Hydrogen Sulfide Removing Kit for Pig Farms, a Solution to Machine Corrosion

Juntima Chungsiriporn, Ph.D. and a team of researchers from the Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University have invented a Hydrogen Sulfide Removing Kit to remove hydrogen sulfide from biogas produced in pig farms so its concentration is low and will not cause corrosion in pig farming equipment when used as alternative fuel. A ferric iron catalyst prepared by the sol-gel technique is used to coat thinly on ceramic materials, making the invention different from others. The process consists of an absorption tower that removes hydrogen sulfide from biogas via absorbing liquid. The catalyst produced was installed in a tower to accelerate the removal of hydrogen sulfide and the water is reused in the absorption tower continuously.

The catalyst is stable and can be revived with oxygen in the air making the system highly efficient with low processing costs and helps maximize the use of biogas produced from pig manure as alternative energy.

This hydrogen sulfide removing kit will encourage pig farm owners to produce biogas to use as alternative energy for various types of work in the farm such as spraying water in cleaning the stable, lighting, running the feed-mixing machine, warming piglets, etc. The surplus biogas can also be distributed to households nearby to use for cooking. The leftover from fermentation can be used as organic fertilizers, and thus reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and eventually the cost in plant growing.

The kit was awarded third prize from the 2009 Project to Hold Scientific and Technological Inventions Contest organized by Ministry of Science and Technology and Bangkok Bank Foundation.