Design Considerations of a Flexible Biogas Digester System for Use in Rural Communities of Developing Countries - Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems

JSBS > Vol.11 No.4, December 2021

Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems

Volume 11, Issue 4 (December 2021)

ISSN Print: 2165-400X ISSN Online: 2165-4018

Google-based Impact Factor: 0.57 Citations

Design Considerations of a Flexible Biogas Digester System for Use in Rural Communities of Developing Countries ()

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DOI: 10.4236/jsbs.2021.114016 348 Downloads 4,186 Views Citations

Author(s)

Jerome Ndam Mungwe^1*, Derek Ajesam Asoh^1,2,3, Edwin Mbinkar³

Affiliation(s)

¹Department of Electrical and Power Engineering, Higher Technical Teachers Training College, University of Bamenda, Bambili, Cameroon.
²Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, National Higher Polytechnic Institute, University of Bamenda, Bambili, Cameroon.
³Laboratoire de Genie Electrique, Mechatronique et Traitement du Signal, ENSPY, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon.

ABSTRACT

Several challenges are associated with the development, adoption and deployment of biogas digesters in developing countries. Amongst these challenges is a comprehensive and systematic procedure for the design of digesters suitable for rural communities. This paper proposes the Flexible Biogas Digester System (FBDS) as a viable option for rural communities in developing countries and provides a detailed step-by-step procedure for its design. The biogas production process is a function of the digester operating factors which may be grouped into physical, process and performance parameters. The physical design parameters include the digester volume, the volume of the biogas storage tank, and the volume of the installation pit. The process parameters include total solid content of the slurry (TS), organic loading rate (OLR), digester operating temperatures, pH of the slurry inside the digester. The performance parameters include biogas production rate, biogas productivity and biogas quality. The Net Present Value and the Levelised Cost of Energy are presented for simple economic evaluation of the FBDS.

KEYWORDS

Flexible Biogas Digester System, Design Parameters, Biogas in Rural Communities, Biogas in Sub-Sahara Africa, Digester Design Factors

Share and Cite:

Mungwe, J. , Asoh, D. and Mbinkar, E. (2021) Design Considerations of a Flexible Biogas Digester System for Use in Rural Communities of Developing Countries. Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems, 11, 260-271. doi: 10.4236/jsbs.2021.114016.

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