Co-digestion of source segregated domestic food waste to improve process stability

Low-carbon emitting university campus achieved via anaerobic digestion of canteen food wastes

University campuses of China accommodate over 30 million students and consume a large amount of fossil fuel energy, leading to high carbon emission. Implementation of bioenergy (e.g. biomethane) is one of promising ways to mitigate emission and foster low-carbon emitting campus. Biomethane potential from anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste (FW) in 2344 universities of 353 cities of mainland China have been estimated herein. Results have shown that 1.74 million tons of FW are discharged from campus canteens annually, that can generate 195.8 million m³ biomethane and reduce 0.77 million ton CO₂-eq. Wuhan, Zhengzhou, and Guangzhou are the top three cities having the most biomethane potential from campus FW, accounting up to 8.92, 7.89, and 7.28 million m³ year^-1, respectively. Technical challenges and solutions have been summarized and discussed such as FW purity, accumulation of ammonia and fatty acid, foaming, and plant site selection. Low-carbon campuses are supposed to be achieved by using bioenergy, like biomethane, in appropriate ways after resolving technical and management challenges.

Inhibitory mechanisms on dry anaerobic digestion: Ammonia, hydrogen and propionic acid relationship

Inhibitory pathways in dry anaerobic digestion are still understudied and current knowledge on wet processes cannot be easily transferred. This study forced instability in pilot-scale digesters by operating at short retention times (40 and 33 days) in order to understand inhibition pathways over long term operation (145 days). The first sign of inhibition at elevated total ammonia concentrations (8 g/l) was a headspace hydrogen level over the thermodynamic limit for propionic degradation, causing propionic accumulation. The combined inhibitory effect of propionic and ammonia accumulation resulted in further increased hydrogen partial pressures and n-butyric accumulation. The relative abundance of Methanosarcina increased while that of Methanoculleus decreased as digestion deteriorated. It was hypothesized that high ammonia, total solids and organic loading rate inhibited syntrophic acetate oxidisers, increasing their doubling time and resulting in its wash out, which in turn inhibited hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis and shifted the predominant methanogenic pathway towards acetoclastic methanogenesis at free ammonia over 1.5 g/l. C/N increases to 25 and 29 reduced inhibitors accumulation but did not avoid inhibition or the washout of syntrophic acetate oxidising bacteria.

Enhancing anaerobic co-digestion of primary settled-nightsoil sludge and food waste for phosphorus extraction and biogas production: effect of operating parameters and determining phosphorus transformation

The study aimed to comprehensively determine P extraction efficiency and co-digestion of food waste (FW) and primary settled-nightsoil sludge (PSNS) process performance influenced by different hydraulic retention times (4, 7, 10, and 15 days) and mixture ratios of FW:PSNS in substrates (100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100). P-transformation was evaluated to identify P fractionation in both supernatant and sludge accumulated in reactors. The results showed that anaerobic co-digestion was inhibited by the accumulation of undigested feedstock due to higher %PSNS found in AD4 (25FW:75PSNS) and AD5 (100PSNS). A more stable process was found in AD2 (75FW:25PSNS) under hydraulic retention time (HRT) 15 days in which COD removal efficiency and P release were 97.2 and 80.2%, respectively. This recommended condition allowed a high organic loading rate (OLR) at 12 gVS/L/day resulting in the highest biogas yield of 0.93 L/L/day. Distribution of P data demonstrated that most of P in feedstock was deposited and accumulated in sediment up to 97.8%. Poor biodegradability resulting from using shortened HRT led to high increased P-solid content in effluent. In addition, available P in effluents and accumulated P-solids in sediment obtained from the AcoD process has the potential to serve as sources for P recovery.

Impacts of food waste to sludge ratios on microbial dynamics and functional traits in thermophilic digesters

A self-stabilizing microbial community lays the foundation of the efficient biochemical reactions of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. Despite extensive profiling of microbial community dynamics under varying operating parameters, the effects of food waste (FW) to feeding sewage sludge (FSS) ratios on the microbial assembly, functional traits, and syntrophic interspecies interactions in thermophilic microbial consortia remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the long-term impacts of the FW: FSS ratio on the thermophilic AD microbiome using genome-centric metagenomics. Both the short reads (SRs) assembly, and the iterative hybrid assembly (IHA) of SRs and nanopore long reads (LRs) were used to reconstruct metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) and four microbial clusters were identified, demonstrating different microbial dynamics patterns in response to varying FW:FSS ratios. Cluster C1-C3 were comprised of full functional members with genetic potentials in fulfilling empirical AD biochemical reactions, wherein, syntrophic decarboxylating acetogens could interact with methanogens, and some microbes could be energized by the electron bifurcation mechanism to drive thermodynamics unfavorable reactions. We found the co-existence of both acetogenic and hydrogenotrophic methanogens in the AD microbiome, and they altered their trophic groups to scavenge the methanogenic substrates in ensuring the methane generation in digesters with different FW:FSS ratios. Another interesting observation was that two phylogenetically close Thermotogota species showed a possible strong competition on carbon source inferred by the nearly complete genetic overlap of their relevant pathways.

