Original articleAn experimental approach to produce biogas from semi dried banana leaves

The fallen semi dried banana leaves is selected for biogas production because of its energy potential and availability as agro waste materials in different countries. In this study methane content in the produced biogas from semi dried banana leaves is tested taking different sample quantities(25 g, 50 g, 75 g) and size(2 mm, 6 mm) of leaves. Small amount of urea (2% of biomass w/v) is added to the sludge solution (500 ml) to improve the bacterial activity in the anaerobic digestion process. The results indicate that with the decrease in sample size from 6 mm to 2 mm the methane production is increased. Maximum methane yield is found to be 65.28% in the produced biogas with a calorific value of 23.61 MJ N m−3 for 50 g sample of 2 mm size using same amount of urea and sludge solution.