| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4471250 | Waste Management | 2016 | 9 Pages |
•Commercial food waste shows potential for anaerobic mono- or co-digestion.•Bio-methane potentials (BMP) ranged from 165 to 496 mL CH4/g VS (13–414 m3 CH4/t).•Co-digestion resulted in BMP close to weighted average of individual substrates.•Hydrolysis rate coefficients increased for co-digestion over individual substrates.•Macro-composition in itself is not sufficient to explain process kinetics.
Anaerobic digestion of commercial food waste is a promising alternative to landfilling commercial food waste. This study characterized 11 types of commercial food wastes and 12 co-digestion blends. Bio-methane potential, biodegradable fraction, and apparent first-order hydrolysis rate coefficients were reported based upon biochemical methane potential (BMP) assays. Food waste bio-methane potentials ranged from 165 to 496 mL CH4/g VS. Substrates high in lipids or readily degradable carbohydrates showed the highest methane production. Average bio-methane potential observed for co-digested substrates was −5% to +20% that of the bio-methane potential of the individual substrates weighted by VS content. Apparent hydrolysis rate coefficients ranged from 0.19 d−1 to 0.65 d−1. Co-digested substrates showed an accelerated apparent hydrolysis rate relative to the weighted average of individual substrate rates. These results provide a database of key bio-digestion parameters to advance modeling and utilization of commercial food waste in anaerobic digestion.