Bioconversion of Agricultural Wastes into a Value-Added Product: Straw of Norwegian Grains Composted with Dairy Manure Food Waste Digestate in Mushroom Cultivation

Commercial mushroom production is based on composted locally available agro-industrial wastes rich in carbon and nitrogen such as wheat straw supplemented with chicken manure. Either component can be replaced by other kinds of grain straw: barley, oat, or a mixture of different straw types and combined with diary manure—food waste digestate after anaerobic biogas digestion. Original, unseparated liquid digestate is nutritious, rich in nitrogen and organic matter. This research aimed to investigate the effect of digestate and different straw ratios on the composting process and productivity and their consequent effect on mushroom cultivation parameters of Agaricus subrufescens. All investigated experimental mushroom compost (EMC) types worked well during the composting process, reaching the desired moisture of 65–75%, N content of 1.43–1.93%, and a C/N ratio ranging from 21.5 to 29.1, supporting growth of mycelium and producing mushrooms. Supplementation with barley straw resulted in better EMC structure with the highest yield and biological efficiency (BE) (157.9 g kg−1; 64%), whereas oat addition gave the lowest yield and BE (88.6 g kg−1 and 38%). Precociousness (yield at mid-cycle of the crop development) was higher for oat substrates (68.9%), while earliness (days to harvest from casing) was lower for barley EMC.

Anaerobic digestion: An alternative resource treatment option for food waste in China

With the implementation of zero-waste city and waste classification in China, a large amount of food waste (FW) began to appear in concentration, and there was an urgent requirement for appropriate and efficient treatment technology. Traditional FW disposal methods (landfill and incineration) could cause several environmental problems, so resource recycling has become the main development trend of FW in China. In recent years, anaerobic digestion (AD) technology for FW resource treatment has attracted much attention due to its advantages such as the ability to obtain clean energy, low carbon emissions, and suitability for large-scale treatment compared with other recycling technologies (composting, feed, and breeding insects). Chinese policy is conducive to the development of AD for FW, which has the potential to produce methane and achieve economic and environmental benefits. This paper presents an overview of the researches, application situations, and perspectives for the AD of FW resource treatment in China. The bibliometric analysis shows that China has the most interest in the AD of FW compared to other countries, and the amount and characteristics analysis of FW indicates that FW is suitable for treatment by AD. At the same time, this review analyzes the influence factors, methods to promote AD, working mechanism, secondary pollution of AD. Besides, the article introduces and analyzes the current policies, application status, economic and environmental benefits, and problems of AD for FW resource treatment in China. AD is considered as an alternative resource treatment technology for FW, although there are still several problems such as odors, digestate, etc. In the future, China should focus on the reform of management policy, the implementation of the AD circular economy model, and the research of the biorefinery model based on AD technology.

Genome-centric microbiome analysis reveals solid retention time (SRT)-shaped species interactions and niche differentiation in food waste and sludge co-digesters

Co-digestion of food waste with sewage sludge is widely applied for waste stabilization and energy recovery around the world. However, the effect of solid retention time (SRT) on the microbial population dynamics, metabolism and interspecies interaction have not been fully elucidated. Here, the influence of SRTs (5-25 days) on the performance of the co-digestion system was investigated and state-of-the-art genome-centric metagenomic analysis was employed to uncover the dynamics and metabolic network of the key players underlying the well-functioned and poorly-functioned co-digestion microbial communities. The results of the microbial analyses indicated that SRT largely shaped microbial community structure by enriching the syntrophic specialist Syntrophomonas and CO₂/H₂ ( formate)-using methanogen Methanocorpusculum in the well-functioned co-digester operated at SRT of 25 days, while selecting acid-tolerant populations Lactobacillus at SRT of 5 days. The metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) of key players, such as Syntrophomonadaceae, Methanocorpusculum, and Mesotoga, were retrieved, additionally, the syntrophic acetate oxidation plus hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis (SAO-HM) were proposed as the dominant pathway for methane production. The metabolic interaction in the co-digestion microbial consortia was profiled by assigning MAGs into functional guilds. Functional redundancy was found in the bacterial groups in hydrolysis step, and the members in these groups reduced the direct competition by niche differentiation.

Effects of low pH conditions on decay of methanogenic biomass

Acidic failure is relatively common in anaerobic digesters that receive readily biodegradable food wastes at high loading. Under low pH conditions, the activity of methanogenic biomass decreases resulting in complete failure of the digestion process. In this experimental study, we demonstrated that one of the causes for the digester failure under low pH conditions is due to accelerated decay of methanogenic biomass. When enriched acetate degrading methanogens were exposed to a low pH environment (pH = 5.1 with phosphoric acid) in a batch experiment without external substrate, the specific decay rate was observed to increase as much as 10 times of that at pH 7.0. The specific decay rate for formate degrader was also found to increase under low pH conditions whilst the fermentative microorganisms in the cultures appeared to be tolerant to low pH conditions. A Propidium Mono-Azide-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PMA-qPCR) analysis revealed that the archaeal biomass dominated by methanogens dropped by 71-79% from the initial concentration after 6 days of the acidic batch experiment whilst the bacterial biomass dominating acidogens decreased by only 25%. The decrease in the number of living cells in the batch experiments at different pH was monitored with time to determine a correlation between decay rate and incubation pH.

Impact of Nanoscale Magnetite and Zero Valent Iron on the Batch-Wise Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Food Waste and Waste-Activated Sludge

As a potential approach for enhanced energy generation from anaerobic digestion, iron-based conductive nanoparticles have been proposed to enhance the methane production yield and rate. In this study, the impact of two different types of iron nanoparticles, namely the nano-zero-valent-iron particles (NZVIs) and magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (NPs) was investigated, using batch test under mesophilic conditions (35 °C). Magnetite NPs have been applied in doses of 25, 50 and 80 mg/L, corresponding to 13.1, 26.2 and 41.9 mg magnetite NPs/gTS of substrate, respectively. The results reveal that supplementing anaerobic batches with magnetite NPs at a dose of 25 mg/L induces an insignificant effect on hydrolysis and methane production. However, incubation with 50 and 80 mg/L magnetite NPs have instigated comparable positive impact with hydrolysis percentages reaching approximately 95% compared to 63% attained in control batches, in addition to a 50% enhancement in methane production yield. A biodegradability percentage of 94% was achieved with magnetite NP doses of 50 and 80 mg/L, compared to only 62.7% obtained with control incubation. NZVIs were applied in doses of 20, 40 and 60 mg/L, corresponding to 10.8, 21.5 and 32.2 mg NZVIs/gTS of substrate, respectively. The results have shown that supplementing anaerobic batches with NZVIs revealed insignificant impact, most probably due to the agglomeration of NZVI particles and consequently the reduction in available surface area, making the applied doses insufficient for measurable effect.

