Compost tea and Methane

[kbhale]

I decided to go ahead and try Methane production. From what research I've done on the web it seams little more than a liquid compost pile. What ever you normally compost can go into it, just needs to be ground up. Compost tea and Methane as out put.

[Piwoslaw]

You want methane? Get a cow!!
Seriously, cows are one of the largest sources of methane in the atmosphere, plus the manure will create lots more when in a fermentation tank.
Use some of the methane you produced to slightly warm the tank and your production will increase

Is that hydroponic lettace in the background?

[kbhale]

No access to cow dung, just cat and possum. Going to use kitchen and garden scraps. I would be happy with a couple pilot flames the length of my finger all day, all night, all year long.

Yes, its hydroponic lettuce and other cold weather vegetables. Found them very easy to grow indoors. Low light and heat needs.

[Piwoslaw]

I don't know if you have any books on methane digesters, but the best one I've read for DIY is a chapter in "Producing Your Own Power - How to make nature's energy work for you" (1974 Rodale Press, ISBN 0-394-71440-7).

It has lots of good info, starting from how to build and start, and ending with how to use the methane and sludge. It's focused mostly on using manure from a farm (cow, swine, chicken, and human), but there is a paragraph on plant wastes:

The primary advantage to plant wastes is their availability. [One of the disadvantages is that] plants tend to be bulky and to accumulate lignin and other indigestible materials that must be regularly removed from digesters. This severly limits the use of plant wastes in continuous-feeding digesters.

There are three possible ways to take advantage of plant wastes in continuous digesters: (1) Press plant fluids out of succulent plants (e.g., cacti, iceplant, etc.) and digest juices directly, or use them as a diluter for swill. (2) Culture algae for digestion. (3) Digest plants not containing lignin (e.g., seaweed).

I would think that cat dung wouldn't work too well, as it seems that the best input for a methane digester is manure from a herbivore.

[kbhale]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

I don't know if you have any books on methane digesters, but the best one I've read for DIY is a chapter in "Producing Your Own Power - How to make nature's energy work for you" (1974 Rodale Press, ISBN 0-394-71440-7).

It has lots of good info, starting from how to build and start, and ending with how to use the methane and sludge. It's focused mostly on using manure from a farm (cow, swine, chicken, and human), but there is a paragraph on plant wastes:


I would think that cat dung wouldn't work too well, as it seems that the best input for a methane digester is manure from a herbivore.

Doubt, if I could get the cats to potty in the barrel anyway. Thanks for the replies.

kevin

[kbhale]

Tonight I took a swollen milk carton from the frig. Drilled a hole in the lid and set fire to the gas coming out. Pasteurized milk in a sealed sanitary container producing psychrophiles (cold loving microbes) at 34-36 F, 1-3 C. Yes, thermophiles might produce better gas. But I'll keep psychrophiles starter for cool times.

Alaska Energy Wiki: Psychrophiles for Generating Heating Gas (EETG Project)

Writer might have been under the influence of Brettanomyces product.

[kbhale]

The Methane Digester for Biogas