title: Integrated biological treatment and biogas production in a small-scale slaughterhouse in rural Ghana.
abstract: A small-scale anaerobic slaughter waste treatment plant in rural Ghana was tested for the production of energy and a microbiologically clean effluent suitable for use in irrigation. A typical day's slaughter, comprising 4 cattle, 12 sheep, and 12 goats, produced 8.5 m3 of biogas. Annually, this is equivalent to the energy from 17 metric tons of fuel wood, which is the annual productivity of 2 ha of savanna vegetation. Fecal indicator bacteria were reduced by 2 to 3 logs, nitrates by 86 to 90%, phosphates by 23%, biochemical oxygen demand by 42 to 92%, and suspended solids and dissolved solids by 73 to 86% and 19 to 37%, respectively. The effluent is used for irrigation, and the organic biomass from the digester is used as a biofertilizer. Besides energy and a cleaner effluent, the community benefited from a lessening dependency on fuel wood and reductions in unpleasant smells and nuisance animals, such as flies, dogs, and vultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Engineering, School of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Aklaku
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Obiri-Danso
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000383:Agriculture; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D000818:Animals; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000032:analysis; D002417:Cattle; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005308:Fertilizers; D005869:Ghana; D006041:Goats; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis; D009566:Nitrates / Q000032:analysis; D010710:Phosphates / Q000032:analysis; D012756:Sheep; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D009566:Nitrates; D010710:Phosphates; D014873:Water Pollutants; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D008697:Methane