Improving the methane productivity of anaerobic digestion using aqueous extracts from municipal solid waste incinerator ash

This study investigated the effects of mineral waste extracts (MWE) on laboratory-scale two-stage anaerobic digesters treating synthetic organic waste. MWE was prepared as aqueous extracts from different ash samples (incineration bottom ash (IBA), fly ash (FA) and boiler ash (BA) taken from a municipal solid waste incineration plant. At 20 days hydraulic retention time, all three MWE stimulated hydrogen production in their respective acidogenic reactor by around 35% (c.f. control acidogenic reactor), whilst no difference was seen in the methane productivity of the linked methanogenic reactors (average 527 ± 45 mL CH₄/g VS, including control methanogenic reactor). Following a step reduction in hydraulic retention time from 20 to 10 days and a doubling of the organic loading rate from 2.5 g to 5 g VS/L. d, no significant change was seen in hydrogen production (p > 0.05) in the acidogenic reactor amended with MWE from IBA and BA, or the control acidogenic reactor. However, the acidogenic reactor receiving MWE from FA had 45% lower hydrogen productivity. The step change in hydraulic retention time and organic loading rates led to the failure of most methanogenic reactors (≤100 mL CH₄/g VS), however, the one receiving feed containing MWE from IBA showed stable performance without signs of failure, and had higher volumetric methane productivity, albeit at lower methane yields (370 ± 20 mL CH₄/g VS). 16S rRNA analysis using the Illumina sequencing platform revealed acidogenesis by Lactobacillaceae in the acidogenic reactor and syntrophic acetate oxidation by Synergistaceae linked to enrichment of the candidatus genus Methanofastidiosum, in the stable methanogenic reactor receiving MWE from IBA.

Dry anaerobic digestion of organic waste: A review of operational parameters and their impact on process performance

Dry digestion is a suitable technology for treating organic wastes with varying composition such as the organic fraction of municipal solids waste. Yet, there is a need for further research to overcome some of the disadvantages associated with the high total solids content of the process. Optimisation of inoculum to substrate ratio, feedstock composition and size, liquid recirculation, bed compaction and use of bulking agents are some of the parameters that need further investigation in batch dry anaerobic digestion, to limit localised inhibition effects and avoid process instability. In addition, further attention on the relation between feedstock composition, organic loading rate and mixing regimes is required for continuous dry anaerobic digestion systems. This paper highlights all the areas where knowledge is scarce and value can be added to increase dry anaerobic digestion performance and expansion.

Solid-State Anaerobic Digestion of Mixed Organic Waste: The Synergistic Effect of Food Waste Addition on the Destruction of Paper and Cardboard

Full-scale anaerobic digestion processes for organic solid waste are common in Europe but are generally unaffordable in Canada and the United States because of inadequate regulations to restrict cheaper forms of disposal, particularly landfill. We investigated the viability of solid-state anaerobic digestion (SS-AD) as an alternative that reduces the costs of waste pretreatment and subsequent wastewater treatment. A laboratory SS-AD digester, comprising six 10 L leach beds and an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor treating the leachate, was operated continuously for 88 weeks, with a mass balance based on chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 100 ± 2% (COD_out/COD_in). The feed was a mixture of fibers (cardboard, boxboard, newsprint, and fine paper) with varying amounts of food waste added. The process remained stable throughout. The addition of food waste caused a synergistic effect, raising methane production from the fiber mixture from a low of 52.7 L kg^-1 COD fibers_added at no food waste, to 152 L kg^-1 COD fibers_added at 29% food waste, an increase of 190%. Substrate COD destruction efficiency reached 65%, and the methane yield reached 225 L kg^-1 COD_added at 29% food waste on a COD basis, with a solids retention time of 42 days. This performance was similar to that of a completely stirred tank reactor digesting similar wastes, but with much lower energy input. Multiple factors likely contributed to the enhanced fiber destruction, including the action of hydrolytic enzymes derived from fresh food waste and continuous leachate recirculation between leach beds of different ages.

Chemically Enhanced Primary Sludge as an Anaerobic Co-Digestion Additive for Biogas Production from Food Waste

In order to overcome process instability and buffer deficiency in the anaerobic digestion of mono food waste (FW), chemically enhanced primary sludge (CEPS) was selected as a co-substrate for FW treatment. In this study, batch tests were conducted to study the effects of CEPS/FW ratios on anaerobic co-digestion (coAD) performances. Both soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) and protease activity were decreased, with the CEPS/FW mass ratio increasing from 0:5 to 5:0. However, it was also found that the accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) was eliminated by increasing the CEPS/FW ratio, and that corresponding VFAs concentrations decreased from 13,872.97 to 1789.98 mg chemical oxygen demand per L (mg COD/L). In addition, the maximum value of cumulative biogas yield (446.39 mL per g volatile solids removal (mL/g VSsremoval)) was observed at a CEPS/FW ratio of 4:1, and that the tendency of coenzyme F420 activity was similar to biogas production. The mechanism analysis indicated that Fe-based CEPS relived the VFAs accumulation caused by FW, and Fe(III) induced by Fe-based CEPS enhanced the activity of F420. Therefore, the addition of Fe-based CEPS provided an alternative method for FW treatment.

