Design and Construction

of Household Biogas Digester

Shi Guozhong
Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture, China

E-mail: brtc666@163.com
Apr.10th,2018
 Main Contents

§1. Brief introduction

§2. The development of biogas digester in China
§3. Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
§4. Advantages of hydraulic biogas digester
§5. Some key points
§6. Calculation
§7. Summary of design parameters
§8. Construction
 1. Brief introduction

1.1 History:
China is one of the countries that use biogas
early in the world.
Mr.Luo Guorui built a biogas digester called
“Chinese Guorui Natural Gas Store” in 1920,
which was the first Hydraulic Digester in China.
Guorui Natural Gas Store
1.2 Government’s attention

On April 11.1958,
Chairman Mao
Zedong was
watching the
demonstration of
biogas stove in
Wuhan City,Hubei
Province.
 On July 10.1980,
Vice Chairman
Deng Xiaoping was
supervising the rural
household biogas
in Chengdu City,
Sichuan Province.
 On March 15.1991, Chairman Jiang Zemin Visited
local household and looked the application of biogas
in Xiangtan County of Hunan Province.
President Hu Jintao
Visited the
application of local
household biogas
in Henan Province
in 2003.
Prime Minister
Wen Jiabao
gave lecture
concerning
development of
biogas
technology in
rural areas.
2. The development of biogas
digester in China rural areas

Since 1980s, biogas technology

has been developed very fast in
China rural areas.
 2.1 The number of biogas
digester in China rural areas

By the end of 2015,there are about

42 million household biogas digesters
have been built and annual biogas
production is 15 billion m3 in China
rural areas.
 By the end of 2015, the biogas production
workers with certificates had amounted to
about 400,000, and all kinds of biogas
production and service enterprises had
reached more than 1,200.
2.2 Service networks

Nearly 100,000 new rural service networks

and more than 1000 service stations at county
level have been built, to provide services for
around 30 million farmers, with coverage rate
of 80%.
2.3 Technical support:
There are professional institutions on biogas
technologies in China. Such as BIOMA, some
agriculture universities, China Biogas Society etc.
Their main activities are:
 Study on fundamental research of anaerobic
microbiology;
 Process research of rural biogas digester;
 Design & construction of household digesters;
 To formulate the technical standards & codes for
biogas technology.
2.4 Technical Training :
We have a long-term training plan for biogas
technicians (including: the process, building
material, design & construction, installation,
maintenance etc.)
The training method: theory in class
and practice in site.
2.5 Financial support :

Since the year of 2005 ,the central

finance has invested a total of about 38 billion
CNY in rural biogas projects, including
domestic biogas digester, service networks
and biogas plants.

According to Chinese policy, the farmers

can get financial support from government
for biogas construction.
Support
Different areas, different support standards.
East area:1200 CNY per biogas digester;
Middle area:1600 CNY per biogas digester;
West area: 2000 CNY per biogas digester.
 2.6 Distribution of household biogas digester
application in China

Rural household digesters are distributed

in 31 provinces all over the country.
Over 16 provinces constructed more
than 200,000 digesters each.

Sichuan Province has the biggest

amount of digesters as much as 6 million.
 2.7 Standards

By the end of 2015, 100 rural

energy standards have been
formulated or revised and 90 of them
are in operation;
Among all the issued standards,
28 standards cover rural biogas.
 2.7 Standards
Rural household biogas: 28 standards
including 9 national standards and 19
industrial standards, covering biogas
digester drawings, rules for
construction, check and acceptance,
biogas cookers and related products,
integrated utilization of biogas
technologies.
3. Structure of hydraulic biogas digester

3.1 What is a biogas digester ?

A sealing digester that can produce
biogas through anaerobic digestion by
various microbes is a biogas digester.
3.2 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
(schematic diagram)
 3.2 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
1—Inlet;
2—Inlet pipe;
3—Fermentation
chamber;
4—Gas chamber;
5—Movable plug;
6—Biogas guide;
7—Outlet pipe;
8—Hydraulic
chamber ;
9—Overflow pipe.
10—Storage tank.
 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
1—Inlet:
It’s laid of brick.
The function of
inlet is to feed
raw material .
The geometric
dimension
is 400x500mm,the
depth is about
300-500mm.
 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
2—Inlet pipe:
The inlet pipe is
made of concrete,
inserting aslant
into lower part of
digester.
It is easy to
build, feed and
agitate.
Diameter of the
inlet pipe is
usually 20-30 cm.
 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
3—Fermentation
chamber:
Fermentation
chamber is the
main part of a
biogas digester.
Raw material is
mixed according
to the process
technology and
fed into it. It
must be leak-
proof for water.
Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
4—Gas chamber:

