Planning Guide for Biogas Plants

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Overview

This guide to planning is intended to serve agricultural extension officers as a comprehensive tool for arriving at decisions concerning the suitability of locations for family-sized biogas plants. The detailed planning outline has a data column for entering the gathered information and a rating column for noting the results of evaluation.

Evaluation criteria are:

  • + Siting condition are favorable
    o Siting condition are unfavorable, but
    a) compensable by project activities
    b) not serious enough to cause ultimate failure
    - Siting condition are not satisfactory

Despite its detailed nature, this planning guide is only a framework within which the extension officer should proceed to conduct a careful investigation and give due consideration, however subjectively, to the individual conditions in order to arrive at a locally practical solution. By no means is this planning guide intended to relieve the agricultural extension officer of the responsibility to thoroughly familiarize himself with the on-the-spot situation and to judge the overall value of a given location on the basis of the knowledge thus gained.

Initial Situation

Data Rating
Addresses/project characterization

Plant acronym:
Address of operator/customer:
Place/region/country:
Indigenous proj. org./executing org.:
Extension officer/advisor:

General user data

Household structure and number of persons:
User's economic situation:
Crops: types, areas, manner of cultivation:
Non-agricultural activity:
Household/farm income:
Cultural and social characteristics of user:

Problems leading to the "biogas approach"

Energy-supply bottlenecks:
Workload for prior source of energy:
Poor soil structure/yields:
Erosion/deforestation:
Poor hygiene and other factors:

Objectives of the measure "biogas plant"

User interests:
Project interests:
Other interests:


Natural / Agricultural Conditions

Data Rating
Natural conditions

Mean annual temperature:
Seasonal fluctuations:
Diurnal variation:

Rating:


- o +
Subsoil

Type of soil:
Groundwater table, potable water catchment area:

Rating:


- o +
Water conditions

Climatic zone:
Annual precipitation:
Dry season (months):
Distance to source of water:

Rating:


- o +
Livestock inventory (useful for biogas production)

Animals: kind and quantity:
Type of stable:
Use of dung:
Persons responsible for animals:

Rating:


- o +
Vegetable waste (useful for biogas production)

Types and quantities:
Prior use:

Rating:


- o +
Fertilization

Customary types and quantities of fertilizer/areas fertilized:
Organic fertilizer familiar/in use:

Rating:


- o +
Potential sites for biogas plant

Combined stable/biogas plant possible:
Distance between biogas plant and livestock stable:
Distance between biogas plant and place of gas consumption:

Rating:


- o +
Overall rating 1
- o +


Balancing the Energy Demand with the Biogas Production

Data Rating
Prior energy supply

Uses, source of energy, consumption:

  • Anticipated biogas demand (kwh/day or l/d)
    for cooking:
    for lighting:
    for cooling:
    for engines:
    Total gas demand
    a) percentage that must be provided by the biogas plant:
    b) desired demand coverage:

Available biomass (kg/d) and potential gas production (l/d)

  • from animal husbandry
    pigs:
    poultry:
    cattle:
    Night soil
    Vegetable waste (quantities and potential gas yield)
    1.
    2.
    Totals
    biomass and potential gas production
    a) easy to procure:
    b) less easy to procure:

Balancing

Gas production clearly greater than gas demand
-> positive rating (+)

Gas demand larger than gas production
-> negative rating (-); but review of results in order regarding:

a) possible reduction of gas demand by the following measures
->

b) possible increase in biogas production by the following measures
->

If the measures take hold:
-> qualified positive rating for the plant location (o)

If the measures do not take hold:
-> site rating remains negative (-)



Overall rating 2
- o +


Plant Design and Construction

Data Rating
Selection of plant design

Locally customary type of plant:
Arguments in favor of floating-drum plant:
Arguments in favor of fixe-dome plant:
Arguments in favor of other plant(s):

Type of plant chosen:

Selection of site

Availability of building materials

Bricks/blocks/stone:
Cement:
Metal:
Sand:
Piping/fittings:
Miscellaneous:

Availability of gas appliances

Cookers:
Lamps:
...
...



Overall rating 3
- o +


Plant Operation / Maintenance / Repair

Data Rating
Assessment of plant operation

Incidental work:
Work expenditure in h:
Persons responsible:

Rating with regard to anticipated implementation:


- o +
Plant maintenance

Maintenance-intensive components:
Maintenance work by user:
Maintenance work by external assistance:

Rating with regard too anticipated implementation:


- o +
Plant repair

Components liable to need repair:
Repairs that can be made by the user:
Repairs requiring external assistance:
Requisite materials and spare parts:

Rating with regard to expected repair services:


- o +
Overall rating 4
- o +


Economic Analysis

Data Rating
Time-expenditure accounting

Time saved with biogas plant
Time lost due to biogas plant

Rating:


- o +
Microeconomic analysis

Initial investment:
Cost of operation/maintenance/repair:
Return on investment: energy, fertilizer, otherwise:
Payback time (static):
Productiveness (static):

Rating:


- o +
Quality factors, useful socioeconomic effects and costs

Useful effects: hygiene, autonomous energy, better lighting, better working conditions, prestige:
Drawbacks: need to handle night soil, negative social impact:

Rating:


- o +
Overall rating 5
- o +


Social Acceptance and Potential for Dissemination

Data Rating
Anticipated acceptance

Participation in planning and construction
Integration into agricultural setting:
Integration into household:
Sociocultural acceptance:

Rating:


- o +
Establishing a dissemination strategy

Conditions for and chances of the professional-craftsman approach:
Conditions for and chances of the self-help oriented approach:


- o +




- o +
General conditions for dissemination

Project-executing organization and its staffing:
orgnaizational structure:
interest and prior experience in biogas technology:

Regional infrastructure for
transportation:
communication:
material procurement:

Craftsman involvement, i.e.
which acitivities:
minimum qualifications:
tools and machines:

Training for engineers, craftsman and users:

Proprietary capital, subsidy/credit requirement on the part of
user:
craftsmen:

Rating:


- o +
Overall rating 6
- o +


Summarization

Siting conditions

No. Rating
Natural/agricultural conditions 1. - o +
Balancing the energy demand and the biogas production 2. - o +
Plant design and construction 3. - o +
Plant operation/maintenance/repair 4. - o +
Economic analysis 5. - o +
Social acceptance and potential for dissemination 6. - o +

Overall rating of siting conditions

- o +


Further Information


References

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