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Design of Scalable Biogas Digester for the Developing World

Design of Scalable Biogas Digester for the Developing World. By: Tiffany Cheng, Thomas Davis Dawn Schmidt, Kyle Schroeder, Andrew Wu BME 272- Senior Design Project 12/1/09 Advisors: Dr. Dave Owens – Owen Graduate School of Management

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Design of Scalable Biogas Digester for the Developing World

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  1. Design of Scalable Biogas Digester for the Developing World By: Tiffany Cheng, Thomas Davis Dawn Schmidt, Kyle Schroeder, Andrew Wu BME 272- Senior Design Project 12/1/09 Advisors: Dr. Dave Owens – Owen Graduate School of Management Dr. Paul King – Vanderbilt University School of Engineering

  2. Current Issue • In Bangladesh and other third-world countries: • Poor waste management • Human health • Environment destruction • Costly energy resources • Potential solution: Biogas • HOWEVER, currently not affordable for these countries http://water1st.org/waterlog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/hanging-latrine-480x480.jpg

  3. Objective • Design a scalable biogas digester that is an appropriate technology for Bangladesh in order to: • Improve human health • Protect environment • Provide affordable and accessible energy

  4. Design Requirements • Two primary foci • Biogas instrument design • Target population

  5. Biogas Instrument • Materials • Long life span • At least 5 years • Durability • Pressure • Temperature • Gas permeability • Affordability and availability

  6. Biogas Instrument • Structure • Size • Location • Gas capacity • Simplistic design • Little or no training required • Simple repairs and installation

  7. Target Population Considerations • Cultural perspectives • Human waste • Risk averse population (needs proof) • Socioeconomic status • Average income/family = ~$60/month • Size of average family • 6 people (4 children) • Degree of education • Related to ability to build and maintain digester

  8. Goals • Overall Goal is to provide cheap energy to the people of Bangladesh • Create a viable energy source • One meal • Provides economic incentive for waste management • Pathogen free high quality fertilizer

  9. Factors • Economical Issues will be determining factors for the success of the product • Cost of labor, cost of materials, cost of energy produced • Environmental factors will affect the energy produced • Temperature, soil condition, location

  10. Performance Metrics • The main goal is to create a viable working product • Therefore economics will be the governing theory in determining the success of the product • Cost vs. benefits

  11. Past Work • Weekly meetings with Dr. David Owens and business students from Owen • Met with Dr. Musaazi to learn about appropriate design for developing world • Created survey to verify and refine current design specifications • Researched current biogas digester solutions

  12. Fixed-dome Plant Size: 5-200 m3 • Pro: • Potential underground construction • Low cost • No moving parts • Long life spans  • Compact • Con: • Challenging construction • Frequent gas leaks • Fluctuating gas pressure • Gas production not immediately visible  http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-biogas-volume2.pdf

  13. Floating Drum Plant Size:5-15m3 for small to mid size farms • Pros:  • Constant pressure • Visible gas volume • Generally gas-tight • Cons: • More expensive • High level of maintenance • Short expected lifetime http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-biogas-volume2.pdf

  14. Digester Shapes • Egg-shaped vessel • Expensive • Cylinders w/conical covers and bottom • Less favorable surface-volume ratio • http://www.water-technology.net/projects/reading_sewage/images/Island-Road-2.jpg http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-biogas-volume2.pdf

  15. Digester • Material • Steel • Pro: Gas-tight; Con: Corrosion • Concrete • Pro: Unlimited Useful Life, Cheap; Con: Gas-tight • Plastic • Pro: Gas-tight; Con: Mechanical Stress, UV radiation • Masonry • Pro: Easy to Build; Con: Gas-tight

  16. Gas Piping • At least 60% of failure biogas digester is due to defect in gas piping • Galvanized Steel Pipe • Standardized • Plastic Tubing • Inexpensive • No ferrous metal • biogas is 100% saturated with water vapor and hydrogen-sulfide

  17. Current Work • Continuing research of current biogas solutions • First ideation cycle of potential solutions specific to Bangladesh

  18. Future Work • Analyze results of survey in Bangladesh to determine true price point and product specifications • Design sketch prototypes of digester (Dec. 10th – Jan. 14th) • Select design and begin construction of functional prototype (Jan. 14th – Feb. 15th) • Test and refine functional prototype (Feb. 15th – Mar. 15th) • Finalize prototype and collect data (Mar. 15th – Apr. 1st)

  19. Reference Human Development Index, United Nations, 2009 Project Pyramid, Information gathered during 2009 trip to Bangladesh Van Nes, Wim J. Asia hits the gas. Renewable Energy World.1:102-111 (2006). http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-biogas-volume1.pdf http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-biogas-volume2.pdf http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-biogas-volume3.pdf http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-biogas-volume4.pdf

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