How to Build a Fart Machine - Timstar Laboratory Suppliers · 2 How to Build a Fart Machine (…or ‘Anaerobic Digester’ if you’re currently seeking departmental funding) Stefan

Freddie the Fart Machine is a thing of visual and stinky beauty, as you can see from our video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moQbUQqrHFM. Once he’s up and running, he’ll continue to provide you with joy and methane for as long as you maintain his balance and bacteria. He’s a fantastically visual demonstration of the fact that your body is a busy, beautiful portable chemistry lab. And of course if you’re careful, you can set light to Freddie’s farts. What’s not to love?

The beauty about Freddie is that he’s a project rather than just a demo. Okay, demos are neat, and they make

you look cool (and whether you’re a professor or a parent, there’s a lot to be said for that), but projects like

this offer depth because they’re full of variables, and when you have to engage with those variables, you start

to understand the chemistry and biology at stake on a more vital level. Get the acidity wrong and Freddie dies.

Develop a crust on Freddie, and Freddie begins to poison himself until Freddie dies. Get the feed balance wrong

and … you know the rest.

Building Freddie takes a bit of love and fascination, some DIY and kit. You’ll probably have some of the kit lying

around, and of course you can substitute lots of things, but I really recommend the immersion heater at least

(Freddie really needs to stay at around 37°C).

Once Freddie’s built, he needs a starter culture. I contacted a sewage plant and picked up a container of sludge –

and were surprisingly friendly about it. It’s not the nicest thing to handle, and you want to do it VERY carefully!

I have read about people using cow pats as their starter, but can’t tell how well it’ll work.

1 How to Build a Fart Machine (…or ‘Anaerobic Digester’ if you’re currently seeking departmental funding)

www.timstar.co.ukwww.thegastronaut.com

Stefan Gates(As seen on the BBC)

©Crossplatform TV Ltd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moQbUQqrHFM.





A couple of pointers:

• When you first get Freddie up and running, you’ll be amazed at how much gas he produces. Don’t get too

excited – it seems that a fair amount of the first few ventings are CO2, and not a heck of a lot of methane.

Freddie needs to stabilize and settle down – one of mine worked beautifully after a week, but another

misbehaved and took 3 weeks and a reboot!

• Check pH and heat regularly, vent him and feed him regularly too.

• This is not a complete idiot’s guide to making the machine – we’re assuming you’ve got a bit of skill and

common sense. Some items may need to be substituted or fiddled with to fit.

• You’ll need to write a risk assessment for this so you can get a handle on the issues at stake. Take particular care

to think about hygiene and contamination issues.





The Key Lab Kit NeededProduct Product Code Cat. Page Price

The Key Lab Kit Needed: HE18720 429 £26.98

Powerswitch Power Supply EL06857 86 £90.00

Stackable 4mm Plug Leads (red) EL120610 271 £4.95

Stackable 4mm Plug Leads (black) EL120615 271 £5.14

Ancillary Equipment: LCD Strip AQ00630 105 £0.95

3x 1l Filter Flasks FL07978 337 3x £7.70

3x Rubber Stoppers 2 Hole ST14645/2H 357 3x £3.75

PVC Tubing TU16840 373 2x £0.23

Disposable Syringes SY14820 357 £3.42(10pk)

Red Rubber Tubing TU16760 373 £1.47

Y-Shape Adaptors AD00071 319 £9.31 (5pk)

T-Shape Adaptor AD00051 319 £9.31 (5pk)

Hoffman Clips x3 CL04350 333 2x £5.94 (5pk)

