Mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of cow dung, chicken droppings and grass clippings

Abstract: The main focus of this study was mesophilic anaerobic co-digestion of cow dung, chicken droppings and grass clippings using pilot bio-digesters. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) works under batch anaerobic digester operating in ambient mesophilic temperature of 35 oC and 37 0C and pH of 7 to generate biogas. The carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio for cow dung and chicken droppings was found to be 17.70 and 63.67 respectively and grass clippings to be 20.54. Through co-digestion in a ratio of 1:1, the C/N ratio for cow dung and grass clippings settled at 19.19 while that for chicken droppings and grass clippings settled at 20.49. The conversion rate of the reaction and biogas production increased with the increase in temperature and hydraulic retention time until an equilibrium state was achieved. At the temperature 37 OC, it was observed to be the suitable mesophilic temperature for anaerobic digestion due to high dissociation and collision leading to high rate of biogas production