Effects of Fermentation Time and Additional Volume of Water in Biogas Production Process

Abstract

Water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) is one type of crop or weeds that normally live in the water, floating in the water, and develop shallow roots in the mud. This plant can grow exponentially, giving rise to many problems. Water hyacinth biogas has the potential to be made because it has C/N ratio of 25. Biogas is an alternative energy that is obtained from the fermentation of organic matter by anaerobic bacteria assistance so as to produce a mixture of methane (50-75%), carbon dioxide (25-45%), and some hydrogen, nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide. In this study the materials used are water hyacinth and water. This study aims to determine the effect of the fermentation time and the additional volume of water in biogas production. Result of research shows that the highest biogas is obtained at volume ratio of 1:3 (water hyacinth to water) within 5 weeks of fermentation as much as 44.562 mL. It can be concluded that adding more volume of water will increase the biogas produced.