[Digestion] Sources of methanogens?

[David Fulford]

Paul, Davide and list, Hi

When I want to start a digester for any feedstock, I always use cow dung as 
the starter. Methanogens live in a cows gut and process vegetable matter 
going into the cow. I have tried sewage liquor from the local municipal 
sewage plant, but the bacteria from there do not work as quickly and easily 
as cow dung. A 10% by volume starter seems to work well. Once the system is 
running, the effluent liquid can be recycled.

Vegetable waste does digest fairly easily, but it needs to be chopped up. 
Again the bacteria are used to a cow's gut, and the cow chops up grass with 
its teeth, so any vegetable matter system must use a chopper/grinder that 
does the same thing. There was a very good Thresher Masher Chopper device 
mentioned on the Bioenergy discussion group (December or January) from 
http://www.legacyfound.org/. It is designed to shred material for making 
briquettes, but it should work for slightly wetter feedstocks as well. It 
is not yet on the site, but an e-mail to Richard Stanley will get a reply. 
(He sent me the plans for a small fee).

Cheers,

David

At 13:32 26/02/2007 +1030, Paul Harris wrote:
>G'day Davide,
>
>Yes, I think any cold source would be a benefit, even Arctic Tundra (now
>THAT'S a good project to get funding for!), but keep in mind I'm just an
>engineer!
>
>All the best,
>HOOROO
>
>davide wrote:
> >
> > Hi All and Hi Delicia,
> >
> > this question about the source of methanogens has always been a puzzle 
> for me as well!
> >
> > I suggest using the sediments you can find on the floor of freshwater 
> lakes or lagunas. Actually these are mostly putrefied vegetable matter so 
> I think it can work. Once I used them to inoculate one digester I made, 
> but which was later fed with manure, so it's not the same case.
> > When I entered the lake to pick up the sediments, it was funny to feel 
> the bubbles (biogas) rising from the bottom, like a jacuzzi!
> >
> > I'd like to ask something more to complement the discussion or that 
> could start a new thread: are the methanogens from  lake sediments better 
> for psychrophilic digestion? Could it be a good strategy to use just 
> sediments from a lake (5º-10º C) to inoculate a manure digester operating 
> at 18º C without using other sources like cattle manure or rumen?
> >
> > best wishes, davide
> >
> > Paul Harris <paul.harris at adelaide.edu.au> ha scritto: G'day All,
> >
> > I have a query from a Malaysian student wanting to show for a Project
> > that vegetable waste can make biogas, but not using manure as a
> > bacterial source (and I get a number of queries about digesting
> > vegetable waste!).
> >
> > Any suggestions of how to introduce the correct bacteria (preferably
> > using readily available materials and simple techniques, but anything
> > may help)?
> >
> > Many Thanks,
> > Happy digesting,
> > HOOROO
> > --
> > Mr. Paul Harris
> > Room G8, Leske Building
> > Faculty of Sciences,
> > The  University of Adelaide, Roseworthy Campus, AUSTRALIA 5371
> > Ph    : +61 8 8303 7880
> > Fax   : +61 8 8303 7979
> > mailto:paul.harris at adelaide.edu.au
> > I now use "MailGuard" - if you do not get a reply please make contact
> > again (by fax?)
> > http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/paul.harris
> > Member IOBB http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/
> >
> > CRICOS Provider Number 00123M
> > -----------------------------------------------------------
> > This email message is intended only for the addressee(s)
> > and contains information that may be confidential and/or
> > copyright.  If you are not the intended recipient please
> > notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete
> > this email. Use, disclosure or reproduction of this email
> > by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly
> > prohibited. No representation is made that this email or
> > any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is
> > recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Digestion mailing list
> > Digestion at listserv.repp.org
> > http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_listserv.repp.org
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------
> >  L'email della prossima generazione? Puoi averla con la  nuova Yahoo! Mail
> > _______________________________________________
> > Digestion mailing list
> > Digestion at listserv.repp.org
> > http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_listserv.repp.org
>
>--
>Mr. Paul Harris
>Room G8, Leske Building
>Faculty of Sciences,
>The  University of Adelaide, Roseworthy Campus, AUSTRALIA 5371
>Ph    : +61 8 8303 7880
>Fax   : +61 8 8303 7979
>mailto:paul.harris at adelaide.edu.au
>I now use "MailGuard" - if you do not get a reply please make contact
>again (by fax?)
>http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/paul.harris
>Member IOBB http://www.iobbnet.org/drupal/
>
>CRICOS Provider Number 00123M
>-----------------------------------------------------------
>This email message is intended only for the addressee(s)
>and contains information that may be confidential and/or
>copyright.  If you are not the intended recipient please
>notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete
>this email. Use, disclosure or reproduction of this email
>by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly
>prohibited. No representation is made that this email or
>any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is
>recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.
>
>_______________________________________________
>Digestion mailing list
>Digestion at listserv.repp.org
>http://listserv.repp.org/mailman/listinfo/digestion_listserv.repp.org

*** Dr David Fulford, MSc Renewable Energy, Engineering Building ***
***     School of Construction Management and Engineering        ***
***      The University of Reading, Whiteknights,                ***
***    Reading RG6 6AY, UK      Tel: +44-(0)118-378 8563,        ***
*** Fax: +44-(0)118-931 3327 E-mail: D.J.Fulford at Reading.ac.uk   ***