Biogas Production from Water Hyacinth in the Batch type Anaerobic Digester

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.