Improving Biogas Production from Chicken Droppings Using Prosopis Juliflora (Sw.) DC Biochar and Crushed Pods as Additives: Quantity, Composition and Kinetic Modelling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/jsere.v2i2.8668Keywords:
Anaerobic Digestion, Biochar, Chicken Droppings, Kinetic Modelling, Prosopis JulifloraAbstract
Low biogas quantity from the mono-digestion of chicken droppings limits their use as a renewable energy feedstock. This study evaluated the effects of biochar and crushed pods of the invasive Prosopis juliflora, added separately at 10%, 15%, and 20% of a fixed 1,000 g chicken-droppings mass, on substrate properties, biogas production and composition, and anaerobic digestion kinetics. A completely randomized design of seven substrate groups (an unamended control and each additive at three proportions), each replicated three times, was run in twenty-one laboratory-scale batch digesters for fifty-six days. Biogas volume was measured weekly by water displacement; pH, solids and chemical oxygen demand were determined before and after digestion; and biogas composition was analysed with a Gasera One analyser. Data were analysed by two-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s test, and cumulative production was fitted with First Order and Modified Gompertz models. Amended substrates produced more biogas and showed greater reductions in solids and organic load than the control, and the 15% and 20% amended treatments shifted pH towards alkaline conditions. Biochar at 15% gave the highest cumulative yield (37.2 L), followed by crushed pods at 15% (33.4 L), and compared with 14.8 L for the control. Crushed pods at 20% gave the highest methane concentration (191,870 ppm, about 19.2% by volume), and ammonia appeared only in the 15% and 20% crushed pod treatments. The Modified Gompertz model fitted better than the First Order model (R² ≥ 0.9987 versus ≤ 0.9733). Both additives improved the digestion of chicken droppings while valorising an invasive species.
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