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Effect of Food Waste Co‐Digestion on Digestion, Dewatering, and Cake Quality
Author(s) -
Higgins Matthew,
Rajagopalan Ganesh,
Miller Andre,
Brown Jeffrey,
Beightol Steven
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
water environment research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.356
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1554-7531
pISSN - 1061-4303
DOI - 10.2175/106143016x14504669769092
Subject(s) - food waste , anaerobic digestion , biosolids , dewatering , chemical oxygen demand , waste management , digestion (alchemy) , chemistry , pulp and paper industry , waste treatment , biogas , methane , food science , environmental science , wastewater , environmental engineering , chromatography , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , engineering
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of food waste addition on anaerobic digestion performance as well as downstream parameters including dewatering, cake quality, and filtrate quality. Laboratory‐scale digesters were fed processed food waste at rates of 25%, 45%, and 65% increased chemical oxygen demand (COD) loading rates compared to a control fed only primary and secondary solids. The specific methane yield increased from 370 L CH 4 /kg VS added for the control to 410, 440, and 470 L CH 4 /kg VS added for the 25, 45, and 65% food waste addition, respectively. The cake solids after dewatering were all higher for the food waste digesters compared to the control, with the highest cake solids being measured for the 45% food‐waste loading. Compared to the control digester, the biosolids odorant concentration increased for the lowest dose of food waste. Odorant concentrations were below detection for the highest food waste loading.