Modelling the Cumulative Biogas Produced from Sawdust, Cow dung and Water Hyacinth

Abstract

This research was carried out to model cumulative Biogas produced from sawdust cow dung and water hyacinth as an alternative means of sawdust disposa. The model was done using statistical tools via determination of coefficients of regression for the following digester setups which were made up A, B, C, D, E, F, and G with varying sawdust concentrations but with a constant concentration of cow dung and water hyacinth. The linear, exponential and polynomial models were tested with the obtained data, and the results obtained for each of the digesters showed that polynomial model best fitted the cumulative biogas production at any given day with R2 values of 0.9904, 0.9962, 0.9981, 0.987, 0.9938, 0.9882 and 0.9857 respectively while linear models came second best with R2 = 0.9889, 0.996, 0.998, 0.9851, 0.9934, 0.9836 and 0.9836 respectively for Digester A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Therefore, for accurate prediction of cumulative production of biogas at any given day, it can be recommended that polynomial models be applied.