BAI-developed biogas tech gains acceptance

A biogas technology using pig manure continues to gain acceptance by small swine raisers.

Simply called BAI-TPED or tubular polyethylene digester, the device was developed by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry (DA-BAI).

BAI-TPED is a cheap and simple design made of plastic materials, in contrast to the more expensive and less-adopted concrete-based bio-digester, according to BAI.

The bureau developed the cheaper biogas technology in response to the serious problem of improper disposal of animal wastes in pig production.

"In most farms, animal manure flows and drains freely to open fields, creeks, and rivers, causing pollution to both air and water," it stated.

The TPED was among the commerciable technologies presented at the 2006 Agriculture and Fisheries Technology Forum and Seminar Series organized recently by the DA-Bureau of Agriculture Research (BAR) on the occasion of its 19th anniversary.

BAR, headed by Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar, has been regularly organizing technology forums through its National Technology Commercialization Program (NTCP) where commerciable technologies are introduced to the public. Strongly pushed by DA under Secretary Domingo F. Panganiban, the NTCP disseminates usable information for prospective investors in agricultural enterprises.

BAI explained that the tubular polyethylene digester is a low-cost biogas technology that converts pig waste by fermentation inside a tubular plastic primarily to produce methane for fuel.

The materials used in the technology are locally available (polyethylene, pipes, hoses, hollow blocks, cement, sand, gravel, steel bars, and others).

Six to eight pigs can supply enough manure to produce biogas.

Slurry (sediment) and effluent (water) coming out of the TPED can also be used as fertilizer.

BAI and DA regional field units (RFUs) now have trained technicians who can extend technical assistance and install TPED units to interested farmers. BAI has also published a brochure detailing the "how–to’s" of the technology. – Rudy A. Fernandez