Agricultural and Biological Research

Biogas potential from abattoir wastes in different ratios at ambient temperatures: A case of lira municipality of Northern Uganda

Chrish Kavuma*, Isaac Ekwar, Resty Nabaterega, Joseph D. Lwanyaga and Paul Sserumaga

The generation of biodegradable solid waste and wastewaters is characteristic of all abattoirs including the Lira Municipality Abattoir (LMA) in northern Uganda. The wastes discharged from LMA, contain reasonable amounts of paunch manure (fresh rumen contents), cow dung, diluted blood, urine, loose meat as well as leachate. The lack of a properly designed abattoir in Lira municipality needed to manage and handle the waste has resulted in the discharge of the waste into the environment, leading to pollution of water sources, outbreaks of diseases, and production of unfavorable odors. The objective of this study was to investigate the biogas potential of the LMA biodegradable solid wastes in different mix ratios at ambient temperatures. Measurement at the point of generation method was used to quantify the waste. Representative samples were characterized for biogas potential. Four treatments with varying ratios of the different wastes replicated three times were anaerobically digested in 1500 mL batch digesters with a working volume of 1300 mL. On average 2,597 L, 40 kg and 502 kg of wastewater, cow dung and paunch manure respectively were produced from LMA. The treatment combination of 10% cow dung, 70% paunch manure and 20% leachate produced the highest biogas with the shortest lag phase. However, this combination had the least methane content, among all other combinations tested.