Food waste holds one of the highest biogas potential among different organic substrates as it contains high amount of carbon and can be efficiently converted into biogas and organic fertilizer. Food waste can either be utilized as a single substrate in a biogas plant, or can be co-digested with organic wastes like cow manure, poultry litter, sewage, crop residues, abattoir wastes etc.
Biogas from Food Wastes
Feedstock for the food waste-to-biogas plant includes leftover food, vegetable refuse, stale cooked and uncooked food, meat, teabags, napkins, extracted tea powder, milk products etc. Raw waste is shredded to reduce to its particle size to less than 12 mm. The primary aim of shredding is to produce a uniform feed and reduce plant “down-time” due to pipe blockages by large food particles. It also improves mechanical action and digestibility and enables easy removal of any plastic bags or cling-film from waste.
Fresh waste and re-circulated digestate (or digested food waste) are mixed in a mixing tank. The digestate is added to adjust the solids content of the incoming waste stream from 20 – 25 percent (in the incoming waste) to the desired solids content of the waste stream entering the digestion system (10 to 12 percent total solids). The homogenized waste stream is pumped into the feeding tank, from which the anaerobic digestion system is continuously fed. Feeding tank also acts as a pre-digester and subjected to heat at 55-600C to eliminate pathogens and to facilitate the growth of thermophilic microbes for faster degradation of waste.
From the predigestor tank, the slurry enters the main digester where it undergoes anaerobic degradation by a consortium of Archaebacteria belonging to Methanococcus group. The anaerobic digester is a CSTR reactor having average retention time of 15 – 20 days. The digester is operated in the mesophilic temperature range (33 – 38°C), with heating carried out within the digester. Food waste is highly biodegradable and has much higher volatile solids destruction rate (86-90%) than biosolids or livestock manure. As per conservative estimates, each ton of food waste produces 150 – 200 m3 of biogas, depending on reactor design, process conditions, waste composition etc.
Biogas contain significant amount of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas which needs to be stripped off due to its corrosive nature. The removal of H2S takes place in a biological desulphurization unit in which a limited quantity of air is added to biogas in the presence of specialized aerobic bacteria which oxidizes H2S into elemental sulfur.
Product Streams
The biogas produced as a result of anaerobic digestion of waste is sent to a gas holder for temporary storage. Biogas is eventually utilized in a combined heat and power (CHP) unit for its conversion into thermal and electrical energy in a cogeneration power station of suitable capacity. The exhaust gases from the CHP unit are used for meeting process heat requirements. Biogas can also be used run vehicles after its upgradation, as practiced in several European countries.
The digested substrate leaving the reactor is rich in nutrients like nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus which are beneficial for plants as well as soil. The digested slurry is dewatered in a series of screw presses to remove the moisture from slurry. Solar drying and additives are used to enhance the market value and handling characteristics of the fertilizer.
Conclusion
Anaerobic digestion is the most important method for the treatment of food waste because of its techno-economic viability and environmental sustainability. The use of anaerobic digestion technology generates biogas and preserves the nutrients which are recycled back to the agricultural land in the form of slurry or solid fertilizer. A biogas plant is a decentralized energy system, which can lead to self-sufficiency in heat and power needs, and at the same time reduces environmental pollution. Thus, anaerobic digestion of food waste can lead to climate change mitigation, economic benefits and landfill diversion opportunities.
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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Originally posted 2015-09-16 10:34:31. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
ASM! congratulations for this article.
How r u these days?
Hello , I’m Mohamed from Egypt.
I am new business man in Biogas filed , so i would like to know about some point as follows :
kindly send to me specification about portable bio-gas unit and price list
my email : eng_moh02010@yahoo.com
with best regard
Mohamed