The function of gas

chamber is to store
biogas. Gas
chamber must be
leak-proof for gas.
 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
5—Movable plug:
The movable
plug is at the top
center of the biogas
space. It can be open
or closed as required.
Usually we fill some
stick clay around the
edge of the plug to
seal it and store
some water above
the plug .
 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
5—Movable plug:
In order for a person getting in
or out, diameter of movable
plug is usually 60cm. Movable
plug is useful when user wants
to ventilate the chamber or
feed raw material during
starting up or discharge when
needed.
When the pressure is much
high inside, the movable plug
can be burst open to protect
the biogas digester.
Structure of hydraulic biogas digester

6—Biogas guide:
The gas guide
is made of
copper, the
diameter is
usually 8-10
mm.
 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
7—Outlet pipe:
Outlet pipe is
round shaped. It
is installed aslant
at middle or
lower part of the
digester.
(It’s similar with
inlet pipe.)
Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
8—Hydraulic chamber :
It’s laid of brick,
the function of
hydraulic
chamber is to
store the liquid
(digested
effluent) from
digester .
 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
9—Overflow pipe:
The overflow pipe is
located at the center
between hydraulic
chamber and storage
tank, the diameter is
10-15cm. The
overflow pipe must
be 20cm underground
at least.
 Structure of hydraulic biogas digester
10—Storage tank:
The storage tank is
a tank which can
store the
digested effluent
from hydraulic
chamber , the
volume is about
1-2 cubic meters.
3.3 Principle of hydraulic biogas digester

When a biogas
digester produce
biogas, the gas
press the liquid
into hydraulic
chamber, making
liquid level higher.
3.3 Principle of hydraulic biogas digester
On the contrary,
when biogas is used,
liquid get back into the
digester from the
hydraulic chamber, so
the liquid level drops.
In this way, internal
and external pressure is
balanced.
That’s why we call it
hydraulic biogas
digester.
4. Advantages of hydraulic biogas digester

1. Good performance, good adaptability

for construction material ;
2. Simple structure, easy for construction;
3. Low cost;
4. Convenience for use and operation;
5. Long service life: about 20 years.
 5. Three key points for design of
hydraulic biogas digester

1. Circle—The shape of digester should be

circle, the raw material can be mixed
completely.
Save building material ; intensity of the
structure is even, good for service life.
 5. Three key points for design of
hydraulic biogas digester

2. Small— The volume of digester should be

small ,usually less than or equals 10 cubic
meters; there are four kind of volumes: 4,
6, 8,10 cubic meters;
It’s enough for cooking three meals
according to different family members.
 5. Three key points for design of
hydraulic biogas digester

3. Shallow—The depth of digester should be

shallow, usually less than 2.5 meters.
It will be easy for construction (avoid
ground water) and convenient for discharge
also.
4 in 1 Solar Energy-recycling Mode
 Schematic diagram
of digester size
 H0 =D0/2.5
 f1 =D0/5
 f2 =D0/8
 R0 =D0/2

R02 f1
1   ,
2 f1 2
R02 f2
2   ,
2 f2 2
 6. Calculation (1)

 From volume formulas of ball cap and

cylinder,
 we get:

V1  f1 (3R02  f12 )
6

V2  f 2 (3R02  f 22 )
6

V3  R02 H 0
 6. Calculation (1)

 Put f1, f2, D0 and H0 into the above formulas,

 we get:
 D0 D0 2 D0 2
 V1=  [3  ( )  ( ) ]  0.0827 D03
6 5 2 5

 D D D
V2=  0 [3  ( 0 ) 2  ( 0 ) 2 ]  0.0501D03
6 8 2 8
D0 2 D0
 V3=  ( )  ]  0.3142 D03
2 2.5
6. Calculation (2)
 Total volume of the digester is:

 V=V1+ V2+ V3
 = (0.0827+0.0501+0.3142) D03
= 0.4470 0
3
 D
6. Calculation (2)
 If we have determined the volume of
a biogas digester that will be built, its
diameter and other geometric
parameters is gotten as:
V
D0= 3
0.447

