Production of Biogas Using Dairy Manure as Feedstock and Rumen Fluid as Inoculum

Abstract

Methane gas is a valuable gas that can be used as a source of energy, either used for cooking fuel or small-scale electricity production. The most suitable application of the methane gas is in rural areas which rarely have the source of energy. It can reduce the dependency of using diesel or gasoline in order to obtain electricity. This study focused on the use of dairy manure as the feedstock and the rumen fluid as the innoculant to improve the production of biogas in rural areas application. The amount of rumen fluid and water added were varied to prepare 0 %, 12.5 %, 25 %, 37.5 % and 50 % rumen fluid. Besides that, the pH level was monitored and its effects towards biogas production was discussed. From the experiment, sample with 37.5 % rumen fluid gave the highest biogas production, followed by 50 %, 25 %, 12.5 % and 0 % rumen fluid. The presence Rumen fluids have improved the biogas production for the anaerobic digestion.

Keywords

• Anaerobic digestion
• biogas
• rumen fluid
• manure