Technical Feasibility Study of Biogas Production from Biodegradable Municipal Solid Waste in Abidjan: Case Study of Households in Yopougon

Abstract

Despite all the efforts made in the management of household waste in Abidjan, uncontrolled deposits are increasing in the streets of the city. The most vulnerable areas are those with a low-income population. It is in this that the study will look at a rural style zone located in the municipality of Yopougon along the Ebrié lagoon called BEAGO. The village habitat consists of group of several households among which the study focused on a concession composed of 22 households. The survey carried out in the area revealed a daily production of 108.8 kg of household waste for all the targeted zone of which 63.03 kg constitutes on average the organic fraction intended for the production of biogas. The production of biogas takes place through the so-called anaerobic digestion process (absence of oxygen) which results into a mixture of gases contained in the biogas, the most important are methane and carbon dioxide. In the case of the study area, the use of basic equations made it possible to estimate the daily biogas potential of organic waste to be collected at 10.88 m3 taking into account the physicochemical characteristics of the waste used as the humidity, the volatile solids and solid fixed, density also. This biogas potential will produce an energy of 65.26 kWh per day that could be converted into electricity or for cooking in the households concerned. To contain, the quantity of substrate available over a period of hydraulic retention time estimated at 30 days, it requires a reactor with a capacity of 9.80 m3 surmounted by a floating gas tank of capacity 6.53 m3 using the principle of KVIC (2007) depending on the technology chosen. Also the energy produced will allow to retain the use of 101.05 kg for all the concession is 4.56 kg per household. Finally, the use of bio waste produced in the households of this small community results in the safeguard of the environment with a CO2 emission of 6.78 tons per year, knowing that the first environmental advantage comes from the use of the methane contained in the organic waste when discharged to open surfaces thus become a potent greenhouse gas harmful to the environment and the sharp reduction of wood for cooking will significantly reduce the risk of diseases especially lung.