Inventor: Dr. Mahmoud Khaz’l Humadi Ibrahim/Department of chemical engineering, College of engineering, University of Baghdad
Abstract
The idea of this study is to create a new technique of gas or biogas collection for laboratory and industrial purposes, especially in isolated units (ie, those that work in isolation from atmospheric gases); for example the anaerobic fermentation unit in various biological applications. This method allows the collection of gases from chemical reactors or bioreactors with keeping one atoms pressure in the reactor headspace by creating a vacuum pressure followed by hydrostatic pressure. Thus, creating a balance in that area that would prevent dissolution of the gases into the solution in the industrial unit due to hydrostatic pressure. If this method is applied in anaerobic digestion for example, the metabolism in anaerobic bacteria cells will work as in aerobic bacteria cells with their own conditions. The experiments were carried out using three tubes: the first is called (gas collector) with a diameter of 200 mm and a height of 1000 mm to collect gas or biogas from the unit by generating vacuum pressure in the collection tube. This pressure has been thwarted by another pressure equal to the its value but reverse direction by a second pipe is called (injection tube) diameter 6 mm and a height of 900 mm, which relates to the reactor on one hand and the collection tube on the other. This tube is used to create a balanced pressure on both sides. The gas collection tube is also connected by a third-tube is called (Balance tube) with 120 mm diameter and a height of 1000 to obtain atmospheric pressure balance with piping pressure depending on the particular composition of the system as a whole. With this method, all gases were collected with the least amount of absolute pressure in the headspace of the reactor without causing any external leakage or the re-solving of any generated gases by pressure. This system has been tested in methane gas, oxygen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide collection by various biological processes that conducted by us and achieved remarkable results with the stability of biological processes.