Biogas Micro-Production from Human Organic Waste—A Research Proposal

Alberto Regattieri, Marco Bortolini, Emilio Ferrari, Mauro Gamberi and Francesco Piana
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Alberto Regattieri: Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy
Marco Bortolini: Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy
Emilio Ferrari: Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy
Mauro Gamberi: Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy
Francesco Piana: Department of Industrial Engineering, Alma Mater Studiorum—University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2, Bologna 40136, Italy

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: Organic waste (OW) management tackles the problem of sanitation and hygiene in developing countries and humanitarian camps where unmanaged waste often causes severe health problems and premature death. OW still has a usable energy content, allowing biogas production, potentially contributing to satisfy the local needs, e.g., cooking, lighting and heating. Digesters are the devices converting OW into biogas under anaerobic conditions. They are simple and effective solutions for the OW management in rural areas, humanitarian camps and remote developing regions, producing energy and fertilizers for local farming as residual. This paper describes the design and lab-test of a domestic OW management system integrating a waterless toilet with a small-scale digester producing safe biogas for local micro-consumption. Starting from people’s needs and an extensive review of the current state-of-art technology, the proposed system’s key innovation and strength is the combination of effectiveness and a very simple construction, set up and use, fitting with the rural conditions and raw materials available within the emerging countries. A small-scale prototype is assembled and lab-tested assessing the quantity—i.e., productivity—and quality—i.e., composition and methane content—of the produced biogas. The measured productivity in terms of specific biogas production (SBP) is of about 0.15 m 3 /kg SV and a methane content of about 74% in mass match the energy needs of domestic users, encouraging the spread of such systems in developing regions and rural areas.

Keywords: organic waste management; biogas micro-production; humanitarian plant; anaerobic digestion; excreta disposal; waterless toilet (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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