Res. Agr. Eng., 2026, 72(1):70-79 | DOI: 10.17221/104/2025-RAE

The effects of temperature on biogas production rate and purityOriginal Paper

Romeica Noe Rimorin, Christian Mark Felix, Roger Jay Lamadrid De Vela ORCID...
1 Camarines Norte State College, Camarines Norte, Philippines

This study investigated the effects of temperature on the performance of anaerobic digesters for biogas production. Digesters were filled with a 1 : 1 ratio of substrate to water, containing 15 kg of cow dung and 3 kg of crop waste, and maintained at temperatures of 50 ± 2 °C and 30 ± 2 °C, corresponding to the thermophilic and mesophilic biodigesters, respectively. The experiments run for 75 days, and biogas production rate and purity were measured. The thermophilic digester produced 48.4% more biogas and had a slightly higher pH (7.65) than did the mesophilic digester (7.37) by the end of the observation period. However, gas chromatography revealed that the CH4 and CO2 contents did not significantly differ between the two treatments. The CH4 concentration in the mesophilic environment was 42 ± 10%, whereas that in the thermophilic environment was 53.5 ± 10%. The CO2 composition was 32.5 ± 1% and 35.5 ± 1% for the mesophilic and thermophilic setups, respectively. These were supported by the wavelength (460 nm to 620 nm) of the flame colour, indicating that the biogas from both setups is predominantly composed of methane. In conclusion, thermophilic anaerobic digesters may have a relatively high biogas production rate, but the biogas purity is not significantly different from that of mesophilic digesters.

Keywords: anaerobic digester; biomethane; methane; mesophilic; thermophilic

Received: July 7, 2025; Accepted: December 16, 2025; Prepublished online: March 16, 2026; Published: March 19, 2026  Show citation

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Rimorin RN, Felix CM, De Vela RJL. The effects of temperature on biogas production rate and purity. Research in Agricultural Engineering. 2026;72(1):70-79. doi: 10.17221/104/2025-RAE.
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