ENGINEERING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT Jelgava, 28.-29.05.2009. 253 INVESTIGATION OF BIOGAS PRODUCTION FROM MINK AND COW MANURE

Abstract. Anaerobic fermentation of mink manure and cow manure was investigated to estimate the volume and quality of the biogas produced. The process was performed in 4 batch reactors at the temperature 37 ˚C. The average biogas or methane yields were 303 l kgvsd-1 or 168 l kgvsd-1 obtained from a substrate of cow manure with inoculum 25 %. The investigated average biogas or methane yields from mink manure with inoculum 25 % were 730 l kgVSd-1 or 512 l kgVSd-1 respectively. The average methane content was 56 % or 70 % in biogas from cow manure or mink manure during the anaerobic fermentation process. Key words: mink manure, cow manure, anaerobic fermentation