The present work was carried out to evaluate the swine wastes biogas potential yield, specifically the methane yield. The total solid content in the substratum was 6% composed by the solid waste diluted to water. The wastes was collected by scratching, in swine ending facilities, composed by boxes, in which the walls were constructed of masonry and the floor was constructed of cement. The experimental swines received corn and soybean balanced ration. The waste treatment system, in laboratorial scale, was composed by three batteries with eight digesters each, installed inside of 500 liters asbestos boxes, containing 270 liters of heated water. In each box, an eletric resistance and water pump were installed to mantain the temperature and to mix the heated water. The system was submitted to Hydraulic Retention Times (HRT) of 30, 25, 15 and 10 days and to temperatures (T) of 25, 35 and 40 ºC, with and whithout substratum agitation. It was evaluated, under these conditions, the organic matter degradation process and resultant methane volumetric yield (MP). The largest values of MP were observed in HRT of 10 days, at the temperature of 40 ºC, in the digesters with substratum agitation.
Swine production; anaeroby digestion
