GOBAR GAS PLANTS

There are many kinds of gobar gas production units. They are so environmentally friendly that they are often subsidized by government grants. The units turn human waste into methane gas which can be used for cooking. Child Haven has gobar gas plants at its homes in Savarsai and Kalyampoondi and is planning to introduce them to all its homes eventually. One has recently been installed in Hyderabad.

Click diagram to see full-size version

First a pit is dug, perhaps ten feet deep. Then a water-tight cement cylinder (with brick or gravel) is constructed. Next, a wall is built across the middle, extending up from the bottom, not quite to the top. Intake and outgo pipes are installed. The whole unit is water-tight.

The manure is mixed with water in the intake basin to make a slurry, which then goes down the pipe to the bottom of the left side. This side of the cylinder gradually fills and overflows to the right side. Meanwhile, the whole mass bubbles methane up to the top. It collects under the large metal bell-like cover. The gas builds pressure, and can be taken off through a rubber tube to a gas stove in a kitchen.

When both sides of the cylinder are full, the effluent flows out from the bottom of the right side each time more raw manure is added to the left. What comes out on the right is of more value as fertilizer than the raw manure. So the methane is an added byproduct literally "something for nothing", once the capital expense of the construction is paid.

India is a leader in gobar gas technology, and there are hundreds of thousands of gobar gas plants in India. Child Haven has updated the system using new technology.

back to newsletter »  
back to Kaliyampoondi main page »