=1.3078 3 V
 Example 1:
 Assuming a biogas digester with volume of 10 m3
is to be built, its diameter is:
 D0=1.3078×2.155
=2.818(m)
 Volume of each part is:
 V1= 0.0827×2.8183 =1.85 m3
 V2= 0.0501×2.8183 =1.12 m3
 V3= 0.3142×2.8183 =7.03 m3
 Other geometric parameters:
 From the above, we get:
1 1
 f1= D0   2.818  0.564(m)
5 5
1 1
 f2= D0   2.818  0.352(m)
8 8
1 1
 H0= 2.5 D0  2.5  2.818  1.127(m)
1 1
 R0= D0   2.818  1.409(m)
2 2
 D0 2 1
( ) D0
R02 f1 2 5 58
 ρ1= 2 f  2  1  2  80 D0
1 2  D0
5
 = 0.725 D0
 = 0.725×2.818
 = 2.043 (m)
2
R f 2 17
 ρ2= 0
  D0
2 f2 2 16

 =1.0625D0=1.0625×2.818
 =2.994 (m)
 6. Calculation (3)

Calculation for surface area:

 F=F1+ F2+ F3
=2πρ1f1+2πρ2f2+2πR0H0
=2π(ρ1f1+ρ2f2+ R0H0)
 Exercise1:
 Assuming a biogas digester with volume of 8
m3 is to be built, its geometric parameters are:
 D0=? H0 =? f1 =? f2 =?
R0 =?
 ρ1=? ρ2=?
 Volume of each part is:
 V1= ? m3
 V2= ? m3
 V3= ? m3
Table for dimension of digester
 6. Calculation (4)
Calculation for volume of hydraulic chamber
(outlet chamber) :
Volume of hydraulic chamber is equal to gas
production for a half day, i.e.:
1
 Vh=V×rv×
2
 Where,
 Vh= Volume of hydraulic chamber (m3)
 V = Volume of biogas digester (m3)
 rv = Gas production rate (m3/m3/d)
 Example 2:
Calculation for volume of hydraulic chamber
 If :
 V = 8 m3, rv = 0.35 m3/m3/d,
 then
1
 Vh= 8×0.35× = 1.40 m3
2
 Namely, volume of hydraulic chamber
is 1.40 m3.
 6. Calculation (5)
Determination of digester volume :
If we have known gas production rate, raw
material quantity, biogas consumption per
person per day and number of family members,
we can calculate the volume of biogas digester
by the following formula:
Average biogas consumption per person×number of persons
V= Gas production rate
 Example 3:
Calculation for volume of digester
 Assuming biogas consumption is 0.3m3/per
person per day, number of family members is
5 and gas production rate is 0.25m3/ m3/d.
Then :
0.30  5
V=
0.25
= 6 (m3)
 7. Summary of design parameters

1. Maximum working
pressure in digester
is 7840 Pa (≤800
mm water gauge) ;
2. Maximum working
volume is 90% of
gross digester
volume;
7. Summary of design parameters
3. Volume of
hydraulic chamber
is half biogas
production per day;
4. Thickness of soil
filled on digester
top should not be
less than 250 mm;
 7. Summary of design parameters

5. Live load above the digester should be 2kpa

(200 kg/m2);
6. Groundwater level should be lower than one
meter depth from the ground;
7. Load bearing capacity of foundation requires
more than 50 kpa (5 t/m2).
 8. Building materials
1. Clay brick—the most popular material
for building digester in China countryside;
the geometric dimension is
240×115×53mm.
2. Stone blocks—be adopted in mountain
areas.
3. FRP—Fiber Reinforced Plastic (Fiber
Glass).
Bricks
 8. Building materials
4. Concrete—it’s consists of cement , sand,
gravel and water. There are 4 intensity
grades,that is: C10, C15, C20, C25. C10
and C20 are used for building digester.
5. Plaster(cement mortar)-- it’s consists of
cement , sand, and water. The ratio of
plaster for laying is 1:3.
9. The composition ratio of concrete
(1 m3 concrete)
Intensity Cement Sand Gravel Water
grade (kg) (m3) (m3) (kg)

C10 200 0.43 0.92 172

C15 250 0.50 0.92 172

C20 315 0.50 0.90 182

C25 350 0.45 0.85 182

 10. The estimated quantity of
building material
Volume 4 6 8 10
(m3 )
Brick 800 1000 1300 1500
(piece)
Cement 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.3
(ton )
Sand 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.7
(m3 )
Gravel 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.5
(m3 )
Working days 12 15 17 20
(day)
 11. The prices of local building material
and workers’salary
Material Price Workers Salary
(CNY) (CNY/d)

