The ARTI Compact Biogas Plant

The ARTI Compact Biogas Plant

The ARTI household digester in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Left) and a similar model from BIOTECH. Source: VOEGELI & LOHRI (2009) and HEEB (2009)

ARTI stands for Appropriate Rural Technology Institute, which has developed the ARTI compact biogas plant in 2003 for the treatment of organic waste at the household level (1 to 2 Kg of food waste per day). The plant is sufficiently compact to be used also by urban households. Approximately 2000 such plants are currently in use in Maharashtra, India, in both urban and rural households (WRAPAI 2009). In Africa, only few ARTI biogas plants have been installed so far (Tanzania, VOEGELI & LOHRI 2009; VOEGELI et al. 2009).

ARTI compact biogas plants are based on a simple and low-cost floating-drum design applying a wet digestion process. The plants are made from conventional polythene water tanks (two tanks, with volumes of typically 0.75 m3and 1 m3, MUELLER 2007) and standard plumber piping. The smaller tank is the gasholder and is inverted over the larger one, which holds the mixture of decomposing feedstock and water (LOHRI 2009). An inlet is provided for adding feedstock, and an overflow for removing the digested residue. The overflow liquid can be mixed with the feedstock and recycled back into the plant to maintain optimal moisture condition for a wet digestion process (MUELLER 2007). A pipe takes the biogas to a collection balloon or directly to the kitchen.