Conversion of Cow Dung to Electricity: Process Analysis and Energy Yield Assessment

This study explores the process of producing biogas from cow dung and further converting it to electrical energy by a step-by-step multi-stage process. A laboratory-scale 1:1 cow dung: water anaerobic digestion system was constructed and operated in mesophilic temperatures (37 ± 2°C) for 60 days. The process yielded biogas with 60% methane (CH₄) and 40% carbon dioxide (CO₂), yielding 0.06 m³ of CH₄ and 0.04 m³ of CO₂ per fed unit of dung. The methane was used to produce electricity through a cascade of processes of conversion processes, whose output produced 0.2088 kWh average per kilogram of input dung. The overall rate of theoretical methane content conversion to electricity was 27.5%, and the system generated 2.43 times the amount of energy used during operation. This study demonstrates the technical feasibility and energy efficiency of small-scale biogas-to-electricity technologies as a clean rural energy supply option, along with resolving agricultural waste management challenges.