Biogas Production from Food Residues-The Role of Trace Metals and Co-Digestion with Primary Sludge
2020 (English)In: Environments, E-ISSN 2076-3298, Vol. 7, no 6Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The majority of municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Sweden produce biogas from sewage sludge. In order to increase the methane production, co-digestion of internal sludge with Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) might be feasible in the future. The objective of this study was therefore to find a beneficial solution for the utilization of OFMSW at the WWTP in Varberg, Sweden. The effects of co-digesting primary sludge (PS) and OFMSW collected in the municipality, in different mixing ratios, were investigated by semi-continuous anaerobic digestion assays. Furthermore, the effects of the addition of a commercial trace elements mixture solution (CTES), available on the market in Sweden, were also examined. Co-digestion of OFMSW and PS resulted in specific methane yields of 404, 392, and 375 NmL CH4/g volatile solids (VS), obtained during semi-continuous operations of 301, 357 and 385 days, for the reactors fed with OMFSW:PS ratio of 4:1, 3:1, and 1:1, and at maximum organic loading rates (OLRs) achieved of 4.0, 4.0 and 5.0 gVS/L/d, respectively. Furthermore, mono-digestion of OFMSW failed already at OLR of 1.0 gVS/L/d, however, an OLR of 4.0 gVS/L/d could be achieved with addition of 14 mu L/g VS Commercial Trace Element Solutions (CTES) leading to 363 mL CH4/g VS methane production. These experiments were running during 411 days. Hence, higher process efficiency was obtained when using co-digestion of OFMSW and PS compared to that of OFMSW in mono-digestion. Co-digestion is a more feasible option where a balanced Carbon/Nitrogen (C/N) ratio and nutrient supply can be maintained.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI , 2020. Vol. 7, no 6
Keywords [en]
co-digestion, process stability, methane production, primary sludge, OFMSW, trace metals
National Category
Industrial Biotechnology
Research subject
Resource Recovery
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hb:diva-24834DOI: 10.3390/environments7060042ISI: 000559184200003Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85085878514OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hb-24834DiVA, id: diva2:1520951
2021-01-212021-01-212025-09-24Bibliographically approved