Integrating anaerobic co-digestion of dairy manure and food waste with cultivation of edible mushrooms for nutrient recovery

State-level policies in the New England region of the United States require diversion of organic materials away from landfills. One management option for food waste is anaerobic co-digestion with dairy manure. In addition to biogas, anaerobic digestion produces separated solid and liquid digestates. Solid digestates in the region are typically recycled as animal bedding before returning to the digester and liquids are used to fertilize local soils. Repeated land application of nutrients can contribute to eutrophication risk over time and alternative models are needed to convert digestates into valuable export products. We tested solid digestates derived from dairy manure and food waste as substrate ingredients in the cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus. We show these materials can be used to offset non-local substrate ingredients while achieving mushroom yields comparable to commercial recipes. This strategy could help divert nutrients away from land adjacent to digesters and into safe, protein-rich food, while producing useful spent mushroom substrate.

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

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−1d−1 at organic loading rate (OLR) of 2.8 gVSL−1d−1, and reactor failure occurred at OLR of 3.5 gVSL−1d−1. Co-substrates of acid whey, waste energy drinks, and waste bread resulted in maximum SMY of 455, 453, and 479 mL gVS−1d−1, respectively, and it was possible to achieve stable digestion at OLR as high as 4.4 gVSL−1d−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.

Efficient acetogenesis of anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and maize straw in a HSAD reactor

In this study, food waste and maize straw were used as feedstock, and the two-phase high-solid anaerobic digestion (TP-HSAD) technology was used to optimize the process parameters of leachate reflux in acid-production stage. Results indicated that compared with other waste activated sludge, pig manure digestate (PM) as leachate can achieve better hydrolysis and acidification effect. The increase of leachate reflux ratio can shorten the fermentation time of the acid-producing stage and increase the fermentation efficiency. When the reflux ratio was 32:1, peak concentration of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) was 45.4 g/L and the volatile solids (VS) removal rate was 61.7%. Reflux frequency has minimal effect on the concentration of VFAs and the degree of degradation of VS, but a higher reflux frequency will prolong the reaction time of acid-production stage. When PM is used as reflux leachate, the HSAD reactor can improve the hydrolysis and acidification of the anaerobic fermentation.

Effect of macro- and micro-nutrients addition during anaerobic mono-digestion of grass silage in leach-bed reactors

The effect of macro- (NH₄Cl) (set I) and micro-nutrients (Fe, Ni, Co and Mo) (set II) addition on chemical oxygen demand (COD) solubilisation during anaerobic mono-digestion of grass silage was investigated in two sets of leach bed reactor experiments at 35°C. Results showed that addition of NH₄Cl and micro-nutrients improved COD solubilisation by 18% (0.56 g SCOD g^-1 volatile solids) and 7% (0.45 g SCOD g^-1 VS), respectively than control. About 20-50% of the added micro-nutrients were bioavailable in the produced leachates, while the rest (50-80%) were adsorbed onto the grass silage. Results of biological methane potential assays showed that, specific methane yields of grass silage were improved by 17% (0.36 ± 0.02 m³ CH₄ kg^-1 VS_added) when NH₄Cl was supplemented while Fe, Ni, Co and Mo addition improved methane yields by 15% (0.33 ± 0.005 m³ CH₄ kg^-1 VS_added) when compared to control.

Anaerobic co-digestion of foodwaste with liquid dairy manure or manure digestate: Co-substrate limitation and inhibition

Process instability has been a challenge to anaerobic digestion of foodwaste at higher organic loading rates. Co-digestion is one of the measures to improve stability. This study conducted batch experiments to compare liquid dairy manure and dairy manure digestate as a co-substrate for anaerobic digestion of foodwaste. The batch co-digestion experiments showed a two-stage biogas production process, which could be simulated with a modification of the Gompertz model. The specific biogas yields derived with the two-stage biogas production model was further simulated against the co-substrate ratios with substrate limitation - inhibition models for identifying the optimal co-substrate ratio. The Haldane model was the best to simulate co-substrate limitation - inhibition kinetics in anaerobic co-digestion of foodwaste. A higher ratio of dairy manure could result in co-substrate inhibition to biogas production due to recalcitrance of cellulose and toxicity of lignin and lignin derivatives. Kinetic modeling shows that the optimal volatile solids (VS) ratio of liquid dairy manure is 16.6%, at which the maximum specific methane yield is 0.54 L/g VS. Semi-continuous co-digestion of 88% foodwaste and 12% liquid dairy manure at a hydraulic retention time of 14 d attained 94% of the simulated maximum methane yield. Although co-digestion of foodwaste and manure digestate resulted in lower biogas yields than co-digestion with liquid dairy manure, manure digestate is still an attractive co-substrate that has several operational advantages compared with liquid dairy manure.

Biogas recovery from two-phase anaerobic digestion of food waste and paper waste: Optimization of paper waste addition

In order to optimize the biogas recovery from the co-digestion of food waste (FW) and paper waste (PW), the effect of PW content on two-phase anaerobic digestion (TPAD) was investigated. The mixtures of FW and PW, with the ratios of 10:0, 8:2, 6:4 and 5:5 (total solids), were fed into TPAD to recover biomethane. After the long-term expriment, it is elucidated that the methanogenesis in TPAD was stable for PW ≤ 40%. When PW = 50%, NH₄HCO₃ was added to the methanogenic phase to provide nitrogen. As the indicators of the stability of the anaerobic process, the ammonia and alkalinity in the methanogenic phase were simulated for their decreasing trend. The simulation results quantified the nitrogen deficiency in the methanogenic phase for PW = 50%. Also, the comparison of alkalinity and ammonia revealed that ammonia was the major contributor to the alkalinity. Furthermore, via stoichiometric calculations, high C/N ratios were found to increase the microbial yield and exacerbated the nitrogen deficiency. In the energy estimation, adding PW showed significant increase only when PW ≥ 40%. It was concluded that 40% was the optimal PW content for bioenergy augmentation from co-digestion of FW and PW using TPAD.

