The biogas plant is a combination of digester and gas support, either a single chamber or separate chambers, depending on the design of the plant. There should be an input portion in the digester for the entry of organic matter and an outlet portion to discharge the treated organic materials from the digester. The fermentation process takes place in the portion of the plant's digester. One or several stage digestion facilities have been incorporated with each biogas plant according to the design. The biogas produced will be collected in the gas collector part of the plant.
Many categories of biogas plants have been developed in different models. Biogas plants can be broadly classified according to the application, such as domestic, institutional and commercial. Three categories of biogas plants are available these days. These are batch type, semi-continuous type and continuous type.
Many new models of plants have been developed in different parts of the world to provide an adequate and efficient service to customers. The most popular models are: fixed dome gas manifold, floating dome gas collector, RCC digester with flexible gas manifold, geomembrane digester, tube digester, lagoon digester, etc.
Biogas plants are also available as portable, prefabricated and built on site. Biogas plants can be built using locally available building materials. Different governmental and non-governmental agencies at the regional, national and international levels are actively involved in the promotion of family-size biogas plants to provide clean fuel, organic fertilizer and better sanitation facilities for rural populations. In urban areas, domestic biogas plants can be installed for the effective treatment of organic waste from the kitchen and the garden. The biogas produced through this process can be used to replace LPG.
Many well-known companies are installing industrial biogas plants at an industrial and commercial level in almost all developed countries for the production of biogas. In these plants, the biogas produced is used for the production of electricity and heat. The purified biogas can be used as fuel for moving vehicles and also as fuel for different industrial applications. The treated substrate (organic material) discharged from the biogas plant is being used as an enriched organic fertilizer.
