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Thread: poo power

  1. #1
    LHBA Member StressMan79's Avatar
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    poo power

    how much power (heat) does your septic tank put out? the reason I ask is I am pouring my own septic tank, and building up the walls with cement block...
    so I was thinking, would it be worth it to put Pex in the slab-bottom of the tank (almost 50 sq ft), then run this in a closed loop into the radiant floor system in the house.
    Anyway, if it puts out 3 watts, and I might be able to capture 1 W, this would not be worth it, but if it were more like 100 x that much, I may consider...
    -Peter

  2. #2
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    Poo power...not so much

    Peter,
    I see where you're going but I don't think you would get much heat from your septic tank. The heat generated in, say, a compost pile is due to the aerobic (with oxygen) bacteria digesting the solids. A septic tank is primarily an anaerobic (without oxygen) digester and does not produce much heat. If you're interested in capturing waste heat, and you have a compost pile, here are just a few links that I dug up. There are plenty more if you search for compost heating.
    http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/1981-07-01/DIY-Water-Heating-Compost.aspx
    http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-Homesteading/1980-05-01/Compost-Heat-Experiment.aspx
    http://www.magicsoil.com/Heat/index.htm

  3. #3
    LHBA Member loghousenut's Avatar
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    Hot poo...

    Not only the heat put out but, more importantly, you may want to capture the heat that went into the septic tank in the form of hot water going down the drain....................... OK, I'm just gonna sit back and watch this discussion progress to the point that someone insulates their sewer pipe between the house and the septic tank hahahahahhahahaaaahhhhhh.
    PS, I know it's a serious topic. Go for it Peter.

  4. #4
    LHBA Member Bronco's Avatar
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    poo

    Peter are you going to coat the inside of your tank with something to keep seepage in ?
    Jim

  5. #5
    LHBA Member StressMan79's Avatar
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    seepage

    is not that large of a concern, as solid concrete is a pretty good filter...
    However, I will cast a slab and then build the walls with dry stacked block, then fill a few of the holes with CC +rebar for strength and use Surface Bonding Concrete to "seal" the tank. I may use two coats on the inside.
    Probably more interesting, I will form up a lid on the ground, put bar in it and make some access ports with plastic barrels, and lift this into place with the telehandler.
    I'll document this completely for the community.
    -Peter

  6. #6
    LHBA Member rreidnauer's Avatar
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    LHN, I'm offended!!! :-)

    Quote Originally Posted by loghousenut

    Not only the heat put out but, more importantly, you may want to capture the heat that went into the septic tank in the form of hot water going down the drain....................... OK, I'm just gonna sit back and watch this discussion progress to the point that someone insulates their sewer pipe between the house and the septic tank hahahahahhahahaaaahhhhhh.
    PS, I know it's a serious topic. Go for it Peter.
    How dare you make fun of what I'll will be doing?!?!? (OK, not quite insulating the sewer horizontals, but....) They do make (and I will be using) drain-water heat recovery devices. http://gfxtechnology.com/

  7. #7
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    Energy Down the Drain

    Quote Originally Posted by rreidnauer
    http://gfxtechnology.com/
    Rod,

    I gave that site a cursory glance, but don't see what I'm looking for. How much heat energy is to be recovered, and what it the cost?


    Peter

  8. #8
    LHBA Member rreidnauer's Avatar
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    Depends on which model you

    Depends on which model you go with and flow rates. http://www.gfxtechnology.com/EFF.pdf displays efficiency graphs. http://gfxtechnology.com/contents.html#selection lists prices and other comparison specs.

  9. #9

    Free Energy

    In a conventional field system I can tell you that that area of the yard always was clear of snow first and it had to get down well below freezing before snow would stick in that area. You have hot water from washing, dishwasher, etc as well as the microbes doing their little dance ...

    Thomas Elpel talks about building a Chicken Coop over his Septic tank with a removable cover over one walled off section so he could add chicken waste to the tank. The tank produces a slight positive pressure from the methane produced ...

    The Heat from the process kept the chickens warm, the methane would run a cooking stove?

    Just another example of the inexaustable power of poo ......

  10. #10

    Poo power

    Perry525
    It is important to understand how a septic tank works. The microbes from our gut continue their work in the septic, turning our waste into mainly methane and carbon dioxide gases, and others, this process creates heat. If you take away the heat they create as part of the process, then they slow down the conversion, when they get cold the conversion stops. These microbes prefer a temperature of 95f, to work at maximum efficiency. If you remove part of their heat in your experiment, a greater part of your waste will not be converted to gasses, the septic will fill and your costs will rise, via the emptying process.



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