UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
1907

Chemical Engineering Research 1

ChE 2121

Group No.

Members
Castillo, Carlo (3-CHEB)
Evangelio, Kirk Patrick (3-CHEB)
So, Josh Kendric (3-CHEB)

Thesis Adviser
Engr. Divine Angela S. Sumalinog, Ph.D
Related Data/Results Citation
Co-digestion benefits Studies have shown that co- Patil et al.
digestion of several substrates 2014
have resulted in improved
methane yield by as much as 60%
compared to that obtained from
single substrates. Advantages
include better digestibility,
enhanced biogas
production/methane yield arising
from availability of additional
nutrients, as well as a more
efficient utilization of equipment
and cost sharing.

The results showed a positive Hernandez-shek et al.

effect of the co-digestion of WH 2016
and food and vegetable waste,
exhibiting a higher production of
biogas (0.141 m3 biogas/kg VS
added). This means that the
biogas
potential of WH-FVW co-digestion
was 23% higher than that of WH
alone. Regarding quality of the
produced biogas,
it was observed that the methane
content for WH alone was 57.5%
while for WH-FVW it was 60.5%;

Biogas production The quality of biogas depends Omondi et al.

mainly on the presence of 2019
methane in it where a good quality
biogas has a high percentage of
methane and is therefore
desirable for maximum energy
production.

It can be deduced that with the Zala et al.

supplement of proper buffer agent 2019
like water hyacinth to improve pH
value of digestate, biogas yield
and biogas production from food
waste increase.

For water hyacinth, a C/N ratio of Nugraha et al.

30 gave the best rate of biogas 2020
production amongother C/N ratio
variables, with biogas yield
generated at 191,423 ml/g TS.

Gas production essentially ceased Moorhead et al.

after 60 days of digestion. 1993

Biogas production was highest for Moorhead et al.

plants chopped to 604 mm length, 1993
followed by a 1.6 and 12.7 mm
length. Analysis of gas production
data indicated that cumulative
biogas production at 60 days was
12% higher for the 1.6 mm particle
size compared to 12.7 mm.
However, cumulative biogas
production at 15 days was 25%
higher for the 1.6 mm particle size
compared to 12.7 mm.

Increasing inoculum volume Moorhead et al.

resulted in increasing cumulative 1993
gas production for digesters with
high N plants. However, biogas
production for the low N plants
was similar throughout 60 days of
digestion regardless of inoculum
volume. In addition, biogas
production began earlier for high N
plants compared to low N plants
(data not shown). Cumulative
biogas production at 60 days for
hyacinths with a high N content
was approximately 21% less with
2.5 liters of inoculum compared to
10 liters. However, cumulative
biogas production at 15 days was
doubled for the digester receiving
the 10 liters of inoculum. The
amount of inoculum did not
appreciably affect cumulative
biogas production during digestion
of plants with a low N content.

Several factors are known to Chynoweth et al.

influence anaerobic digestion and 1980; Scherer P and H
biogas production including C/N Sahm
ratio, C/P ratio, nature of organic 1981
matter constituting volatile solids,
trace nutrients, retention times,
and physicochemical conditions
 Water hyacinth could produce high Jayaweera et al.
biogas volume irrespective of its N 2007; Shah et al. 2015
content; however VS
concentration was a critical factor
for high biogas yields.

Water hyacinth could be used as a Jayaweera et al.

substrate for biogas generation 2007
irrespective of the fact that the
plants are grown under higher or
lower nitrogen concentrations and
it is not necessary for the C/N
ratios to be in the optimum range
of 20–32 for effective biogas
production to occur.

Effects of the Water hyacinth can quickly grow Hernandez-shek et al.

overpopulation of WH in to very high densities (over 60 2016
waterways and water kg/m2), even to completely clog
storages. water bodies, which leads to
serious problems in the
preservation of
water ecosystems and human
activities like fishing, navigation,
irrigation and power generation.

Digestion process The addition of biostarter can Nugraha et al.

maximize biogas production. The 2020
selection of a
good starter is very important to
speed up the process overhaul of
organic matter.
Rumen fluid can be used as a
good biostarter because in it there
are cellulolytic and methanogenic
bacteria.

The biomass added to the digester Nugraha et al.

is broken down into sugars, amino 2020
acids, and fatty acids (hydrolysis),
fermented to produce volatile fatty
acids and alcohols (acidogenesis)
followed by the conversion into
hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and
ammonia. In addition,
methanogens
produce biogas from acetic acid
and hydrogen.

For the biomethantion unit, It Patil et al.

 consists of a temperature 2014
controlled thermo bath which is
maintained at 35 and has a battery
of biodigester. Each biodigester is
connected to a means of
connecting tube. A stand holds all
the gas collectors. Biogas evolved
is collected by downward water
displacement.

Pre-treatment of WH Fresh water hyacinth leaves were Patil

using alkali method first chopped to small sizes. The 2011
alkali (NaOH) treatment was
effected by soaking chopped
water hyacinth in 1% NaOH (by
volume) solution. After two days
the alkaline solution was removed
and leaves were allowed to dry up
under the sun followed by drying
in an oven at 600C for 6hours.
This oven-dried water hyacinth
was then ground to fine powder.

Effects of temperature For the co-digestion of WH and Omondi et al.

ruminal slaughterhouse waste, the 2019
rate of biomethanation improved
from 0.23 to 0.75 and 0.96 at 32
and 37ºC respectively. Increasing
the temperature from 24 to 32ºC
increased methane yield from 14
to 40 L/kg or 186%, but increasing
the operating temperature to 37ºC
only increased the yield by a
further 30% to 52 L/Kg.

Biogas yield for water Methane generation from cabomba Osullivan et al.
hyacinth and water hyacinth is more than three 2010
times the highest yields from salvinia.
The small-scale tests yielded biogas
volumes of 292 ± 43 L kg−1 VS, 322
± 21 L kg−1 VS and 52 ± 55 L kg−1
VS for water hyacinth, cabomba and
salvinia, respectively.

Impact of the addition of The best methane yields from Osullivan et al.
excess nutrients water hyacinth are in the absence 2010
of added nutrients or manure.

Co-digestion with manure does Osullivan et al.

not significantly improve the 2010
 degradation of the plant biomass.

Impact of drying Drying the plant biomass prior to Osullivan et al.

digestion was detrimental to the 2010
biogas and methane yield
regardless of the presence or
absence of nutrient rich media or
manure.

Low biogas yields from dried water Osullivan et al.

hyacinth have been reported 2010
previously by Singhal and Rai (2003)
who reported a maximum of 28 L
biogas kg−1 TS after a digestion
period of 21 d, and Verma et al.
(2007) and Singhal and Rai (2003)
who reported yields of approximately
24 L biogas kg−1 TS. Yields from dry
water hyacinth without manure are in
the same range as reported by these
authors (mean 23 L biogas kg−1 VS),
but yields achieved in this study with
added nutrients or with manure were
slightly higher (40 L kg−1 VS and 86
L kg−1 VS, respectively) (although
still well below the yield from undried
water hyacinth without manure of 308
L kg−1 VS).

Several authors have reported Osullivan et al.

biogas yields from dried material 2010
in the same range of those from
fresh water hyacinth (Anand et al.,
1991; Chanakya et al., 1993;
Kumar, 2005).

Approved by:

On maternity leave
Engr. Divine Angela G. Sumalinog, PhD
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