Methanosarcina plays a main role during methanogenesis of high-solids food waste and cardboard

Anaerobic digestion of food waste is a complex process often hindered by high concentrations of volatile fatty acids and ammonia. Methanogenic archaea are more sensitive to these inhibitors than bacteria and thus the structure of their community is critical to avoid reactor acidification. In this study, the performances of three different inocula were compared using batch digestion tests of food waste and cardboard mixtures. Particular attention was paid to the archaeal communities in the inocula and after digestion. While the tests started with inocula rich in Methanosarcina led to efficient methane production, VFAs accumulated in the reactors where inocula initially were poor in this archaea and no methane was produced. In addition, higher substrate loads were tolerated when greater proportions of Methanosarcina were initially present in the inoculum. Independently of the inoculum origin, Methanosarcina were the dominant methanogens in the digestates from the experiments that efficiently produced methane. These results suggest that the initial archaeal composition of the inoculum is crucial during reactor start-up to achieve stable anaerobic digestion at high concentrations of ammonia and organic acids.

Experimental and feasibility assessment of biogas production by anaerobic digestion of fruit and vegetable waste from Joburg Market

Substrate-induced instability of anaerobic digestion from fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) results in low biogas yield. In this study, substrate management through fruit to vegetable mix ratio in a two-stage semi-continuous digester was investigated as a pathway for optimality of yield. The experiment conducted over 105 days with 62.52 kg of FVWs sourced from Joburg Market, South Africa showed that a stable process was achieved at a fruit to vegetable waste mix ratio of 2.2:2.8. At this ratio, optimal organic loading rate ranged between 2.68 and 2.97 kg VS/m³-d which resulted in a specific biogas yield of 0.87 Nm³/kg VS with 57.58% methane on average. The results of the experimental study were used as a feasibility assessment for a full-scale 45 tonnes/d plant for Joburg Market considering three energy pathways. The plant will produce 1,605,455 Nm³/y of biogas with the potential for offsetting 15.2% of the Joburg Market energy demand. Conversion of all biogas to biomethane was the most economically attractive energy pathway with a net present value of $2,428,021, an internal rate of return of 16.90% and a simple payback period of 6.17 years. This route avoided the greenhouse gas emission of 12,393 tonnes CO₂, eq. The study shows that the anaerobic digestion of FVWs as sole substrate is possible with financial and environmental attractiveness.

The seasonal evolution of fruit, vegetable and yard wastes by mono, co and tri-digestion at Hyderabad, Sindh Pakistan

The contribution of biowastes in municipal solid waste (MSW) is increasing day by day and being dumped in open atmosphere along with other wastes in every city of Pakistan. This study was formulated to evaluate the feasibility of biowastes such as fruit, vegetable and yard wastes of different seasons individual and mixing at different ratios to optimize methane production at Hyderabad Sindh, Pakistan. Batch digestion of selected samples was conducted for 40 days under mesophilic condition. Methane yield of individual fruit, vegetable and yard wastes (FrVYW) of summer and winter season was obtained in the range of 0.36-0.40 L/g VS and 0.39-0.44 L/g VS added respectively. The results of co-digestion of FrVYW of summer and winter season were observed in the range of 0.42-0.45 L/g VS added and 0.46 to 0.54 L/g VS added respectively. The results of tri-digestion of FrVYW of summer and winter season were achieved in the range of 0.46-0.53 L/g VS added and 0.56-0.62 L/g VS added respectively. Findings of study showed that methane production potential of tri-digestions were highest than all of others and that of co-digestion were higher than mono-digestion of FrVYW. Overall results of study concluded that tri-digestion of FrVYW at the equal blending ratio reported highest methane potential. Therefore, the study recommended that tri-digestion of FrVYW at equal mixing ratio is an optimal ratio for anaerobic digestion process to yield maximum methane production from FrVYW.

Microbial characteristics in anaerobic digestion process of food waste for methane production-A review

Food waste (FW) is rich in starch, fat, protein and cellulose. It is easy to decay and brings environmental pollution and other social problems. FW shows a high potential to produce methane by anaerobic digestion (AD) due to its high organic content. However, many inhibitors, such as accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids (VFAs), usually result in inefficient performances and even process failure. Microorganisms play an important role in the process of hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis. This review provided a critical summary of microbial characteristics to obtain connects of microbial community structure with operational conditions at various states of AD, such as mesophilic and thermophilic, wet and dry, success and failure, pretreated or not, lab-scale and full-scale. This article emphasizes that it is necessary to analyze changes and mechanisms of microbial communities in unbalanced system and seek efficiency dynamic succession rules of the dominant microorganisms.

Anaerobic digestion of food waste: A review focusing on process stability

Food waste (FW) is rich in biomass energy, and increasing numbers of national programs are being established to recover energy from FW using anaerobic digestion (AD). However process instability is a common operational issue for AD of FW. Process monitoring and control as well as microbial management can be used to control instability and increase the energy conversion efficiency of anaerobic digesters. Here, we review research progress related to these methods and identify existing limitations to efficient AD; recommendations for future research are also discussed. Process monitoring and control are suitable for evaluating the current operational status of digesters, whereas microbial management can facilitate early diagnosis and process optimization. Optimizing and combining these two methods are necessary to improve AD efficiency.

