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Biogas Production from Water Hyacinth in the Batch type Anaerobic

Digester

Conference Paper · May 2018

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Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 23346–23350 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

ICAER-2015

Biogas Production from Water Hyacinth in the Batch type

Anaerobic Digester
V. P. Rathoda, P. V. Bhalea, R. S. Mehtaa, K. Harmania, S. Bilimoriaa, A. Mahidaa,
H. Champaneria *
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, India

Abstract

Biogas from agricultural waste is a key solution for green energy and clean environment. The main focus of this work was on the
production of biogas from water hyacinth. Water hyacinth grows rapidly in the catchment of river, lake and open water canal. The
presence of water hyacinth in the river deteriorates the quality of the water. The batch type biogas plant was design, develops and
fabricated for biogas production. The experimentation on anaerobic digestion of water hyacinth was carried out. The water hyacinth was
chopped, crush and mixed with water before entering into the digester. The biogas production was started in 4 days after sealing of the
plant. The biogas samples were analyzed using thermal conductivity detector type gas chromatograph. The biogas from water hyacinth
consist of 58% CH4 and 45% CO2. The biogas production was measured on the daily basis. The biogas generated can be used as clean
fuel for cooking, lighting and water heating application.
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Committee Members of International Conference on Advances in Energy
Research 2015 (ICAER-2015).

Keywords: Water hyacinth; Batch type digester

1. Introduction

In present scenario of global warming and its environmental implications, use of green and renewable energy is
needed for sustainable future. The potential for conversion of green waste and agro waste into biogas is huge in
india. In the catchment of ukai dam, gujarat, abundant quantity of this weed grows in the river tapi. In this work

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: vpr@med.svnit.ac.in

2214-7853 © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of the Conference Committee Members of International Conference on Advances in Energy
Research 2015 (ICAER-2015).
 Rathod et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 23346–23350 23347

water hyacinth as biomass source for biogas production was studied. Xiuaxing et al. [1] employed water hyacinth
material to substitute sawdust in the media for mushroom cultivation. Mathure S.M. et al. [2] developed chopper
cum crusher for water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) to solve the problem of the bulk of freshly harvested water
hyacinth during transportation.
Yusuf M.O.L et al. [3] experimented on addition of waste paper in the co-digestion of cow dung and water
hyacinth which improve biogas yield. Zhou W. [4] studied the potential for use of water hyacinth as a resource of
potassium to produce potassium salts and provide a valuable end use for the plant, which could be highly invasive in
aquatic ecosystems. Ganguly A. et al. [5] studied ethanol production from water hyacinth. Water hyacinth is one of
the worst weeds causing the major problem to the aquatic ecosystem particularly in the tropics. Isci et al. [6]
investigated anaerobic treatability and methane generation potential of three different cotton wastes cotton stalks,
cotton seed hull and cotton oil cake with batch reactors. It was revealed that cotton waste can be treated
anaerobically and are a good source of biogas. Patil J.H. et al. [7] experimented anaerobic co-digestion of water
hyacinth with poultry litter. Results show that co-digestion poultry litter with water hyacinth is better than cow dung
in terms of biogas yield. Bouallagui H. et al. [8] tested semi-continuously mixed mesophilic tubular anaerobic
digester for the conversion of fruit and vegetable waste into biogas. Prochnow A. [9] reviewed that grassland
biomass can be used as feedstock for biogas production. Okeh C.O. et al. [10] studied biogas production from rice
husks generated from different rice mills using cow rumen fluid as a source of inoculum. Rao P.V. et al. [11] studied
that the total installed capacity of bioenergy generation from solid biomass and waste to energy is about 1227 MW
against a potential of 25,700 MW. The bioenergy potential from all type of waste was estimated to be 40,734
Mm3/year. Rasi S. et al. [12] studied biogas composition and variation in three different biogas production plants to
provide information pertaining to its potential use as biofuel. Biogas from different sources showed that methane
content ranged from 48% to 65%, carbon dioxide from 36% to 41% and nitrogen from 1% to 17%. Oxygen content
in all three gases was <1%. Bruun S. et al. [13] investigated there are number of advantages of small-scale biogas
production on farms, including savings on firewood of fossil fuels and reductions in odour and greenhouse gas
emissions.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Water Hyacinth

Fig. 1. (a) Water hyacinth in the lake; (b) Water hyacinth

Water hyacinth is rich in terms of moisture content. The water hyacinth need pretreatment before use in the biogas
plant. The pretreatment include cleaning, chopping and crushing. Water hyacinth plants were collected from lake in
surat. It has high moisture content of approximately 90% and 80% of its total solids are volatile. Its hemicellulose
content is 30% and cellulose content is 24% which shows that, it has a good potentiality for biogas production. This
aquatic weed is available in large quantities in river, lake and open canal. The water hyacinth covers the top surface
of the water which reduces the dissolve oxygen in the water. Figure 1(a) shows the water hyacinth in the lake
completely covers the entire lake. Due to high content of the moisture it requires less water in the digester during the
23348 Rathod et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 23346–23350

anaerobic digestion. This water hyacinth was chopped and crush before entering into the digester. Figure 1(b) shows
the water hyacinth leaves and root in the lake.

