Biogas production using co-digestion of Chicken droppings with Ipomoea perfurea grass

The depletion of fossil fuel reserves, energy crisis, industrialization, rapid growth in population and environmental issues across the globe have aroused interest and attention to be shifted to biofuels (biogas) production. This research focused on biogas production using co-digestion of Chicken droppings with Ipomoea perfurea grass through Simplex Centroid Design (S.C.D). The proximate compositions of the formulated substrates were determined on co-substrates A (Ipomoea perfurea), B (Chicken droppings), and A+B (equal mixture of Ipomoea perfurea and Chicken droppings). The volatility contents were 47.10, 52.60 and 55.80%, while moisture contents were 18.10, 16.01, and 14.20% and carbon contents were 29.26, 26.08, and 24.04% for formulations A, B, and A+B, respectively. The biogas production temperature (mesophilic), ranging between 26oC to 31oC, was observed after 42 days. The optimum yields for dried substrates were 334g/kg for mono substrates (B) and 357g/kg for co-substrates (A+B), while the optimum yield for fresh substrates was 410g/kg for mono-substrate A and 430.5g/kg for co-substrate A+B, respectively. The methane flammability test confirmed the biogas was combustible, and a pale bluish flame that burnt for 1minutes and 45seconds without soot was observed. The least and optimum C/N ratios for dried mono and fresh co-digested substrates were 14:1 and 21:1, respectively. The fresh co-digested substrates produced a better yield than the dried co-digested substrates in the production of biogas for cooking.