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Science Forum Index » Energy Forum » methane production from septic system
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| Dennis Davis |
 Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 9:05 pm |
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Guest
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I've been trying to find info on producing and burning methane from my
septic system. Not much luck as it seems all the cites are big companies
that want to sell their stuff to utilities. I thought of a system that has
a air pump that pumps air to the bottom of the first tank recovers the air
from top of the tank and pulls it though a separating area composed of 2-3
cylinder shaped tanks standing on end allowing the "light methane to rise"
and pulling air from near the bottom of the cylinders. by the pump I would
pull a little air in from outside the system to pressurize the system with
a few mm of pressure. Methane could then be valved off slowly off the top
of the last cylinder and used to run a turbine which drives a permanent
magnet generator and heat water through the exhast of the turbine. I would
draw this out, but don't know if this news group accepts attachment or
images in postings(kinda weakens the whole idea of info exchange if it
doesn't). |
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| carlp |
| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 9:05 pm |
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Guest
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I've been trying to find info on producing and burning methane from my
septic system. Not much luck as it seems all the cites are big companies
that want to sell their stuff to utilities. I thought of a system that has
a air pump that pumps air to the bottom of the first tank recovers the air
from top of the tank and pulls it though a separating area composed of 2-3
cylinder shaped tanks standing on end allowing the "light methane to rise"
and pulling air from near the bottom of the cylinders. by the pump I would
pull a little air in from outside the system to pressurize the system with
a few mm of pressure. Methane could then be valved off slowly off the top
of the last cylinder and used to run a turbine which drives a permanent
magnet generator and heat water through the exhast of the turbine. I would
draw this out, but don't know if this news group accepts attachment or
images in postings(kinda weakens the whole idea of info exchange if it
doesn't).
/////////
Methane production.
It can be carried out in warm climes with no difficulty, But higher
latitudes need heating elements and good insulation the process needs a
positive pumping process one tank to another, or production will stick, a
stirring system may work equally well.
Regard storing it is not practical to compress, a plastic bladder system
will work out at a reasonable cost and work well.
The gas needs filtering even then it will contain some nasties, it will need
a good flue system to take it well away.Look at coal gas, wood gas, even
sawdust will produce wood gas, and coal dust. both cheap. |
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| carlp |
| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2003 9:05 pm |
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Guest
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that rises and collects beneath it. You would probably need a dryer,
(CuSO4 or similar) in the gas line.
In a week or two you might collect enough gas to run a small space
heater or something similar for a few hours. A projecting wire would
indicate the level that the cap is floating at, and thus the volume of
gas collected. The gas would need to be further compressed and dried
to run a motor.
Best of luck - Pragmatist
"Please let me know if there is anything else I can be of absolutely
no help with".
/////////////////////////
sewage is not the only ingredient for methane production, leaves, garden
waste, kitchen waste, i/e if it's organic it will produce methane
especially grass mowings. send it all down the loo, India utilises it's
sewage for methane production, mainly for cooking and small industrial use,
it can fuel an engine, but it needs some good scrubbing before use. |
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| pragmatist |
| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 6:14 pm |
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Dennis Davis <huckfinn1963@csinet.net> wrote in message news:<xlxyb.327$Q76.319357@monger.newsread.com>...
Quote: I've been trying to find info on producing and burning methane from my
septic system. Not much luck as it seems all the cites are big companies
that want to sell their stuff to utilities. I thought of a system that has
a air pump that pumps air to the bottom of the first tank recovers the air
from top of the tank and pulls it though a separating area composed of 2-3
cylinder shaped tanks standing on end allowing the "light methane to rise"
and pulling air from near the bottom of the cylinders. by the pump I would
pull a little air in from outside the system to pressurize the system with
a few mm of pressure. Methane could then be valved off slowly off the top
of the last cylinder and used to run a turbine which drives a permanent
magnet generator and heat water through the exhast of the turbine. I would
draw this out, but don't know if this news group accepts attachment or
images in postings(kinda weakens the whole idea of info exchange if it
doesn't).
You overestimate the amount of methane that a residential septic
system will produce, and overcomplicate the collection process.
Methane is the product of anaerobic digestion, so all you need to do
to collect the raw product, (which will contain significant amounts of
water vapor,CO2, and H2S plus traces of other malodorous vapor but
will be flamible), is to place an inverted cap floating within the
tank.
(Vent the cap till it is empty to begin with, you do not want an air /
fuel mix anywhere except at the point of utilization.)
The weight of the cap will provide the pressure to pipe off the gas
that rises and collects beneath it. You would probably need a dryer,
(CuSO4 or similar) in the gas line.
In a week or two you might collect enough gas to run a small space
heater or something similar for a few hours. A projecting wire would
indicate the level that the cap is floating at, and thus the volume of
gas collected. The gas would need to be further compressed and dried
to run a motor.
Best of luck - Pragmatist
"Please let me know if there is anything else I can be of absolutely
no help with". |
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| pragmatist |
| Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 6:15 pm |
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Guest
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"carlp" <carlp@ic24.net> wrote in message news:<vsoub2996n6k55@corp.supernews.com>...
Quote: that rises and collects beneath it. You would probably need a dryer,
(CuSO4 or similar) in the gas line.
In a week or two you might collect enough gas to run a small space
heater or something similar for a few hours. A projecting wire would
indicate the level that the cap is floating at, and thus the volume of
gas collected. The gas would need to be further compressed and dried
to run a motor.
Best of luck - Pragmatist
"Please let me know if there is anything else I can be of absolutely
no help with".
/////////////////////////
sewage is not the only ingredient for methane production, leaves, garden
waste, kitchen waste, i/e if it's organic it will produce methane
especially grass mowings. send it all down the loo, India utilises it's
sewage for methane production, mainly for cooking and small industrial use,
it can fuel an engine, but it needs some good scrubbing before use.
True, but the amount of such stuff you can feed through a given
domestic septic system is limited, - they are sized based on the
expected output from the building served. Even assuming a humongus
garbage disposal unit and a lot of spare time, the gas volume produced
would still be too small for anything but occaisional fill in use. - A
'gas turbine` forsooth???
If he was willing to re-engineer and expand the whole system, and had
lots of additional biomass available the idea might have a chance but
the 'payback` time would be longer than most people would accept.
Hog farms do quite well with methane digesters, but then they have a
surplus of 'riches` to work with, and their tanks are designed for the
purpose from the start.
Pragmatist - "When in the course of human events it becomes neccessary
to
actually do something, it's a good idea to be
elsewhere." |
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