Brick 400-450 Technician 150-200

(1000pieces)
Cement 350-400 Labor 100-150
(ton )
Sand 100
(m3 )
Gravel 100
(m3 )
 12. Construction
12.1 Lay out and digging:
Before digging, the digester should be lay
out first depending on the digester size and soil
quality.
 12. Construction
12.1 Lay out and digging:
For digester construction, firstly a pit should
be dug. It is shaped like the larger part of a cone.
 Table1. Maximum slope for different soil

Slope
No. Description (Height: Remarks
width)
1 Sandy soil 1:1 This is suitable for the
Sub-sandy soil digester construction
2 1: 0.67 with good soil
3 Sub-stick clay 1: 0.50 conditions of
Clay humidity, hydrology
4 1: 0.33
and geology, and
5 Soil with gravels or cobbles 1: 0.67 without groundwater,
Dry loess no supporters for
6 1: 0.25
digester base pit.
 12.2 The central rod and radius gauges
It is important to set a
rod at the center for the
cylinder digester
construction to keep
digester wall circular and
vertical regularly. Link the
two couples of diagonal
stakes at four corners.
Hanging a tag at the point
of intersection to determine
the center of the digester.
 12.2 The central rod and radius gauges
Stand a rod at the
center, and then fasten
the upper part of the rod
with threads as shown
in Figure a. The central
rod should not be
moved after it
positioned during
construction.
 12.3 The central rod and radius gauges
The circular shape of the
digester is controlled by the
radius gauges. Use them to
check every block of the
digester wall.
After complete one layer
of laying work, move the
radius gauges up with a
height as the thickness of a
layer. The gauges must be
always kept horizontally.
12.4 Construction of the digester dome
In order to ensure
geometric size of the dome,
usually we use inflexible wire
as radius gauge for laying
dome bricks.
If the center of the dome
curvature is lower than the
digester bottom, a small pit is
dug in advance as shown in
Figure d. The pit can be filled
after the dome is completed.
 12.5 Safety during construction
Collapse prevention: During digging the pit
of digester, the wall should be of proper slope
depending on the soil quality.
Some measurements must be taken to fix
the poor quality soil. Heavy article is not
allowed to put near digester side.
Water must be drained during rainy season.
 12.5 Safety during construction
During dome construction without
mould, use flat stones to insert into gaps
between bricks tightly. No people are
allowed to stand on the dome until the
soil become hardened.
Heavy articles are not allowed to put
on newly built dome to avoid collapse
due to over load.
 Table 2.1- Procedure of painting the sealing
layers on digester internal surface
Layers to paint Procedure of painting Remarks
1. 1-2 times of pure cement Be suitable for
mortar movable plug and
2. 1:3 cement mortar (5 mm) internal surface of
3. Once pure cement mortar biogas digester built
Seven layers
4. Once 1:2.5 cement mortar (5 with concrete
painting
mm) prefabricated
5. Once pure cement mortar blocks, common
6. 1:2.5 cement mortar (5 mm) bricks or stone
7. Surface treatment blocks.
 Table 2.2

Layers to paint Procedure of painting Remarks

Be suitable for
1. 1-2 times of pure cement internal surface of
mortar gas space of concrete
2. 1:3 cement mortar (5 mm) digesters cast at site,
Five layers painting 3. Once pure cement mortar and digestion
4. Once 1:2.5 cement mortar chamber of digesters
(5 mm) built with concrete
5. Surface treatment blocks, bricks or
stone blocks.
 Table 2.3
Layers
Procedure of painting Remarks
to paint
1. 1-2 times of pure cement Be suitable for internal surface of
Four mortar hydraulic chamber and inlet of
layers 2. 1:3 cement mortar (5 mm) digesters built with concrete
painting 3. 1:2.5 cement mortar (5 mm) prefabricated blocks, common
4. 3 times of pure cement mortar bricks or stone blocks.
Be suitable for internal surface of
Three 1. 1:3 cement mortar (5 mm) hydraulic chamber, inlet and
layers 2. 1:2.5 cement mortar (5 mm) water sealing chamber above
painting 3. 3 times of pure cement mortar movable cover of concrete
digester cast at site.
 Table 2.4
Layers to
Procedure of painting Remarks
paint
Be suitable for internal and
Single
external surface treatment of
layer Pure cement mortar 1-3 times
concrete feeding and outlet
painting
pipes
Any one of the following three methods of inner digester
surface treatment for gas space can be selected:
Treating
1. Painting pure cement mortar for three to five times
inner
2. Painting sodium silicate and then pure cement mortar for
surface
totally three to five times
3. Painting melted paraffin three times