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Here you go folks. In collaboration with an old time friend, we have developed a portable, family sized methane production unit that harvest bio-gas (methane). This is the first stage in my three-stage compost system.

Features

  • 20 year lifespan
  • 2 man assembly (4 hours)
  • Weighs only 15 to 20 kilos/ 30-40 pounds
  • Operates at –40 to 60 deg C
  • Daily output of  0.3 to 0.6 m3 per day
  • Made or recycled rubber

 

All for a mere USD $400.00 FOB Tinjing, P.R.China

Whatchall think?

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Carey

Like it, the price point is very affordable.  I would guess that the bigger issue is the connection and how much cost is involved with that phase of the install.  Any details on the install and how it works?

Installation can be as easy as digging a pit about a meter deep then placing the rubber pod in so that it is stable, leaving the two ports above ground. A PVC pipe can be connected to the digester's in port directly from the black water source.

The catch here is you have to check with your county to see if you can hook it up to your house. I believe it should be usable in agriculture waste treatment but again, please check with your county. I got shut down three times in two counties, in different States.

This design is specifically designed to be as low-tech as possible for the best value, servicing from two to six people or a family of four with a swine or two or a cow. It was designed to be used by the underprivileged around the world but specifically here in China, replacing those old, leaky, costly brick and cement digesters. 

Do you have any experience with water-washing upgraders?

Hi Ellen, thanks for your question. As this was designed for "survival plus" mode, we have no plans to upgrade beyond the other two phases of composting.

If we actually make any money off this contraption, we may expand into the semi commercial/ village size market where it would be more appropriate to use scrubber tech.

Cheers

wow ! looks cool....i have 3 questions where is the digestion residue storage and do you need a gas storage tank before it goes to the gas compressor? how many Watts for the heater?

Residue storage is in the bottom of the tank. Pressure from the gasses cause these semi-solids to exit through the evacuation tube. Gas is stored in the expandable top half with enough pressure to supply a cooking stove or mesh heater/ boiler. This unit doesn't make enough gas to worth a compressor. This is an all in one, stand alone unit. Sorry, I don't understand the reference to Watts. As far as BTUs; I'd have to have someone look up that info for me cause it's all in Chinese.

thanks carey! how much energy does the heater needs to keep the temperature bewteen 50 and 60 Celcius degree? maybe in tropical climate it doesnt need any heater if you keep the digester outside. Anyhow, its a awesome fermenter, i really love the design, so simple and so cool. Thanks for showing us!

I did not know (until your post) that digesters were already common in domestic use (anywhere!)  Thanks for the education. This lightweight, KISS design seems perfect for home installation and use.  Kudos!  I only asked about the scrubber hoping you would say, "oh yeah, they're really cheap and easy to build!" lol Your digester inspired a bout of complete fantasy in which I wondered if I could run my car on fish poo and moon beams.

Hola amigo.. love your  digesters..and would love to know more about the workings..We have two digesters for our six living units at laSenda. Am trying a simplified design having built four other digesters over the years. Have long believed that doing away with so called 'waste' would be an important part of any growing cycle of any kind. From our digesters we will send the outflow to a constructed wetland area and then into the fishponds- if all goes well. Lots we don't know so if you can 'smooth the flow' it would be very much appreciated. Where can I learn more about your design and how it works? By the way those are by far the most artistic digesters I've ever seen..Congrats- hope you sell a million of them..(Were you able to open the laSenda Ecovillage blog?)

Cheers...Rick

@ Ben: This unit was designed not to use any technology, so no electrical devices of any sort. Solar absorption is used during spring through fall and "hot" compost helps keep production going in winter.

@ Ellen: I'm not sure about fish poo but my car runs on pure moonbeam and takes me to Lala-land in the blink of an eye. There I dream of  poop and all it's uses...hehe...I'd be proud to be called the "poopoo man".

Thanks for the kudos guys..makes my day to be appreciated.

Oh, BTW; this company (Rising Sun) is set up as a non-profit to promote better lifestyles through renewable energy.

Thankyou Carey aka poopoo man!

Is the inside baffled so that effluent has had enough time to finish digesting?  I'm still learning how these work, so please forgive me if I miss something.  Is the effluent thin like water, or thick mud?  Do heavier solids settle for long term cleaning, and if so how often?  I assume that effluent more or less matches input, so  5 gallons in and 5 out?  How much daily input to maintain .3-.6 m3 of biogas?

I found this pic while researching.  Laughed my ass off!

Great design Carey!! Bio gas is high on my project list. I am wanting to use the methane to warm my breeding tank to keep my fish breeding year around.

Jon, I love that pic!!!

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