DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT OF AN AFFORDABLE TARPAULIN-BASED BIOGAS SYSTEM FOR ECO-FRIENDLY COOKING IN COMMUNITIES WITH LIMITED ENERGY RESOURCES

ABSTRACT For low-income areas, biogas technology offers a long-term answer to the problems of energy poverty and environmental damage. Sustainable energy for cooking was the focus of this research. A pliable HDPE chamber served as the system's primary housing, and it was fitted with an organic biomass intake, an effluent discharge outlet, and a gas output that linked to a simple three-stage purification unit made up of water, silica gel, and iron sponge. Under batch digestion settings, three kinds of organic feedstock were subjected to anaerobic digestion: cow dung, cassava residues (fufu and garri), and fruit waste. Due to its consistent methanogenic activity and balanced carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (25:1), cow dung produced the most biogas (430 ± 2.0 L/kg VS) out of all the substrates evaluated during a 34-day hydraulic retention time (HRT). The acidification, as shown by a decrease in pH from 6.88 to 6.78, was the main cause of the fruit waste producing the lowest yield (200 ± 5.0 L/kg VS). Using sandbag ballast, the system was able to keep the pressure stable (0.15-0.25 Bar) while operating under passive solar heating (29-32°C). Gas leakage was limited, at less than 2%. Greenhouse gas emissions might be reduced by 2.1 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent each year, and the method could help slow down deforestation by 1.5 metric tons per family per year. Although there is a lack of long- term testing and methane quantification, the technology nevertheless provides a good way to produce clean energy decentralized in areas with limited resources. Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, Biogas production, Cassava residues, Cow dung, Fruit waste, Renewable energy