Effect of Waste Paper on Biogas Production from Co-digestion of Cow Dung and Water Hyacinth in Batch Reactors

The effect of waste paper on biogas production from the co-digestion of fixed amount of cow dung and water hyacinth was studied at room temperature in five batch reactor for over 60 days. Waste paper addition was varied for a fixed amount of cow dung and water hyacinth until maximum biogas production was achieved. Biogas production was measured indirectly by water displacement method. The production of biogas showed a parabolic relationship as the amount of waste paper (g) increased with a goodness of fit of 0.982. Maximum biogas volume of 1.11liters was observed at a waste paper amount of 17.5g which corresponded to 10.0% total solids of the biomass in 250ml solution. Thus, an optimum waste paper amount of 17.5g needs to combine with 5g of cow dung and 5g of water hyacinth in 250ml of water for maximum biogas production. Similar equivalents in kilograms and tonnes can be utilized in large-scale production of biogas which can provide decentralized source of fuel for university laboratories and also local supply of energy for electricity production. Also, the air pollution problems associated with open burning of waste papers can be eliminated. The biogas process has established to be cheap and practically feasible.