using a compost pile for heating . And making methane gas Anybody done it ?

[MossRoad]

The methane is going to be from table scraps , held in some inner tubes , then hooked to a old coleman stove to show the boys its possible .

Sounds like hold my beer and watch this....

ESD Journal - The ESD and Electrostatics Magazine

In all seriousness, be careful.

 

[BukitCase]

Sorry, I missed your comment about doing the methane inside inner tubes - that should qualify for anaerobic and using heat from composting for a catalyst...

In that case (along with Mossroad's warning) I'm assuming you also know about Hydrogen Sulfide :thumbdown: being another byproduct... Steve

 

[hslogger]

A buddyamine is a certified arborist and soils scientist. He is a bright guy. He has a mountain of wood chips, chips accumulated over decades. Fifteen years ago he got the idea to lay down many lengths of six inch heavy wall pvc. He put caps and reducers on each end that connect to hose thread. Then he moved a good deal of the pile over it. This provides him with enough hot water to wash many vehicles any time of the year in western oregon. The water comes out HOT. If you have a continued supply of compostable material, you can heat anything.

 

[Sprinklerman]

I can get all the free tree chips I want , I am going to get some horse manure , grass and leaves . My wife isnt too happy about it in the back yard , but the boys think the idea is cool , and want to work on it .

 

[brown40]

I'm working on a similar project, minus the methane, so I'll be interested in your results. I think a key to success will be managing the culture in the pile to keep it kicking, without drawing off to much heat. It can supplement at the least--if you compost anyway, its free heat to some extent, and a great lesson on the carbon cycle for kids.

 

[FlintMich]

A couple years back a local group of young college science nerds (ie geniuses) conducted a series of tests to heat water using active compost piles. They had a big coil of black pipe inside of a couple of really big compost piles and they used the water to take showers for a period of time. I don't remember the numbers, such as temperatures or length of showers - or any such details, but I do remember being pretty impressed with their findings.
I also remember them discovering that heavy water usage actually drained the compost piles of the needed heat to remain active and at one point they actually killed (or cooled) one of the piles by drawing too much heat from the center of the pile. I remember it being a really interesting read in the local paper. I was pretty impressed with these local young scientists. Unfortunately I don't recall methane being mentioned in these tests though.
Best of luck on your experiment. Keep us posted.

 

[davesl708]

G1881 Generating Methane Gas From Manure | University of Missouri Extension

Here is a interesting link to methane production from the University of Missouri.

 

[Sprinklerman]

Got my mile up and watered , 4 yards of horse manure , 20 yards of tree chips , putting out 120 degree water at 1 gallon per minute after 1 week

 

[TractorGuy]

Saw a documentary on PBS years ago and they showed some guys in a furrin land using a tarp over a pile of manure to power a water pump. It was a funky old single cylinder engine they started by hand. They grabbed the big flywheel and gave it a turn and it belched and smoked and started running and pumping water from a well.

Apparently some folks have wells that produce methane too.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...1Ob4bOTzlXZj8Ubml8TQGQ&bvm=bv.106923889,d.cGc

 

[Rustyiron]

https://energymd.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/heat-free-nearly-with-a-compost-furnace/