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Monitoring of Food Waste Anaerobic Digestion Performance: Conventional Co-Substrates vs. Unmarketable Biochar
Nour El Houda Chaher1,2,3, Abdallah Nassour2, Moktar Hamdi3
1Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, National Engineering School of Gabes, University of Gabes, Gabes 6029, Tunisia.
Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
|October 23, 2021
Summary
Adding agricultural and industrial wastes like wheat straw, cattle manure, and biochar significantly boosts methane yield and stabilizes food waste anaerobic digestion. These cost-effective additives enhance biogas production and improve process efficiency.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Biotechnology
- Waste Management
Background:
- Semi-continuous food waste (FW) anaerobic digestion (AD) requires effective strategies for stable start-up and transitional phases.
- Cost-effective additives from various sectors can potentially enhance AD performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of agricultural waste mixtures (wheat straw and cattle manure) and unmarketable biochar as co-substrates for food waste anaerobic digestion.
- To determine the impact of these additives on methane yield, biogas production, and process stability under different organic loading rates (OLRs).
Main Methods:
- Semi-continuous anaerobic digestion reactors were fed with food waste (FW) alone (control) or co-digested with agricultural waste mixtures (wheat straw and cattle manure) or unmarketable biochar.
- Experiments were conducted under varying organic loading rates (OLRs) from 2 to 4 kg VS/m³·d.
- Methane yield, specific biogas yield (SBY), and process stability were monitored.
Main Results:
- Co-digestion of FW with agricultural waste mixtures (wheat straw and cattle manure) increased methane yield by up to 95% compared to control reactors at OLRs of 2-3 kg VS/m³·d.
- Unmarketable biochar (UBc) amendment significantly enhanced process performance during the transitional phase, especially at an OLR of 4 kg VS/m³·d, increasing specific biogas yield (SBY) by 144% compared to FW reactors with agricultural residue.
- Both agricultural and industrial wastes proved effective in improving FW anaerobic digestion performance and effluent quality.
Conclusions:
- Cost-effective additives, including agricultural waste mixtures and unmarketable biochar, are viable options for enhancing food waste anaerobic digestion.
- The choice of co-substrate and OLR influences the degree of process enhancement, offering flexibility for sustainable organic waste management.
- The study provides technical insights for designing systems to recover value from diverse organic residues through anaerobic digestion.
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