Multi-phased anaerobic baffled reactor treating food waste

• Study on isolation of different phases of an anaerobic digestion process.
• First reference for biogas yield from food waste using anaerobic baffled reactor.
• Effluent quality shows this as an efficient treatment for food waste.

This study was conducted to identify the performance of a multi-phased anaerobic baffled reactor (MP-ABR) with food waste (FW) as the substrate for biogas production and thereby to promote an efficient energy recovery and treatment method for the wastes with high organic solid content through phase separation. A four-chambered ABR was operated at an HRT of 30 days with an OLR of 0.5–1.0 g-VS/L d for a period of 175 days at 35 ± 1 °C. Consistent overall removal efficiencies of 85.3% (CODt), 94.5% (CODs), 89.6% (VFA) and 86.4% (VS) were observed throughout the experiment displaying a great potential to treat FW. Biogas generated was 215.57 mL/g-VSremoved d. Phase separation was observed and supported by the COD and VFA trends, and an efficient recovery of bioenergy from FW was achieved.