Pilot-Plant for Energy Recovery from Tropical Waste Food Materials

Abstract

An experimental unit for obtaining gaseous methane from waste food materials is discussed and results are presented for experimental tests with animal wastes and tropical waste food materials. The tropical waste food considered include garri, boiled beans and plantains. As expected, the animal wastes produced higher yields than the vegetable wastes, with boiled beans being the most promising of the vegetable wastes. The results show that it is possible to generate enough gas on a local basis to run such appliances as a .081 m3 (3Cu.ft) gas operated refrigerator or a 1.5 KW (2 hp) parafin engine.