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 includethe 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 includebiogas
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.
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