Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion

[velacreations]

Yeah, methane is one option here, but personally, I find it easier and less costly to just do good ol' fashioned hot composting. Mixing the manure with some carbon material will reduce the moisture content, and as it composts, it will reduce in moisture even more.

One thing with methane digester waste, is it is very low in DM, like 10% or less. I makes great fertilizer, but it won't solve the problem of being able to sell it dry.

Some people use both processes together. Basically, put your methane digester in the middle of a big hot compost pile. Because the methane digester requires heat, and the aerobic compost produces heat, this is a good strategy.

Google "jean pain" for more info on that.

Another option is to route the pig slurry through BLack Soldier Fly larvae. They will reduce the slurry by 80-90%, and produce a food product for the pigs or another animal (poultry)

[dutchdivco]

Still not clear

what original poster's situation is; not enough info. My understanding is methane digestion is most practical if you have a LOT of sh*t to deal with; the example earlier was a pig farmer with 1000 head, which is a LOT of Sh*t; if you only have a couple of pigs, not so practical.
And again, his mention of a 'sealed container', and 'venting the gasses' got me thinking about methane.
WAnting to bag it and sell it also made me think he was talking about larger quantities of material. Anyway, hope he figures out something that works well,...Jim

[velacreations]

You could probably make methane with the manure slurry, then use the effluent from the digester to produce hot compost that can keep the digester warm and produce a product to sell.

[countryman]

Hi all,

Just came across this site. We looking to get into the municipal waste sludge business. We have looked at our options of dealing with the waste. We send it to a composting site or we just mix it with lime and spread it on the land.

Or we look at drying down the waste. The sludge has a very low dry content it varies between 10 and 15%. The bacteria has to be killed of before it is disposed of. If we pasteurise the waste why not apply more heat and dry the content. It would then be less waste to get rid off.

I have come across few companies that supply the equipment
ASM Group, Organic Recyclates
RDP Technologies Inc. » Home

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

[diesel]

Hi all,

Just came across this site. We looking to get into the municipal waste sludge business. We have looked at our options of dealing with the waste. We send it to a composting site or we just mix it with lime and spread it on the land.

Or we look at drying down the waste. The sludge has a very low dry content it varies between 10 and 15%. The bacteria has to be killed of before it is disposed of. If we pasteurise the waste why not apply more heat and dry the content. It would then be less waste to get rid off.

I have come across few companies that supply the equipment
ASM Group, Organic Recyclates
RDP Technologies Inc. » Home

Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

Any thoughts on this, or would anyone know another forum I should use ??

[Quigon10101]

I was thinking why not use a biogas digester set up instead of composting?

- Its a extremely fast process. Heaps take months while it takes hours.
- You mix in only water. The end product is quite reduced in mass. So its really rich in NPK.
- You get loads of free fuel from it. Think of everything you can run on it. From internal combustion engines to gas lights.

I'm preparing to experiment with biogas powered gas lights over my home's solar panel array at night to see if it can produce a significant amount of electricity. Since gas lights are infra red heavy, I'm thinking the results may be good.

[dutchdivco]

To 'Countryman'

or anyone interested in 'municipal waste', I STRONGLY reccomend a book called "Humanure Handbook", by Joseph Jenkins. Could be called "Everything you ever wanted to know about SH*T, and HOW to deal with it, but were too grossed out to ask".
Informative and entertaining read; diagnoses the problem, AND provides the solution; only problem is, far too few people are paying any attention,...Jim

[Stealth]

In the town next to mine, a hospital is using waste gas from a local landfill to power its lights, heat and other hospital needs. I am not sure if they are using sewage gas as well or not. The last time I was there it seemed to be working great and they had no problems with it. On a smaller scale it should work just as well. A sealed tank (septic) should be able to produce variable amounts of sewage gas (methane), which could be used for lights, heat or to run a generator, just as wood gas does. Although the energy produced by methane is less than propane, it is still a viable option for energy production. I suppose using a pump to condense and pressurize the methane would make it substantially more potent when running an ICE or furnace. I have not built one yet but I have done some research on how it works and the benefits of disposing of our wastes and using them to our advantage. Good Luck. stealth

[dutchdivco]

Words matter;

For instance, er or or as a suffix, usually indicates action, as in who DOES something. So, we use the word 'teacher' or 'professor', and call the other person in the equation the 'student'!
Hard to say how different it would be if we called them the 'learner', and avoided calling the other the 'instructor'.
Anyway, Jenkins explains he came up with the word 'humanure' in order to AVOID using the term 'waste'; need to stop thinking of sh*t as 'waste'; which is something which has no value or use, and so can only be discarded, and instead think of it as a valuabe, useful resource, which is how nature 'sees' it; NOTHING in nature is waste. Its a whole 'mindset' thing.

Anyway, using wind to run a compressor seems like it would be a good way to compress the gas you are talking about.

Actually, in reading his book, and thinking about how I would implement his ideas in my life, it turns out 'blackwater' products, i.e. 'toilet stuff' is EASY to deal with; 'greywater', i.e. the stuff from our sinks and showers, etc. is actually a little more complex.

He presents a totally workable system, both for small scale (homestead) and scaled up (village or larger) way for addressing both black and greywater 'recycling', that will probably NEVER be embraced by humans in a major way.

The problem is 'mindset'; Americans and other 'westerners' will never embrace what he's advocating, as they will confuse it with 'outhouses', and undeveloped countries are all wanting to have the kind of sewage systems developed countries have.

Personally, I think civilisation is a failed experiment, and humans are a pathogenic organism that has infested the planet. (A PATHOGENIC organism is one that infects a host, feeds off the vital nutrients OF the host, proliferates (reproduces) in an 'out of control' manner, releases its waste products INTO the host, and eventually kills its host.

Interestingly, a common responce of the host is to develop a 'fever', which when it gets high enough, kills off the pathogenic organism, thereby preserving the host; perhaps this is what 'Global warming' is?

In any case, I think CIVILISATION is doomed, although just possibly some humans may survive, long term. All our 'problems' are of our own making, and while there ARE obvious solutions which are technically 'doable', its our 'human natures' which prevent them from being implemented.
Cheers, Jim

[alamat]

very helpful