Effect of addition of certain substances during slurry preparation to optimize biogas production

Biogas from anaerobic digestion of organic substance has become the available replacement for the fossil fuel. This research was carried out to investigate the effect of certain substances added during slurry preparation to enhance biogas formation. The biodigester was locally fabricated using plastic container of 25liter capacity. The slurry was prepared by adding Calcium Sulphate, Chopped plantain leaf, and pretreated substrate. After 15 days of anaerobic fermentation, the slurry with CaSO4 gave more biogas of 0.403kg followed by the pretreated which gave 0.270kg. The one with plantain leaf gave the least biogas. This is as a result of inhibition of enzyme activity by certain chemical substance from the leaf. Also, the amount of Calcium sulphate to be added should not exceed 200g to 1kg of substrate to be used for slurry preparation.