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Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste with Unconventional Co-Substrates for Stable Biogas Production at High Organic Loading Rates

Author

Listed:
  • Swati Hegde

    (The Water Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19147, USA)

  • Thomas A. Trabold

    (Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY 14623, USA)

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is widely considered a more sustainable food waste management method than conventional technologies, such as landfilling and incineration. To improve economic performance while maintaining AD system stability at commercial scale, food waste is often co-digested with animal manure, but there is increasing interest in food waste-only digestion. We investigated the stability of anaerobic digestion with mixed cafeteria food waste (CFW) as the main substrate, combined in a semi-continuous mode with acid whey, waste bread, waste energy drinks, and soiled paper napkins as co-substrates. During digestion of CFW without any co-substrates, the maximum specific methane yield (SMY) was 363 mL gVS −1 d −1 at organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.8 gVSL −1 d −1 , and reactor failure occurred at OLR of 3.5 gVSL −1 d −1 . Co-substrates of acid whey, waste energy drinks, and waste bread resulted in maximum SMY of 455, 453, and 479 mL gVS −1 d −1 , respectively, and it was possible to achieve stable digestion at OLR as high as 4.4 gVSL −1 d −1 . These results offer a potential approach to high organic loading rate digestion of food waste without using animal manure. Process optimization for the use of unconventional co-substrates may help enable deployment of anaerobic digesters for food waste management in urban and institutional applications and enable increased diversion of food waste from landfills in heavily populated regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Swati Hegde & Thomas A. Trabold, 2019. "Anaerobic Digestion of Food Waste with Unconventional Co-Substrates for Stable Biogas Production at High Organic Loading Rates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:14:p:3875-:d:248977
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Constantin Stan & Gerardo Collaguazo & Constantin Streche & Tiberiu Apostol & Diana Mariana Cocarta, 2018. "Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Co-Digestion of the OFMSW: Improving Biogas Production and Startup," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
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    1. Xuemei Wang & Shikun Cheng & Zifu Li & Yu Men & Jiajun Wu, 2020. "Impacts of Cellulase and Amylase on Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Methane Production in the Anaerobic Digestion of Corn Straw," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-12, July.
    2. Zohaib Ur Rehman Afridi & Wu Jing & Hassan Younas, 2019. "Biogas Production and Fundamental Mass Transfer Mechanism in Anaerobic Granular Sludge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-15, August.
    3. Notodarmojo, Peni Astrini & Fujiwara, Takeshi & Habuer, & Pham Van, Dinh, 2022. "Effectiveness of oyster shell as alkali additive for two-stage anaerobic co-digestion: Carbon flow analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    4. He Song & Yue Zhang & Sigrid Kusch-Brandt & Charles J. Banks, 2020. "Comparison of Variable and Constant Loading for Mesophilic Food Waste Digestion in a Long-Term Experiment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, March.
    5. Karel Diéguez-Santana & Liliana B. Sarduy-Pereira & Neyfe Sablón-Cossío & Horacio Bautista-Santos & Fabiola Sánchez-Galván & Sebastiana del Monserrate Ruíz Cedeño, 2022. "Evaluation of the Circular Economy in a Pitahaya Agri-Food Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Bedoić, Robert & Špehar, Ana & Puljko, Josip & Čuček, Lidija & Ćosić, Boris & Pukšec, Tomislav & Duić, Neven, 2020. "Opportunities and challenges: Experimental and kinetic analysis of anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and rendering industry streams for biogas production," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    7. Faraz Sufyan & Mehmood Ali & Sadia Khan & Nazia Hossain, 2023. "Biohythane Production from Domestic Wastewater Sludge and Cow Dung Mixture Using Two-Step Anaerobic Fermentation Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-12, October.

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