Attribute based specification, comparison and selection of feed stock for anaerobic digestion using MADM approach

Organic wastes are common in nature and generated at different sources which need to be treated before disposing into the environment. Anaerobic digestion (AD) process is a primary technique used for digestion and reduction of the ill effects of disposing the organic waste. Selection of appropriate feed stock for anaerobic digestion among the available options is a primary concern and the process efficiency and stability largely depend on this. The present paper describes a methodology for evaluation, comparison, ranking and optimum selection of a feed stock for anaerobic digestion. A 30 attribute coding scheme is proposed to evaluate the existing alternatives for feed stock of anaerobic digester. A three stage procedure which includes the elimination search is proposed to evaluate the available alternatives with the help of attributes quickly. Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is a Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) approach and graphical methods namely line graph and spider diagrams are used for optimum selection of feed stock among the available options. MATLAB code is written to execute the three stage procedure. The proposed methodology is explained through an illustrated example.