Title: Biogas Recovery from Municipal Waste by Anaerobic Co-digestion of Multi Feedstocks

Abstract:

Anaerobic digestion (AD) for producing biofuel from biomass offers dual benefits including waste reduction and biogas production. In many facilities, biogas contains a high fraction of methane (more than 60%) that can be utilized as an alternative to fossil fuels for heat and electricity production. AD technologies have shown sufficient adaptability to a range of different feedstocks. Various sources of waste such as organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), agricultural and animal wastes, sewage sludge, and industrial waste can be utilized for this purpose. Anaerobic co-digestion (AnCoD), which entails the simultaneous digestion of two or more feedstocks has shown to be beneficial for its economic viability, increasing methane yields, and its capability to alleviate some of the problems emerging in mono-digestion. In areas with vast numbers of large-scale livestock farms, the development of a treatment process for manure is necessary to properly handle the high amount of produced waste. Degradability of manure makes anaerobic digestion a good treatment option to minimize waste above and beyond bioenergy recovery. Co-digestion of manure with additional substrates provided that appropriate mixing ratios are applied can improve digestion process and increase biogas production. This study was conducted to investigate the influence of mixing ratio in anaerobic co-digestion of thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) and manure. The maximum ultimate cumulative methane yield was 378 mL CH4 / g VS Added attributed to the mixing ratio of 7:3 (V/V) while this value was 196 for TWAS and 325 for manure singly. The results confirmed that co-digestion of manure with TWAS is beneficial in terms of biogas improvement and system stability in comparison with conventional digestion of TWAS and manure individually.

Biography:

Anahita Rabii is 4th year PhD candidate in civil engineering at Ryerson University. Anahita has her proficiency in water and wastewater sectors including water and wastewater treatment technologies, pollution control and monitoring, and resource recovery through working in both industry and academia. Anahita is currently conducting her research on developing a model for anaerobic co-digestion of multi feedstocks. A range of waste materials can be utilized as feedstocks for digesters. Anaerobic digestion is able to convert waste to biogas comprised mostly of biomethane which delivers a 100 % renewable source of energy for heat and power generation.