Effect of Buffalo Dung to the Water Ratio on Production of Methane through Anaerobic Digestion

Generation of methane from animal dung through AD (Anaerobic Digestion) is the most feasible way to get energy from it. Pakistan has about 70 million heads of cattle and buffalos, and about 90 million heads of sheep and goats. The dung from these animals can overcome the energy crisis and can fulfill the future energy demands of Pakistan. In present study, buffalo dung is used as the substrate for anaerobic digestion process, whereas the production of methane was analyzed as the function of buffalo dung to water ratio. Six batch reactors with different buffalo dung to water ratios were incubated in the AMPTS (Automatic Methane Potential Test Setup) for 51 days. The highest methane production was observed from the buffalo dung to water ratio of 2.0 i.e. 226.4 NmL/gVS loss , followed by 198.6 NmL/ gVS loss from the buffalo dung to the water ratio of 1.0. The suitable hydraulic retention time of the anaerobic digester treating buffalo dung was observed as 20 da