Accumulation of propionic acid during consecutive batch anaerobic digestion of commercial food waste

The objective of this study was to test three different alternatives to mitigate the destabilizing effect of accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids during food waste anaerobic digestion. The three options tested (low temperature, co-digestion with paper waste and trace elements addition) were compared using consecutive batch reactors. Although methane was produced efficiently (∼500ml CH₄gVS^-1; 16l CH₄lreactor^-1), the concentrations of propionic acid increased gradually (up to 21.6gl^-1). This caused lag phases in the methane production and eventually led to acidification at high substrate loads. The addition of trace elements improved the kinetics and allowed higher substrate loads, but could not avoid propionate accumulation. Here, it is shown for the first time that addition of activated carbon, trace elements and dilution can favor propionic acid consumption after its accumulation. These promising options should be optimized to prevent propionate accumulation.

In situ biogas stripping of ammonia from a digester using a gas mixing system

Previous studies have suggested the use of digester biogas mixing systems for in situ ammonia removal from anaerobic digestates. The feasibility of this was tested at moderate and complete gas mixing rates at mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures in a 75-L digester. Experimental results showed that at gas mixing rates typical of full-scale commercial digesters the reduction in total ammonia nitrogen concentrations would be insufficient to allow stable acetoclastic methanogenesis in mesophilic conditions, or to prevent total inhibition of methanogenic activity in thermophilic food waste digestion. Simulation based on batch column stripping experiments at 55°C at gas violent flow rates of 0.032 m³ m^-2 min^-1 indicated that ammonia concentrations could be reduced below inhibitory values in thermophilic food waste digestion for organic loading rates of up to 6 kg VS m^-3 day^-1. These mixing rates are far in excess of those used in full-scale gas-mixed digesters and may not be operationally or commercially feasible.

Kinetic study of dry anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and cardboard for methane production

Dry anaerobic digestion is a promising option for food waste treatment and valorization. However, accumulation of ammonia and volatile fatty acids often occurs, leading to inefficient processes and digestion failure. Co-digestion with cardboard may be a solution to overcome this problem. The effect of the initial substrate to inoculum ratio (0.25 to 1gVS·gVS^-1) and the initial total solids contents (20-30%) on the kinetics and performance of dry food waste mono-digestion and co-digestion with cardboard was investigated in batch tests. All the conditions produced methane efficiently (71-93% of the biochemical methane potential). However, due to lack of methanogenic activity, volatile fatty acids accumulated at the beginning of the digestion and lag phases in the methane production were observed. At increasing substrate to inoculum ratios, the initial acid accumulation was more pronounced and lower cumulative methane yields were obtained. Higher amounts of soluble organic matter remained undegraded at higher substrate loads. Although causing slightly longer lag phases, high initial total solids contents did not jeopardize the methane yields. Cardboard addition reduced acid accumulation and the decline in the yields at increasing substrate loads. However, cardboard addition also caused higher concentrations of propionic acid, which appeared as the most last acid to be degraded. Nevertheless, dry co-digestion of food waste and cardboard in urban areas is demonstrated asan interesting feasible valorization option.

Dry anaerobic digestion of food waste and cardboard at different substrate loads, solid contents and co-digestion proportions

The increasing food waste production calls for developing efficient technologies for its treatment. Anaerobic processes provide an effective waste valorization. The influence of the initial substrate load on the performance of batch dry anaerobic co-digestion reactors treating food waste and cardboard was investigated. The load was varied by modifying the substrate to inoculum ratio (S/X), the total solids content and the co-digestion proportions. The results showed that the S/X was a crucial parameter. Within the tested values (0.25, 1 and 4gVS·gVS^-1), only the reactors working at 0.25 produced methane. Methanosarcina was the main archaea, indicating its importance for efficient methanogenesis. Acidogenic fermentation was predominant at higher S/X, producing hydrogen and other metabolites. Higher substrate conversions (≤48%) and hydrogen yields (≤62mL·gVS^-1) were achieved at low loads. This study suggests that different value-added compounds can be produced in dry conditions, with the initial substrate load as easy-to-control operational parameter.

A degradation model for high kitchen waste content municipal solid waste

Municipal solid waste (MSW) in developing countries has a high content of kitchen waste (KW), and therefore contains large quantities of water and non-hollocellulose degradable organics. The degradation of high KW content MSW cannot be well simulated by the existing degradation models, which are mostly established for low KW content MSW in developed countries. This paper presents a two-stage anaerobic degradation model for high KW content MSW with degradations of hollocellulose, sugars, proteins and lipids considered. The ranges of the proportions of chemical compounds in MSW components are summarized with the recommended values given. Waste components are grouped into rapidly or slowly degradable categories in terms of the degradation rates under optimal water conditions for degradation. In the proposed model, the unionized VFA inhibitions of hydrolysis/acidogenesis and methanogenesis are considered as well as the pH inhibition of methanogenesis. Both modest and serious VFA inhibitions can be modeled by the proposed model. Default values for the parameters in the proposed method can be used for predictions of degradations of both low and high KW content MSW. The proposed model was verified by simulating two laboratory experiments, in which low and high KW content MSW were used, respectively. The simulated results are in good agreement with the measured data of the experiments. The results show that under low VFA concentrations, the pH inhibition of methanogenesis is the main inhibition to be considered, while the inhibitions of both hydrolysis/acidogenesis and methanogenesis caused by unionized VFA are significant under high VFA concentrations. The model is also used to compare the degradation behaviors of low and high KW content MSW under a favorable environmental condition, and it shows that the gas potential of high KW content MSW releases more quickly.

