Short project introduction

Invitation to join research project on biogas in Lembang:

A cooperation between YPBB, PESAT and Uppsala Technical University, Sweden.

With over 5000 dairy farmers and around 15000 cows in and around Lembang, the large amount of cow manure produced is a major sanitary and waste issue. At the same time it is also a largely underused resource. With increasing prices of fossil fuel based cooking fuels and chemical fertilizers, simple and cheap biogas technology can supply both a sustainable cooking fuel and high quality organic fertilizer.

The amount of cow manure produced from one dairy cow is enough to fulfil the cooking needs of one family. A number of family-sized biogas systems have been installed in villages around Lembang. Since most dairy farmers own more than one cow and hence have more than enough cow manure for their own cooking needs, a multi-family system that can provide biogas for up to four families is being developed.

A research project to develop and improve the design of small-scale polyethylene biogas systems has been initiated in the village of Wangunharja. A number of experimental biodigesters have been constructed and measurements will commence shortly. A prototype for the multi-family system is also being constructed and will provide useful information for the installation of the first multi-family system (preliminary installation date in March).

The project will give you a chance to gain practical experience in conducting field research for biogas technology. Daily measurements will be conducted during the coming weeks on the experimental digesters. Gas production, gas pressure, gas quality (methane content), fertilizer quality of the effluent and air temperature are some of the parameters that will be measured in the field. Instruments for the field measurements of these parameters are provided and in some cases have been built. The work entails conducting structured measurements and data collection in cooperation with local technicians, YPBB staff and an engineering student from Sweden - doing his masters thesis on biogas here in Lembang. Communication skills in English are an advantage and can be useful for translation purposes. Assistance in constructing and conducting experiments on the multi-family system prototype will also be needed.