Anaerobic co-digestion of canteen food waste and cow dung

Abstract

There is growing global awareness and concern regarding the generation of significant amounts of food waste (FW) due to the issues related to its disposal. Despite being a tested solution for waste management, anaerobic digestion (AD) of FW has not yet been sufficiently explored. In this research, the impact of different mixing ratios of food waste (FW) and cow dung (CD), as well as temperature, on the production of biogas, methane content, and the bio-methane potential (BMP) of the substrates was examined. FW and CD mixed at ratios 0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, and 100:0 (w/w) were batch incubated at 35 ± 1°C and 55 ± 1°C, using a 2 × 5 full factorial experimental design. The obtained results showed that the temperature and substrate mixing ratios significantly (p < .05) affected biogas yield, methane content, and BMP. Highest biogas yield and BMP were 7151.67 ± 11.55 mL and 401.88 ± 1.98 mLCH4/g VS from AD of FW:CD (75:25) at 55°C. The lowest biogas yield and BMP were 3291.67 ± 81.45 mL and 328.28 ± 4.26 mLCH4/g VS from mono-digestion of FW at 35°C. Overall, co-digestion of FW and CD produced higher biogas yield and BMP than mono-digestion of the substrates at both test temperatures.