2.2. Environmental effects of water hyacinth

The effect of water hyacinth on the water bodies, water quality, water storage capacity and environment were
discussed here. Timmer et al [14] observed that water loss through evapotranspiration from water hyacinth was 3.7
times that from the open water. The problems created by water hyacinth are many and varied. first, it constitutes
health hazards by providing mosquito larvae with ideal breeding place. Second fish are killed by oxygen starvation
and pollution. third water can be lost through evapo-transpiration. Shushilkumar [15] reviewed that several irrigation
and hydroelectric projects in the country are suffering with massive growth of aquatic weeds. Weeds enhance rates
of evaporation many folds through evapotranspiration than that of open surface, thus cause great loss of water.
Water hyacinth makes water unfit due to eutrophication and slows down the flow rate of water besides causing
many health associated problems. Aquatic weeds can be use as biomass source for biogas production to solve this
problems. Shahabaldin et al [16] reviewed the diverse application of water hyacinth. Water hyacinth is a noxious
weed which spreads fast, results in serious problems in navigation, irrigation and power generation. It is also
renowned as a non- native, invasive and free-floating aquatic macrophyte. It is a free floating aquatic plant well
known for its production abilities and exclusion of pollutants from water. Due to rapid growth of the weed clogging
of water bodies can occur, which in turn may have unfavorable effects on the environment, human health and
economic development.

2.3. Physical composition of water hyacinth

The compostion of the water haycinth in water content, chemical and structural compositions is shown in table 1.
The advantage of water hyacinth as biomass source for biogas production is, it requires lower quantity of water
compared to other biomass source.

Table 1. Water content, chemical and structural compositions of water hyacinth biomass.

Water content (%) 90

Dry matter (%)

Cellulose 24

Hemicellulose 30

Lignin 16

Ashes 20

Elemental composition (%)

C 38.4

H 5.85

O 28.1

N 2.9

S 0.47

P 0.77

K 2.78

Ca 1.32

Na 1.44
 Rathod et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 23346–23350 23349

2.4. Biogas digester

Batch type anaerobic digester was designed and developed for biogas production from water hyacinth. Poly vinyl
chloride drums were used to make the biogas digester and floating drum. The simple arrangement of one drum for
digester and inverted drum for floating dome was used. The chopped and crushed water hyacinth along with water
in the proportion of 1:1 was added in to the digester. The leak test was done before sealing of the plant. The nozzle
arrangement was made on the inverted floating dome for collection of the gas sample. The weights were placed on
top of the floating dome as biogas was generated.

2.5. Biogas collection and separation

Biogas generated by anaerobic digestion of water hyacinth was collected in balloons. These gas samples were
analyzed by Gas Chromatograph. The sigma make Gas Chromatograph with thermal conductivity detector was
employed. The gas chromatograph with porapack Q and molecular sieve column were used for detecting CH4 and
CO2. The gas chromatograph was precalibrated by known standard gas sample.

3. Results and Discussion

70
60
50
40
30 CH4

20 CO2

10
0
S1 S2 S3 S4
Biogas Samples

Fig. 2. Composition of biogas from gas chromatograph

In this work batch type biogas digester was designed. The design involves the size of the digester and floating
dome. The floating dome contains the biogas gets lifted when biogas generated cumulatively. The design involves
the gas sample collection pipe at the top of the dome.
The mass of the slurry can be calculated from equation (1) as product of density of the slurry and volume of the
slurry
m= δ V (1)
Density of the slurry δ = 1100 kg/m3
The volume of the digester can be calculated from equation (1) as digester was cylindrical in shape
V= (π/4) D2H (2)
For the mass of approximately 250 kg of slurry, Volume required is 0.23 m3
Diameter and height was calculated as D= 0.5 m and H= 1.5 m The ambient temperature was recorded as 35oC.
This 250 kg of slurry which includes the water hyacinth and water in equal volume added in the digester.
Inverted upper floating drum has gas valve at the top, used for collection of the gas from the drum. The bottom
23350 Rathod et al./ Materials Today: Proceedings 5 (2018) 23346–23350

cylinder is fixed containing slurry for anaerobic digestion with water. The gas samples were analyzed in gas
chromatograph. Biogas samples were collected in the balloons indicated the presence of CH4.
The gas chromatograph results of the biogas samples in terms of volume percentage were presented in figure 2.
All the biogas samples were having higher percentage of CH4. Highest percentage of CH4 was found as 58.34%.
The biogas composition indicated higher CH4 compared to CO2 by around 15%. The biogas samples contain CH4
on percentage volume basis as 53-58%. Whereas biogas samples contain CO2 between 41-46% by volume.

4. Conclusions

In present scenario of world environment, there is need to develop renewable and sustainable source of energy.
The work deals with design and development of batch type floating dome type anaerobic digester for production of
biogas from water hyacinth. The water bodies, river, lake and open canal today are covered with aquatic weed
reducing the storage capacity and increasing evapotranspiration of water significantly. The water hyacinth can be
used as biomass source for small household installations. The water hyacinth was cleaned, chopped and crushed
before entering in the digester. The biogas plant started generation of biogas within 4 days of sealing the plant. The
gas chromatograph results of the biogas samples showed CH4 by volume as 53-58% and CO2 by percentage as 41-
46%. This biogas can be applicable for heating, cooking and lighting purpose. The digested slurry can be used as
fertilizer in the agriculture farm.

Acknowledgements
This research was supported by research grant for assistant professor No: Dean(R&C)/1503/2013-14 from Sardar
Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat (SV NIT, Surat). The authors are also grateful to Director, SV
NIT for providing the support.

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