Design of a Biogas-Powered Electric Generator for Rural Households in Plateau State

This project designs a biogas-powered electric generator system for rural households in Plateau State, North Central Nigeria, leveraging agricultural and livestock waste to produce clean cooking and electricity energy. Plateau State's predominantly agrarian economy generates substantial quantities of organic waste from crop residues and animal husbandry, which currently pose environmental management challenges but hold significant energy potential when anaerobically digested. The system integrates a fixed-dome anaerobic digester sized for a five-household cluster, a biogas purification unit using a water scrubbing technique to remove hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide, and a converted single-cylinder petrol generator adapted for dual-fuel biogas operation. The generator produces a rated output of 1.5kW at 220V, 50Hz. The digester design is based on material balance calculations using cattle dung and kitchen waste input streams representative of a typical Plateau State rural household. Hydraulic retention time was set at 30 days with an operating temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, achievable without active heating in Plateau State's moderate climate. System modelling indicates a daily biogas yield sufficient to power the generator for approximately four hours and supply cooking fuel for three households. A laboratory-scale prototype digester was constructed and operated for ten weeks, confirming predicted gas production rates within a 12 percent margin. Electrical output testing confirmed stable generator performance on biogas fuel. The project recommends community cooperative management structures to sustain multi-household digester installations. Keywords: biogas, rural electrification, anaerobic digester, generator conversion, Plateau State.