[Stoves] papaya as feedstock for biogas

[Peter Singfield]

At 06:09 AM 5/5/2007 +0530, adkarve wrote:
>Dear Peter,
>you wanted to know if overipe papaya could be used as a source of methane.
 Please remember, that if you are going to use only fruit pulp as the
feedstock, and no dung, restrict yourself to only 1 kg dry weight of fruit
pulp to 1 cubic meter of the digester capacity. Assuming about 80% water in
papaya, the maximum amount of pulp that you can feed into the biogas plant
would be 5 kg per cubic meter of digester capacity. You would get about one
cubic meter of biogas from this much papaya pulp. 
>Yours
>A.D.Karve


Dear AD;

That is extremely vital information you supply and will have saved me much
trial and error. Thanks so much!!

While we are on this topic -- how much energy is in one meter of bio-methane??

And -- I assume those figures are for a 24 hour period?

And last -- there will be much dung available -- but mostly from chicken
and or pig.

Would addition of dung (how much??) mean greater production of bio methane
from the same volume of digester tank?

I made an interesting discovery a few years back on how to make small
holding ponds that do not leak for hand style irrigation.

The plan would be to use these for bio methane production -- 

Our soil in this area is and average thickness of one foot of  Terra Preta
over soft marl substrate.

We simply dig holes of the required size down into the white marl -- then
with a little cement added to some screened white marl -- make a plastering
paste that is very endurable -- and stays water tight.

We position such a "well" of around 1000 liters capacity about one per
hundred feet in a square grid.

One central pumping station supplies water to many of these -- keeping them
filled.

Growers dip 20 liter buckets into these and then go plant to plant --
applying .5 liters or .25 -- to the base of each and every plant. Once in
the early morning -- and once in the late evening.

Water supply to refill these small ponds is accomplished using a small 3 HP
diesel powering a 1.5 KW generator -- which is sufficient to run a small --
1/2 HP -- submersible pump.

Very little diesel is consumed per week to accomplish this feat. And --
these small diesel engines are multi fuel capable -- and as such -- run
well on plant oils of any kind.

Unfortunately for this experiment -- the deep well turned alkaline after
one years use -- and the small project had to be abandoned -- well -- most
of it.

I still maintain some growth during dry season (right now!!) by hauling
3000 liters per trip on the diesel mule. At present -- a 25 mile trip.

We have just discovered an ancient Mayan well but 5.5 miles away -- that
indeed does have good water -- have yet to know how much flow/water can be
pumped.

Hope to cut a road through the jungle to it in the next week.

Has anyone one this list experience with reverse Osmosis purification of
water??

The new line of plunger/displacement pumps can operate to 500 PSI -- 

But I have heard the membranes are terribly expensive. And this is a costly
way to make potable water.

They have an ancient saying here -- in Spanish:

Agua est Vida.

(Water is life)

And water conditions are ever changing these days.

My small farm is situated 12.5 miles from my village residence -- but here
at the house -- I have an excellent deep aquifer -- that never runs out --
and is always excellent water.

Thanks ever so much again AD -- Peter / Belize