Anaerobic Digestor of Organic Waste Processing: A Biomass Energy Production Project

Biogas is produced when organic matter is degraded in the absence of oxygen. The process, from degradation to gas production is called anaerobic digestion. The research in this study focuses on the feasibility of the design and implementation of an operational digester, the monitoring and control of the different biodegradation process variables and experiments to boost or maximize the gas production. Our goals in this phase of the study are: (i) to get an understanding on the characteristics of organic waste from hotels and restaurants and study the feasibility of implementing the proposed anaerobic digester for biogas production for District of Columbia hotels and restaurants, and (ii) to build a mini anaerobic digester that can generate biogas in the laboratory and to provide preliminary data and identify key aspects of the design for an efficient, reliable, and low-cost anaerobic digester for waste processing. The specific research objectives for goal (1) include understanding of organic waste collection methods in hotels and restaurants and possible quantification of organic waste. The research methodology include (i) Preparation of survey questioner to collect the data about the current generation and waste processing of organic waste from a variety of sources, (ii) Implementation of survey through site visits, (iii) Quantification of daily organic waste and evaluation of waste processing through the experimental anaerobic digester. The specific research objectives for goal (ii) include design of a small scale anaerobic digester that can be operated with a minimum of monitoring, regulating, and adjusting and optimization of the experimental condition to maximize the amount of biogas produced per unit time with the proposed mini digester. The research methodology includes (i) design and fabrication of laboratory scale mini anaerobic digester, and (ii) analysis of the content of the biogas produced by the proposed mini digester using Gas Chromatography (GC) under different experimental conditions. Index terms – biogas, anaerobic digester, renewable energy