The purpose of this project is to create a sustainable source of energy for small farmers (dairy farms) to enable them to cook the milk or freeze it without requiring any outsider source of energy especially given the situation of the energy in Lebanon. This will allow farmers to have greater leverage in the pricing negotiations since they will be able to store milk for longer periods.

IZRAA’s team conducted several visits to the farm with the biodigester specialist to properly assess the needs and possible designs for the biodigester. The first approach was to utilize the existing manure collection pit but upon further inspection the team opted for excavation of a new pit as the existing one is directly connected to the farms support columns that were showing signs of erosion and the biodigester specialist advised against using the pit as it will need reinforcement and its location will complicate the works needed and will increase the costs. A final design was produced by the biodigester specialist which took into consideration the local terrain, farm layout and number of livestock.

After the completion of the construction works, the biodigester specialist installed the gas tank and all the necessary piping. During the commissioning phase it was noted by the farm owner that feeding the digester with manure through the mixer that was supplied by the consultant was proving cumbersome as he had to fill it multiple times per day due to its small size and suboptimal mixing of the slurry.

This led to the operator having to use high amounts of water in the mix to be able to feed the biodigester which prevented the bacteria from producing gas as expected. To fix the problem IZRAA’s team in cooperation with the farm owner developed a new mixer situated
inside the farm with an increased capacity and easier operation enabling the farmer to use the correct ratio of water and manure to create optimal conditions for bacteria activation inside the digestion chamber.