Investigating the challenges of biogas provision in water limited environments through laboratory scale biodigesters

The potential for biogas provision through household-scale anaerobic digestion in rural sub-Saharan Africa is limited due to perceived water shortages. most common substrate animal dung diluted 1:1 with water. Two experimental methods tested the of reducing demand. first experiment compared chemical oxygen demand (COD) and volatile solid removal four cow dilutions ranging from 3.5-10.6% total solids. In second experiment, bioslurry filtrate was recirculated back into fresh at different concentrations. highest COD rate 28.3% obtained mixing equal volumes (mean solids 7.4%) while methane production 0.40 g/L/day, calculated balance, undiluted (total 10.6%). Results suggest a 75-100% reduction