Bottlenecks in bio-methanation of wastes in biogas plants

Biogas has become a boon to electrify the remote tribal settlements where sufficient population of cattle is available. During the rainy season slurry handling is a major problem because of high water content in the digested slurry coming out from the biogas plants. The failure of biogas systems may be due to the abandoning of the plant, scarcity of labour and poor quality of construction material used in the construction of the digester, gas holder and pipeline accessories. The failure of biogas floating metal drum systems is due to the leakage of biogas by the rusting of gas holder. Scum formation inside the bio-methanation plant and water condensation can lead to improper functioning. Lack of maintenance of proper C: N ratio, liquidity and non-uniform mixing cause failure. Recycling old slurry with fresh feed enhances biogas production.