BIOGAS

• Biogas – swamp gas, marsh gas, landfill gas,

digester gas- anaerobic bacterial digestion of
organic matter

• Basic reactions – break down of complex

organic materials through hydrolysis,
acidification, methanogenesis

• Methanogenesis by a group of strictly anaerobic

Archaea called Methanogens
• Biogas: Methane – 50-75%, CO2- 25-50%, N2-0-
10%, H2 – 0-15, H2S- 0-3%, O2- 2%.
• Ratio depends on – substrate used and
environmental conditions.

• The digestate– remnants of substrates and

anerobic microbes; sundried and used as manure

• Methane – greenhouse gas, absorbs infrared

radiation: overproduction lead to global warming
 Uses:
• Direct heating purposes – green houses,
boilers, furnaces, household cooking etc.

• Electricity generation – using internal

combustion engines or gas turbines

• Purified and exported as compressed gas or

liquid via pipelines
 Substrates

• Industrial, agricultural, animal husbandry,

domestic or municipal wastes

• Wastes divided into 4 based on their organic

matter or total solids - low (0.2-1%), medium
(1-5%), high (5-12%) and solid (20-40%)
Industrial and food processing wastes:

• Sugar, vegetable, fruit processing, brewery,

distillery wastes, whey from cheese production
Animal excreta/Agricultural wastes

• Solid wastes rich in cellulose and lignocellulose

• Agricultural wastes
• Cow dung – gobar gas
Domestic/Municipal wastes:

• Solid wastes/ sewage

• Domestic solid wastes in landfill
• Should have nutrients to support microbial
growth
 Anaerobic Digestion
• Solubilization, Acidogenesis, Methanogenesis

Solubilisation

• feedstock is solubilised by water and enzyme

• complex polymers hydrolysed into organic

acids/alcohols by hydrolytic fermentative
methanogenic bacteria
Acidogenesis
• Facultative anaerobic and hydrogen producing
acetogenic bacteria
• Organic materials converted into acetate, H2
and CO2

Methanogenesis
• Methanogens
• Acetate, H2 and CO2 converted to methane,
H2O and CO2
 Microorganisms

• Hydrolytic /fermentative bacteria

• Acetogenic bacteria

• Methanogenic bacteria
 Hydrolytic /fermentative bacteria
• Obligate/facultative anaerobes – remove traces
of oxygen present and maintain complete
anaerobiosis

• 108-109 cells/ml sewage sludge digesters

• Cellulose, starch, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids

converted to organic acids (formate, acetate,
propionate, butyrate, long chain fatty acids) and
CO2, H2O
 Syntrophic hydrogen producing/
obligate proton reducing bacteria
• Produce hydrogen
• Organic acids with more than two C atoms
converted to acetate, CO2 and H2O
• Require low hydrogen partial pressure –
maintained by methanogens

• ~ 4 x 106cells/ml in number
• eg. Syntrophomonas wolfei, S. wolinii
 Acetogenic bacteria

• CO2 and H2 converted to acetic acid

• Acetic acid converted to methane by
methanogens

• H2 removed, thus facilitating obligate H2

producing bacteria to continue their function
 Methanogenic bacteria

• Acetate/formate, CO2 and H2O

converted into CH4 and CO2
• Removes H2 produced by the earlier group –
maintain low hydrogen partial pressure and
enable continued H2 production

• Strict anaerobes - 106-108 cells/ml of slurry

• Methanosarcina, Methanobacterium etc
 Factors affecting biogas
production
• Slurry: solubilisation (solid: water ratio) should
be 1:1

• Seeding : Addition of small amount of sludge of

another digester: contains acetogenic and
methanogenic bacteria

• pH between 6 and 8; acidic medium lowers

methane formation (needs to be monitored as
the decomposers produce acids in a rate faster
than it gets consumed by the methanogens)
•Temperature 30-400C for mesophilic digestion;
50-600C for thermophilic digestion

•Optimum C:N ratio 30:1

•Complete anaerobiosis: digesters should be

totally air tight; buried in soil.

•Optimal loading rate of raw materials

•Normal retention time

•Addition of Zygogonium algae to increase

biogas production
India:

KVIC - Khadi and Village Industries Commission,

Bombay, Gram Vikas Sansthan, Lucknow, National
Environmental Engineering Research Institute,
Nagpur

Raw materials – bagasse, agricultural residues,

human excreta

Used for : Cooking, lighting, biogas and hydrogen

based engines