Livestock manure contains usable methane.
A gradual shift away from traditional fossil fuels has prompted many parties to turn toward animal agriculture as a source of alternative fuel. Current technologies -- such as the anaerobic manure digester, or methane digester -- are able to extract methane from livestock manure as a combustible -- meaning it's able to generate electricity on farms and areas beyond. Professionally manufactured methane digesters are expensive and designed for large-scale operations. However, the principles on which they operate can be replicated in smaller scales. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Remove the top of the 50-gallon drum and coat the inside of the drum with sealing foam. This substance forces the bacteria to react with the waste and release the methane.
2. Make two perforations on the side of the drum -- one toward the top, the other near the bottom. The upper hole will house the release valve for the methane, while the lower will accommodate the exit valve for the solid by-product, usable as fertilizer.
3. Invert the plastic drum. Perforate the bottom, installing an intake valve.
4. Pour the slurry -- the mixture of manure and water -- by following recommended proportions. Pig slurry has a one-to-one ratio, in gallons for example, while grass-fed cattle slurry should have a two-to-one ratio in favor of manure. Fill the drum with the slurry.
5. Top the drum with a neoprene cover, the rising of which will indicate the time to release the methane.
6. Connect the methane exit valve to the entrance valve on the plastic drum with rubber tubing. Make sure every conduit of this sort is sealed with a rubber ring or some other form of air-tight mechanism. The entrance valve should have a flow control, keeping the methane moving inward.
7. Release methane into the plastic drum when the cover on the metal drum begins to expand. Shut the valve off when the cover descends or the plastic barrel begins to rise.
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