Experiments with Methane

In my youth, I lived on a small farm in Loxahatchee, Florida. My Mother came to the US from Finland. She raised cows, pigs, and chickens just like when she was young on her parent's farm. I heard that cows are responsible for a significant amount of methane in our air. I noticed that they generated a lot of manure. So, I decided to experiment with methane generation. I used an old propane tank. I mixed the fresh manure with water and poured it into the tank using a funnel. Once it was about 80 percent filled up, I attached a water hose valve on the top. After several days, I opened the valve an lit the gas coming out of it to see that it would burn. I also tried running our gasoline powered lawnmower on methane, and successfully mowed the grass around the tank using a long pipe that I adapted into the lawnmower's gas cap. I was surprised how easily the mower would run on only methane.

I expanded my cow poop system by using an old steel 35 or 50 gallon drum. This system worked well except after some time, I noticed that the drum was starting to swell and looked like a soda can that was left in the freezer. Fearing an explosion of manure, I decided to open the valve, but no gas came out. Seemed that the manure had filled up the pipe and hardened. The methane was forming inside the middle of the tank. I then proceeded to open the 2 inch metal plug on the top using large metal scissors to turn the plug. I was surprised by the result. I can still remember the event. It seemed to happen in slow motion. I recall the metal scissors flying out of my hands. This twenty foot cylinder of poop reaching into the sky. A part of the poop struck a pipe nearby, and splattered small amounts of manure all over me. Then, for the longest time the long turd seemed to stall in the air, and suddenly come down to the ground. Later, my Mother said (jokingly) that she was worried about a cow with bad diarrhea, finding the long line of manure on the ground.