Batch anaerobic digestion of synthetic military base food waste and cardboard mixtures

Austere US military bases typically dispose of solid wastes, including large fractions of food waste (FW) and corrugated cardboard (CCB), by open dumping, landfilling, or burning. Anaerobic digestion (AD) offers an opportunity to reduce pollution and recover useful energy. This study aimed to evaluate the rates and yields of AD for FW-CCB mixtures. Batch AD was analyzed at substrate concentrations of 1-50g total chemical oxygen demand (COD)L(-1) using response surface methodology. At low concentrations, higher proportions of FW were correlated with faster specific methanogenic activities and greater final methane yields; however, concentrations of FW ⩾18.75gCODL(-1) caused inhibition. Digestion of mixtures with ⩾75% CCB occurred slowly but achieved methane yields >70%. Greater shifts in microbial communities were observed at higher substrate concentrations. Statistical models of methane yield and specific methanogenic activity indicated that FW and CCB exhibited no considerable interactions as substrates for AD.

Impact of biochar on the anaerobic digestion of citrus peel waste

In this study, the impact of different types of biochar and biochar ratios on the anaerobic digestion of citrus peel waste was investigated. Citrus peel has an inhibitory effect on anaerobic digestion. The presence of biochar had two effects: a reduction in the length of the lag phase and greater production of methane relative to citrus peel waste only incubations. The microbial lag phases decreased with increase in citrus peel to biochar ratios, with 2:1 having the longest lag phase of 9.4days and 1:3, the shortest, with the value of 7.5days. The cumulative methane production in incubations containing biochar and citrus peel ranged from 163.9 to 186.8ml CH4 gVS(-1), while citrus peel only produced 165.9ml CH4 gVS(-1). Examination of the biochar material revealed colonies of putative methanogens. The synergy of d-limonene adsorption and microbial immobilization by biochar appears to improve the performance of anaerobic digestion.

Comparing the inhibitory thresholds of dairy manure co-digesters after prolonged acclimation periods: Part 1--Performance and operating limits

Co-digestion has been used to improve biogas yields and the long-term stability of anaerobic digesters compared to mono-digestion; however, less is known about the ultimate inhibition from co-substrates at their maximum loading rates and mixing ratios because these limits cannot be practically tested by existing facilities. Here, we performed a controlled experiment with long operating periods to ensure sufficient acclimation with the goal to observe ultimate inhibition and the full benefit that can be gained from co-digestion. The three substrates: 1) food waste (FW); 2) alkaline hydrolysate (AH); and 3) crude glycerol (GY) were individually co-digested with dairy manure (MN) for more than 900 days using continuously stirred anaerobic reactors at mesophilic temperatures. Food waste caused no reduction in performance or stability when co-digested with manure up to a total organic loading rate (OLR) of 3.9 g volatile solids (VS)·L(-1)·Day(-1) (MN:FW = 51:49; VS basis), resulting in a specific methane yield (SMY) of 297 ± 3 mL CH4·g VS(-1) for the combined wastes. Alkaline hydrolysate was co-digested with manure up to a total OLR of 2.7 g VS·L(-1)·Day(-1) (MN:AH = 75:25) with a corresponding SMY of 299 ± 6 mL CH4·g VS(-1). However, the free ammonia concentration reached levels previously reported as inhibitory, and may have led to the observed accumulation of volatile fatty acids at higher loading rates. Crude glycerol co-digestion resulted in an optimum SMY of 549 ± 25 mL CH4·g VS(-1) at a total OLR of 3.2 g VS·L(-1)·Day(-1) (MN:GY = 62:38). Stable digestion beyond this level was prohibited by an accumulation of long-chain fatty acids and foaming. These results can be used to implement effective co-digestion strategies. Co-substrates that possess similar inhibiting characteristics should be monitored to prevent severe instability at high loading rates and mixing ratios.

Biogas stripping of ammonia from fresh digestate from a food waste digester

The efficiency of ammonia removal from fresh source-segregated domestic food waste digestate using biogas as a stripping agent was studied in batch experiments at 35, 55 and 70°C, at gas flow rates of 0.125 and 0.250Lbiogasmin(-1)L(-1)digestate with and without pH adjustment. Higher temperatures and alkaline conditions were required for effective ammonia removal, and at 35°C with or without pH adjustment or 55°C with unadjusted pH there was little or no removal. Results were compared to those from earlier studies with digestate that had been stored prior to stripping and showed that ammonia removal from fresh digestate was more difficult, with time constants 1.6-5.7 times higher than those previously reported. This has implications for the design of large-scale systems where continuous stripping of fresh digestate is likely to be the normal operating mode. A mass balance approach showed that thermal-alkaline stripping improved hydrolysis.

Anaerobic digestion of food waste stabilized by lime mud from papermaking process

The effects of lime mud from papermaking process (LMP) addition as buffer agent and inorganic nutrient on the anaerobic digestion stability of food waste (FW) were investigated under mesophilic conditions with the aim of avoiding volatile fatty acids accumulation, and inorganic elements deficiency. When LMP concentration ranged from 6.0 to 10g/L, the FW anaerobic digestion could maintain efficient and stable state. These advantages are attributed to the existence of Ca, Na, Mg, K, Fe, and alkaline substances that favor the methanogenic process. The highest CH4 yield of 272.8mL/g-VS was obtained at LMP and VS concentrations of 10.0 and 19.8g/L, respectively, with the corresponding lag-phase time of 3.84d and final pH of 8.4. The methanogens from residue digestates mainly consisted of Methanobrevibacter, coccus-type and sarcina-type methanogens with LMP addition compared to Methanobacteria in control. However, higher concentration of LMP inhibited methanogenic activities and methane production.

