Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,

I am doing the project, "Decomposing Energy: Extracting Heat Energy from a Compost Pile," and I want to know if I could convert compost heat into usable electricity. I found out the Jean Pain Method and how it uses distilled methane gas to produce electricity. I am wondering if I could apply this to my project and if so how? If there are other ways to produce electricity, I would like to know and how to use it in my experiment.

Thank you

This sounds like a great experiment! I love how you are exploring ways to make it your own!

I did some research, and it seems like you would need to burn the methane in order to generate electricity. Distillation is the process of heating and cooling a liquid in order to purify it. However, methane is not a liquid so I'm not sure how the process would apply here. This website shows you how to make biogas energy from a methane generator: http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and- ... rator.html. However, you definitely need to get approval and probably sign a few more forms BEFORE you do anything. Also, since your project involves electricity, chemistry, and engineering, you would probably get a lot more helpful advise if you posted your questions in the Physical Science category.

Good luck on your project!
Trystan