Cell phone application for sizing anaerobic digesters and computing energy production, biogas and methane yields

Abstract

To perform the calculations required for sizing anaerobic digesters and computing energy production and biogas and methane yields, various procedures should be conducted; this requires time and efforts, with the risk of making mistakes. The objective of this study was to create a tool to aid users and specialists in managing these computations by offering an application which can be installed on cell phones. A mathematical model was developed to perform the calculations. Then, a flowchart was created, and the mathematical model was incorporated into the flowchart. Then, MIT App Inventor was used to configure an application software by combining the flowchart and the mathematical model and making the user interface. Data were acquired from governmental institutions, livestock farms having biogas units, biogas plants, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and literatures. The data acquired were used to perform the calculations through applying the conventional method to produce results which were compared with results produced by the developed application software. The results of both conventional method and the application software were identical. The developed cell phone application can size the anaerobic digesters and compute the energy production and biogas and methane yields from livestock manure and agricultural crop residues.