Can you power a small generator with fart power?

[Achilles]

I am wondering if multiple farts from a person who has eaten a lot of baked beans can run maybe a small sized generator. The wind force will be used to turn a turbine which in turn turns the coil through a magnetic field. This should be able to power a small generator right, like a hand sized generator. 

[J.C.MacSwell]

5 minutes ago, Achilles said:

I am wondering if multiple farts from a person who has eaten a lot of baked beans can run maybe a small sized generator. The wind force will be used to turn a turbine which in turn turns the coil through a magnetic field. This should be able to power a small generator right, like a hand sized generator. 

You would get more energy from combusting the farts.

[Frank]

So first off, it's probably the WORST way to power your cell phone.  But...

Cows do produce a significant amount of methane: Cows wear BACKPACKS to capture methane emissions | Daily Mail Online:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2606956/Now-THATS-wind-power-Cows-wear-BACKPACKS-capture-emissions-miniature-power-stations.html

So instead of a cumbersome backpack, a small accumulator, generator and battery combo could harvest this energy.  When the cows come in for milking, they can help power the farm!  It also reduces GHG by converting methane to CO2 and offsetting some power generation emissions.

[Achilles]

Very nice.

[John Cuthber]

Harumph!

According the Daily Fail article "

• Scientists have developed ‘fartpacks’ that extract 300 litres of methane
• The methane is then coverted into enough energy to run a car for 24 hours"
•  

Well, you might be able to run the clock or even the stereo (quitely)  for 24 hrs.

Also, that image shows a cow  hooked up to measure burps , rather than farts.
https://inhabitat.com/spiffy-backpack-traps-bovine-gas/

Edited August 22, 2018 by John Cuthber

[studiot]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_lighting

[Frank]

18 minutes ago, John Cuthber said:

Harumph!

According the Daily Fail article "

• Scientists have developed ‘fartpacks’ that extract 300 litres of methane
• The methane is then coverted into enough energy to run a car for 24 hours"
•  

Well, you might be able to run the clock or even the stereo (quitely)  for 24 hrs.

Yeah, I think they confused litres of methane with either CNG or LNG...  

Don't feel like doing the math, but 900l methane/day is 900l * 0.641g/l=576.9g  : Calculate the density of methane gas, CH4, in grams per liter, at 25.0C and 0.978 atm.? | Yahoo Answers:  https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110224194358AAkQ5Ug

energy density is ~52 MJ/kg, so 30 MJ/day ; Energy Density of Methane - The Physics Factbook:  https://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/BillyWan.shtml

0.4 MJ per kilometer, so 75 km assuming 100% conversion, probably closer to 20 km, certainly not all day,  also 8 kWh/day according to google 100% conversion.  Didn't verify the sources.

 

Tesla ref. 0.4 MJ per kilometer: The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me) | Tesla UK:  https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/blog/secret-tesla-motors-master-plan-just-between-you-and-me?redirect=no

 

Edited August 22, 2018 by Frank