

CONCEPTION:

A bio-digester is an airtight closed

container that is used to digest organic
waste material and turn it into bio-gas
that can in turn be relayed directly from
the bio-digester to a stove for cooking
gas, or to a gas heater for heat. It can
also generate electricity, and even
possibly later be bottled and sold for use
by consumers.
The idea is to make the bio-digesters
from materials that are available and
relatively cheap, like recycled plastic
containers, bricks or even mud and that
the waste material must be adapted to
local availability.
Biogas technology provides an
alternative source of energy mainly from
organic wastes. It is produced when
bacteria degrade organic matter in the
absence of air. Biogas contains around
55-65% of methane, 30-40% of carbon

dioxide and small quantities of hydrogen,

nitrogen, carbon monoxide, oxygen and
hydrogen sulphide. The calorific value of
biogas is appreciably high (around 4700
kcal or 20 MJ at around 55% methane
content).
DEMAND SIDE
Demand for power in the capital broke all
records in 2013 touching an all-time high of
5,653 Megawatt, triggering long power cuts
in several areas due to tripping of distribution
network following increased load.
The price of cooking gas cylinders is
increasing in the capital.
The amount of organic waste in the capital is
increasing.

TARGET COMMUNITY:
The community is geographically located
near Punjabi Bagh metro station.
Women - work at houses near by and work as
daily wage workers.
Men - Drivers, Watchmen, Daily wage
workers.
Average income - 200 rupees per day.

 They are willing to work and accept change.

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE TARGET

COMMUNITY:
Drainage/sewage problem.
Mosquitos, Diseases.
They cant go to near by clinic as they
demand ESI card 1 govt. toilet in locality, not
clean, no water in toilets.
4-5 pipes in locality with irregular supply of
water, sometimes dirty water.
There is a small school , called "NAVYUVAK",
but no teacher there. Have to pay 100 bucks
per person to use the washroom/toilet per
month.

BUSINESS MODEL

 The basic plan is to make a cheap Biogas Digester

systems that has minimum number of components in it (to
reduce the cost).
We will then look for reliable and efficient suppliers that
can provide the components, required to assemble the
Biogas Digester Systems, directly to the community.
The community will then be provided with intensive
training regarding the assemblage process. This will
involve interaction with experts who will equip the
community with adequate skills and safety guidelines
simultaneously.
We will also establish a supply chain in the market to
provide biogas digesters
One of our main aims and also one of the most important
objectives is to keep the cost of the Biogas Digester
System as low as possible such that it does not increase
the financial burden on the target community.

Biogas Digester Blueprint

Materials
200 ml blue plastic barrels
Plastic garbage bin
PVC pipes and fittings
PV hoses and fittings
Silicon sealer
Design
A biogas digester requires an input pipe (a place
to deposit fresh feedstock), and an output pipe of
some kind (for contents to be displaced out
of). Design the barrel in such a way that both the
input and output pipes should enter the barrel
through the top of the barrel, through the lids,
and the biogas output should also be located at

the top of the barrel. The biogas digester is

designed to be gas-tight, so that no biogas can
escape the unit except through the gas-out
valve, which is a simple polytube irrigation valve.
However, if for some reason pressure should
build up in the system, it will simply push the
contents out through one or both of the
input/output pipes. The input pipe runs through
one of the lids of the blue plastic barrel, and
extends almost to the bottom of the barrel. This
means that fresh feedstock will enter the digester
at the bottom. The output pipe runs only to the
centre of the barrel, which means that as fresh
feedstock enters, existing liquid will be displaced
from the centre of the barrel, and exit the unit
into an effluent bucket. Since solid particles of
organic matter usually either float or sink, it will
be mostly only liquid which comes out as
effluent, leaving the larger particles in the
digester to break down further. Set the output
pipe almost at the level of entry into the barrel,
which leaves a pocket inside the dome of the top
of the barrel for biogas to collect, and it is at the
very top of the barrel that the gas-out valve is
fixed. This means that at any given time there
will be very little biogas stored in the digester
the digester will be almost completely filled with
liquid, and almost all biogas will be expelled via
the gas-out valve to the collector. The collector is

a blue plastic barrel with its top cut off, 3/4 filled
with water, with a plastic garbage bin inverted
and submerged, with a gas input and a gas
output valve fitted to it. Biogas produced by the
digester will collect in the garbage bin, and as
the garbage bin filled, it will rise out of the water.
If the unit becomes too filled with biogas, biogas
will simply leak out the side.

CHALLENGES
We need to ascertain the market for the
biogas digester systems: we can sell it
to small business houses which need
electricity supply or we can look into
other options.