Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 3.0

Co-digestion of Food Waste and Human Excreta for Biogas Production

S. O. Dahunsi, U. S. Oranusi

Biotechnology Journal International · pp. 485–499 · Published 13 Jul 2013

10.9734/BBJ/2013/4476

Abstract

The ever increasing cost of fossil fuels and its attendant pollution menace has provided the pedigree to consider alternative sources of energy. An investigation was launched into the design and construction of an Anaerobic Digester system from locally available raw materials using local technology and the production of biogas from food wastes and Human excreta generated within a University campus. The experiment lasted for 60 days using a 40-liters laboratory scale anaerobic digester. The volume of gas generated from the mixture was 84,750cm3 and comprised of 58% CH4, 24% CO2, and 19% H2S and other impurities. The physico-chemistry of the feedstock in the digester revealed an initial drop in pH to more acidic range and a steady increase 4.52 – 6.10. The temperature remained relatively constant at mesophilic range: 22.0ºC– 30.5ºC throughout the study. The Carbon/Nitrogen (C/N) ratio of the feedstock before digestion was within 139:1. Population distributions of the microflora show aerobic and anaerobic bacteria to include Klebsiella spp, Bacillus spp, Escherichia coli, Clostridium spp and a methanogen of the genera Methanococcus. In most developing nations of Sub-Saharan Africa where biomass is abundant, and where biogas technology is in its infant stage, the anaerobic digestion system could be the much awaited solution.

Anaerobic digestion biogas co-digestion eco-friendly methane mesophilic digestion

References (34)

  1. 1 Human Development Report [DOI]
  2. 2 Ethanol Can Contribute to Energy and Environmental Goals [DOI]
  3. 3 Human Development Report 2002 [DOI]
  4. 4 Sustainable liquid biofuels from biomass: the writing's on the walls [DOI]
  5. 5 Leaching of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Diverse Soils under Various Agricultural Management Practices [DOI]
  6. 6 Movement and persistence of fecal bacteria in agricultural soils and subsurface drainage water: A review
  7. 7 Overland flow transport of pathogens from agricultural land receiving faecal wastes [DOI]
  8. 8 Biogas energy from family-sized digesters in Uganda: Critical factors and policy implications [DOI]
  9. 9 Cassava wastes: treatment options and value addition alternatives [DOI]
  10. 10 Biogas energy use in Nigeria: current status, future prospects and policy implications [DOI]
  11. 11 Anaerobic Codigestion of Municipal, Farm, and Industrial Organic Wastes: A Survey of Recent Literature [DOI]
  12. 12 Effect of Length of Time before Incorporation on Survival of Pathogenic Bacteria Present in Livestock Wastes Applied to Agricultural Soil [DOI]
  13. 13 Potential of using plant extracts for purification of shallow well water in Malawi [DOI]
  14. 14 Biogas technology research in selected sub-Saharan African countries – A review [DOI]
  15. 15 Post-harvest patterns of carbon dioxide production, methane uptake and nitrous oxide production in a Pinus radiata D. Don plantation [DOI]
  16. 16 Production of biogas from banana and plantain peels.
  17. 17 Biogas production from supernatant of hydrothermally treated municipal sludge by upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor [DOI]
  18. 18 Adoption of thermogravimetric kinetic models for kinetic analysis of biogas production [DOI]
  19. 19 Poultry faeces management with a simple low cost plastic digester. [DOI]
  20. 20 Mesophilic Biomethanation and Treatment of Poultry Waste-Water Using Pilot Scale UASB Reactor [DOI]
  21. 21 Effect of seeding of wood-ash on biogas production using pig waste and cassava peels.
  22. 22 Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) treatment of supernatant of cow manure by thermal pre-treatment [DOI]
  23. 23 Biomass potentials of Lophira lanceolata fruit as a renewable energy resource [DOI]
  24. 24 Implications of environmental degradation in Nigeria [DOI]
  25. 25 Comparative Study of Biogas Production from Five Substrates [DOI]
  26. 26 INFLUENCE OF ANAEROBIC DIGESTION ON DAIRY MANURE PHOSPHORUS EXTRACTABILITY [DOI]
  27. 27 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [DOI]
  28. 28 Fermentation research in Nigeria [DOI]
  29. 29 Comparative Study of Biogas Production from Five Substrates [DOI]
  30. 30 Biogas from Eupatorium odoratum--an alternative cheap energy source for Nigeria
  31. 31 Diffusion of rural biogas technology: survey of experience.
  32. 32 Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 18th edition [DOI]
  33. 33 Biogas from waste and renewable resources: an introduction [DOI]
  34. 34 Animal manure digestion systems in central Europe [DOI]

Cited by 118

Integrated Valorization of Cassava Wastes for Production of Bioelectricity, Biogas and Biofertilizer

Chiugo C. Aduba, Johnson K. Ndukwe, Chukwu K. Onyejiaka · Waste and Biomass Valorization · 2023

Cleaner energy for cleaner production: Modeling and optimization of biogas generation from Carica papayas (Pawpaw) fruit peels

Samuel Olatunde Dahunsi, Solomon Oranusi, Vincent Enontiemonria Efeovbokhan · Journal of Cleaner Production · 2017

Comparative evaluation of biogas production from Poultry droppings, Cow dung and Lemon grass

I.M. Alfa, S.O. Dahunsi, O.T. Iorhemen · Bioresource Technology · 2014

Biofuel Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Olatunde Samuel Dahunsi, Ayoola Shoyombo, Omololu Fagbiele · Anaerobic Digestion · 2019

Technical and economic assessment of biogas based electricity generation plant

Niloy Talukder, Anik Talukder, Debangshu Barua · 2013 International Conference on Electrical Information and Communication Technology (EICT) · 2014

Feasibility study of biogas energy generation from refuse dump in a community-based distribution in Nigeria

Ogbene G Igbum, Andrew C Eloka-Eboka, Sunday Adoga · International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies · 2019

Effect of co-digestion with water hyacinth, inoculum concentration and dilution on biogas production of fish waste

Ingabire Hortence, Twizerimana Maurice, Milton Arimi · Energy Reports · 2023

Anaerobic conversion of Chromolaena odorata (Siam weed) to biogas

S.O. Dahunsi, S. Oranusi, V.E. Efeovbokhan · Energy Reports · 2018

Showing 20 of 118 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

78

Page views

0

PDF downloads

27

Outbound clicks

118

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.