Harvesting Biogas from Gelatin Production

Residue Using Anaerobic Digester

Majority of people use gas stoves in order to cook foods that we use to eat every day. Gas

stoves contain Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) that is important in producing heat. LPG is

extracted during the processing of natural gas and the demand for natural gas is high and is very

expensive. In order to produce natural gas, fossils in the Earth take millions of years to process

considering that it is non- renewable. Fossil fuels came from dead organisms buried through heat

over time. The finite supply of non- renewable resources and the decreasing number of fossil

fuels in some places leads the researchers to make an alternative source such as biogas.

Biogas is produced by fermentation of organic matter like biodegradable wastes without

the presence of oxygen and sometimes with the help of acid- forming bacteria (acetogens) and

methane- forming archaea (methanogens) stored in anaerobic digester. It is mainly composed of

methane and carbon dioxide that can be used for heating or cooking. Biogas is preferable to use

because it is cheap and the materials used in making the digester is not costly and easy to find. In

addition, it is very effective.

In the Philippines, Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) implemented a biogas project

installed nearly 400 floating dome type digester. In 1990, Tubular Polyethylene Digester (TPED)

was introduced. The promotion of biogas technology in the Philippines follows certain policies

such as The Renewable Energy Act of 2008 which aims to further increase renewable energy

utilization in the country, including biogas; Presidential Decree (PD) 984 known as Pollution

Control Decree of 1976 to prevent and control pollution of water, air, and land for the effective

utilization of the resources of this country; RA 9003Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of
200 that ensures the protection of public health and environmental through the adoption of waste

management programs. In this case, residue from the gelatin production can be used in order to

create biogas. The researchers will use the Gelatin Production Residue as it is already a waste,

thus creating a renewable source.

Gelatin is a combination of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydrolysis of

collagen extracted from th skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as domesticated

cattle, chicken, pigs, and fish. Gelatin is also used as a gel cap in capsules. According to De Ama

et.al (2018), gelatin residues are often disregarded and dumped but can still be the food source

for microbes that is used for harvesting methane.

The study done by De Ama et.al (2018) also used the GPR in harvesting biogas. The

digester was stored for two weeks with the GPR inside. The study was successful and the results

gave a little amount of methane gas using the anaerobic digester. In regard with this, the

researchers want to improve the past study done by John Ronald De Ama, Emmanuel Mariano

and Jayson Montenegro on 2018 by making a new design of anaerobic digester that will be

composed of gas chamber. Moreover, the researchers will also incorporate methanogens to

further improve the study which has not been done by the past researchers.

This research aims to make a suitable design of anaerobic digester with gas chamber for

biogas. The researchers seek to determine the effectiveness of GPR as a substitute for common

material such as animal manure and vegetable and fruit wastes used in biogas as an alternative

source.