Anaerobic digestion of donkey dung for biogas production

Authors

  • Patrick Mukumba Department of Physics, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa
  • Golden Makaka Department of Physics, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa
  • Sampson Mamphweli Fort Hare Institute of Technology, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2016/20160013

Keywords:

substrate, hydrolysis, fermentation, acetogenesis, methanogenesis

Abstract

Biogas can provide a solution to some of South Africa’s energy needs, especially in rural areas of Eastern Cape Province that have plentiful biogas substrates from donkeys, goats, sheep, cattle and chicken. We investigated the effectiveness of donkey dung for biogas production using a designed and constructed cylindrical field batch biogas digester. The donkey dung was collected from the University of Fort Hare’s Honeydale Farm and was analysed for total solids, volatile solids, total alkalinity, calorific value, pH, chemical oxygen demand and ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N). The biogas composition was analysed using a gas analyser. We found that donkey dung produced biogas with an average methane yield of 55% without co-digesting it with other wastes. The results show that donkey dung is an effective substrate for biogas production.

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Published

2016-07-27

How to Cite

Mukumba, P., Makaka, G., & Mamphweli, S. (2016). Anaerobic digestion of donkey dung for biogas production. South African Journal of Science, 112(7/8), 4. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2016/20160013

Issue

Vol. 112 No. 7/8 (2016)

Section

Research Letter

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