Gas Syringe SY14858 357 £23.98

Retort Base ST116208 353 £5.25

Retort Rod ST116202 353 £2.98

Clamp, Rubber Covered ST14050 352 £5.83

Bosshead ST14038 352 £2.63

Gas Jar GA08525 340 £12.57

Beehive Shelf GA08565 340 £1.84

Pneumatic Trough GA08550 340 £29.94

**(NB double-check that everything you’ve ordered is compatible in case order codes/kit standards change)

TOTAL: £283.24

Additional Requirements• Aquarium: 41 x 21cm (L X W) minimum dimensions

• 1.5L ‘Sludge’ from local sewage treatment plant OR

50% lukewarm water - fresh cow poo solution

• Digestive biscuits, full fat milk and icing sugar

• Balloons

OptionalProduct Product Code Cat. Page Price

Compact Magnetic Stirrer ST110350 90 £3 x £39.98

TOTAL: £119.94

Setup• Assemble your fish tank with LCD thermostat and immersion heater connected to Powerswitch power supply (take

precautions to isolate power supply form the water) and fill the tank with water. Adjust Powerswitch supply to max

voltage of 12V to maintain water temperature of approximately 37°C, and insulate it loosely so you can still get

access to it. For larger Aquaria additional power supplies and immersion heaters may be required.

• Cut 3x 30cm lengths of PVC tubing and insert each one into a separate 2-hole bung. Ensure that when the bung is

placed in 1litre Filter Flask, the tubing almost touches the bottom and at least 5cm is visible from the top of the bung.

These will be the ‘draw tubes’ to remove excess material.

• Cut 3x 10cm lengths of PVC tubing and insert into remaining holes of bungs. Minimise the tubing that is visible inside

the flask after bung is inserted, and leave at least 5cm protruding from the top. These will be the ‘feed tubes’.

• Attach Hoffman clips to all visible tubing protruding from top of bungs (one per tube) and tighten to seal tubes.

• Using the Red Rubber Tubing and Y-Shaped Adapters, connect the outputs of each filter flask together so that they

end in a single length of tubing. At the end of this attach a T-Shaped Adapter that leads into a 20cm length of tubing

and a 60+ cm length of tubing. This is the gas output system.

• Fill Pneumatic Trough with cold water and place next to aquarium then place Beehive Shelf into trough. Have retort

stand with claw and boss set up over beehive shelf to hold inverted Gas Jar filled with water.

• Feed 60+cm length of gas output tubing into Gas Jar so that it ends at the top. Attach Either balloons or (when you’re

ready to demo some methane ignition) a Gas Syringe to remaining 20cm tubing of gas output system.

• When gas is being produced by the system it will displace water in the Gas Tube. Providing the gas output tubing is

above the water level, gas can be drawn off into the Gas Syringe for analysis. Ensure a Hoffman clip is closed at the

syringe output before removing the syringe from the system.

Startup and Maintenance

• Place 500ml of ‘Sludge’ or Cow Poo into each flask and firmly insert bungs. If using additional magnetic stirrers, place

these underneath the aquarium beneath where each flask will sit, and ensure a Stirring Bar is placed into each flask before

sealing. Lower all three flasks into aquarium. These may initially need securing with tape otherwise they’ll tend to float!

• Leave Sludge for 2 days before feeding and Cow Poo for 5 days.

• Mix 20g of icing sugar with 2 finely ground digestive biscuits and dilute with full fat milk until a thick liquid consistency

is achieved. This is the feed and can be made in bulk and stored in the fridge or freezer.

• To feed, add some of the food to the syringe then push and connect it to the feed tube of filter flask bung. Push-

connect empty syringe to draw tube of same filter flask. Open Hoffman clips and insert feed into flask before drawing

off same amount of digestate. Close Hoffman Clips before removing syringes and disposing of digestate.

• After the initial rest period for Poo or Sludge begin feeding gradually, increasing by 5ml per day per flask of Sludge

and by 5ml every 5 days per flask of Cow Poo. Do not exceed 30ml of feed per day and once this is reached split

feeding into two 15ml feeds per day.

• In both cases the rate of gas production will increase. Sludge systems will produce large gas volumes much faster

than Cow Poo Systems. If the rate of gas production appears to drop significantly from one day to the next stop

feeding until gas production increases and begin gradually increasing feeds again. Cow Poo systems may take

several weeks to produce larger gas quantities.

• Bon chance!





Documents

How to Build a Fart Machine - Timstar Laboratory Suppliers · 2 How to Build a Fart Machine (…or ‘Anaerobic Digester’ if you’re currently seeking departmental funding) Stefan