Optimization of methane production from solid tuna waste: Thermal pretreatment and co-digestion

Fish canning industries generate large amounts of solid waste during their processing operations, creating a significant environmental challenge. Nonetheless, this waste can be efficiently and sustainably treated through anaerobic digestion. In this study, the potential of biogas production from anaerobic digestion of thermally pretreated and co-digested solid tuna waste was investigated. The thermal pretreatment of raw fish viscera resulted in a 50 % increase in methane yield, with a production of 0.27 g COD-CH₄/g COD added. However, this pretreatment did not lead to a significant increase in biogas production for cooked tuna viscera. When non-thermally pretreated raw viscera was tested, a large accumulation of volatile fatty acids and long chain fatty acids was observed, with levels reaching 21 and 6 g COD/L, respectively. On the other hand, anaerobic co-digestion of cooked tuna viscera with fat waste significantly enhanced methane production, achieving 0.87 g COD-CH₄/g COD added. In contrast, co-digestion of cooked tuna viscera with dairy waste and sewage sludge resulted in notably lower yields of 0.36 and 0.46 g COD-CH₄/g COD added, respectively. These results may be related to the C/N ratio, which was found to be within the optimal range for anaerobic digestion only in the tuna and fat waste co-digestion assay.