Leite S., Leite B., Figueiredo M., Dell Isola A., Dangelo J., 2018, Biogas Production on a Small Swine Farm: Study of Prediction Using Different Models, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 65, 85-90.
The use of the biodigestion is considered promising for the energetic valorisation of the sewage produced in swine farms. It is necessary to provide farmers with technical information that encourages the adoption of this technology and gives adequate and accessible data for the implantation of biodigesters. There are some calculators developed in European countries and in the United States that use simple inputs such as the type of the farming, the manure generation (dry solids content), the animal waste (animal.kg/day) and the technology used for the biodigester. These calculators also give relevant outputs such as biogas and energy production. In Brazil, this kind of calculator is not diffused and the information of biogas and energy production are often provided from government agencies. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the prediction of biogas using this accessible information to swine farmers (relation between the quantity of pigs or waste produced and the potential of biogas production), the main objective of this work was to compare these results with models based on physical chemical parameters measured in the swine sewage (Volatile Solids and Chemical Oxygen Demand) and also compare it with the biogas produced in a lab-scale biodigester. Results showed the models based on physical chemical parameters and the model based on quantity of growing pigs were coherent with results provided by lab-scale biodigesters. Models based on the quantity of farrowing pigs and the estimation of manure produced by the animals in the farm presented results without compatibility with all the others.
