Cow Poop Lab Report 

Abstract:

For the second part of our project, our group will be collecting cow manure in two 14 gallon
buckets. These buckets are airtight and allow the manure to produce methane gas in a
contained environment. We will then wire a tube through the lid of the buckets so the gas can
flow out of the container and into a balloon. After the balloon is either at full capacity or the
entire methane production process has concluded we will replace the balloon and record the
rate of production of methane gas. This lab will provide reusable energy in the form of methane
gas that can be used to power facilities on our campus.
Later on, we also decided to run a second experiment. The difference between this one and the
original experiment was the weather in which we ran the testing. For the first week, it was very
overcast and we thought that the temperature outside could have an effect on flow rates. We
compared the first week of overcast to the second week of sunny weather.

Introduction:

For the revision part of this experiment, we will be taking our test to a larger scale. More
manure, more food, and more exposure to the heat. This time around we are hoping to get a
little bit of methane collection. We are still looking for flow rates of methane. We also plan on
developing the theory that adding food to the mixture of manure will allow for the creation of
more methane.

Method:

1) Collect cow manure and insert it into 14-gallon airtight buckets

2) Mix one bucket with high sugar foods and use another bucket as a control for the
experiment
3) Seal buckets
4) Cut holes in the two buckets to allow for a 2-foot long plastic tube to be inserted inside
5) Attach tubing and balloons to the lid
6) Let methane collect in buckets and observe/record the rate of methane

Results:
For our results, the experiment we determined that the average flow rate of methane gas is
around 1.2L/week based off of our experiments. This number helps us with a multitude of
things. We can now determine the amount of methane that we will have at the end of every
week for the propane tank where we store it. Also for the steel wool purifier we know how often
we need to check it and or replace it. The flow rate is the most important piece of information we
need to move on with our construction. It also turns out that temperature does have an effect on
flow rate seeing that with a higher overall temperature we were able to generate a whole
0.2L/week more methane.

Week 1:

Week 2:
Discussion:
From this experiment, we walked away with great data. We were finally able to collect data and
know the flow rates. This data is crucial to help us design or final project. We will know how
much steel wool to use and we will also know how long it will take until we have enough
methane to BBQ, our final goal.