Minimizing asynchronism to improve the performances of anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and corn stover

To investigate the existence of the asynchronism during the anaerobic co-digestion of different substrates, two typical substrates of food waste and corn stover were anaerobically digested with altering organic loadings (OL). The results indicated that the biodegradability of food waste and corn stover was calculated to be 81.5% and 55.1%, respectively, which was main reason causing the asynchronism in the co-digestion. The asynchronism was minimized by NaOH-pretreatment for corn stover, which could improve the biodegradability by 36.6%. The co-digestion with pretreatment could increase the biomethane yield by 12.2%, 3.2% and 0.6% comparing with the co-digestion without pretreatment at C/N ratios of 20, 25 and 30 at OL of 35 g-VS/L, respectively. The results indicated that the digestibility synchronism of food waste and corn stover was improved through enhancing the accessibility and digestibility of corn stover. The biomethane production could be increased by minimizing the asynchronism of two substrates in co-digestion.

Anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and dairy manure: effects of food waste particle size and organic loading rate

This study was to comprehensively evaluate the effects of food waste particle size on co-digestion of food waste and dairy manure at organic loading rates increased stepwise from 0.67 to 3 g/L/d of volatile solids (VS). Three anaerobic digesters were fed semi-continuously with equal VS amounts of food waste and dairy manure. Food waste was ground to 2.5 mm (fine), 4 mm (medium), and 8 mm (coarse) for the three digesters, respectively. Methane production rate and specific methane yield were significantly higher in the digester with fine food waste. Digestate dewaterability was improved significantly by reducing food waste particle size. Specific methane yield was highest at the organic loading rate of 2g VS/L/d, being 0.63, 0.56, and 0.47 L CH4/g VS with fine, medium, and coarse food waste, respectively. Methane production rate was highest (1.40-1.53 L CH4/L/d) at the organic loading rate of 3 g VS/L/d. The energy used to grind food waste was minor compared with the heating value of the methane produced.

Performances of anaerobic co-digestion of fruit & vegetable waste (FVW) and food waste (FW): single-phase vs. two-phase

The co-digestion of fruit & vegetable waste (FVW) and food waste (FW) was performed at various organic loading ratios (OLRs) in single-phase and two-phase system, respectively. The results showed that the ethanol-type fermentation dominated in both digestion processes when OLR was at low levels (<2.0 g(VS) L(-1) d(-1)). The propionic acid was rapidly accumulated as OLR was increased to higher levels (>2.0 g(VS) L(-1) d(-1)), which could cause unstable anaerobic digestion. Single-phase digestion was better than two-phase digestion in term of 4.1% increase in CH4 production at lower OLRs (<2.0 g(VS) L(-1) d(-1)). However, at higher level of OLR (≥2.0 g(VS) L(-1) d(-1)), two-phase digestion achieved higher CH4 production of 0.351-0.455 L(g VS)(-1) d(-1), which were 7.0-15.8% more than that of single-phase. Additionally, two-phase digestion presented more stable operation, and higher OLR treatment capacity. Furthermore, comparison of these two systems with bioenergy recovery revealed that two-phase system overall presented higher bioenergy yield than single-phase.

High-rate iron-rich activated sludge as stabilizing agent for the anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste

Anaerobic digestion is a key technology in the bio-based economy and can be applied to convert a wide range of organic substrates into CH4 and CO2. Kitchen waste is a valuable substrate for anaerobic digestion, since it is an abundant source of organic matter. Yet, digestion of single kitchen waste often results in process failure. High-rate activated sludge or A-sludge is produced during the highly loaded first stage of the two-phase 'Adsorptions-Belebungsverfahren' or A/B activated sludge system for municipal wastewater treatment. In this specific case, the A-sludge was amended with FeSO4 to enhance phosphorous removal and coagulation during the water treatment step. This study therefore evaluated whether this Fe-rich A-sludge could be used to obtain stable methanation and higher methane production values during co-digestion with kitchen waste. It was revealed that Fe-rich A-sludge can be a suitable co-substrate for kitchen waste; i.e. methane production rate values of 1.15 ± 0.22 and 1.12 ± 0.28 L L(-1) d(-1) were obtained during mesophilic and thermophilic co-digestion respectively of a feed-mixture consisting of 15% KW and 85% A-sludge. The thermophilic process led to higher residual VFA concentrations, up to 2070 mg COD L(-1), and can therefore be considered less stable. Addition of micro- and macronutrients provided a more stable digestion of single kitchen waste, i.e. a methane production of 0.45 L L(-1) d(-1) was obtained in the micronutrient treatment compared to 0.30 L L(-1) d(-1) in the control treatment on day 61. Yet, methane production during single kitchen waste digestion still decreased toward the end of the experiment, despite the addition of micronutrients. Methane production rates were clearly influenced by the total numbers of archaea in the different reactors. This study showed that Fe-rich A-sludge and kitchen waste are suitable for co-digestion.

The anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and cattle manure

This study assessed the anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and cattle manure, in order to identify the key parameters that determine the biogas and methane yield. Results of both batch and semi-continuous tests indicated that the total methane production is enhanced in co-digestion, with an optimum food waste (FM) to cattle manure (CM) ratio of 2. At this ratio, the total methane production in batch tests was enhanced by 41.1%, and the corresponding methane yield was 388 mL/g-VS. In the semi-continuous mode, the total methane production in co-digestion, at the organic loading rate (OLR) of 10 g-VSFW/L/d, increased by 55.2%, corresponding to the methane yield of 317 mL/g-VS. Addition of cattle manure enhanced the buffer capacity (created by NH4+ and VFAs), allowing high organic load without pH control. The C/N ratio and the higher biodegradation of lipids might be the main reasons for the biogas production improvement.