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The Advantage in the Waste Industry
Rising eneRgy pRices and incReasing enviRonmental pollution makes it moRe impoRtant to haRness Renewable eneRgy fRom food wastes. Anaerobic digestion is the most important method for the treatment of organic waste because of its techno-economic viability and environmental sustainability.
In-vessel composting (IVC): A treatment that breaks down biodegradable waste by naturally occurring micro-organisms with oxygen, in an enclosed vessel or tunnel; Anaerobic digestion (AD): A treatment that breaks down biodegradable waste in the absence of oxygen, producing a renewable energy (biogas) that can be used to generate electricity and heat. Currently, only about 3 percent of food waste is recycled throughout the U.S., mainly through composting. Composting provides an alternative to landfill disposal of food waste, however, it requires large areas of land, produces volatile organic compounds and consumes energy. Consequently, there is an urgent need to explore better recycling alternatives. Anaerobic digestion has been successfully used in several European and Asian countries to stabilize food wastes, and to provide beneficial endproducts. Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Germany and England have led the way in developing new advanced biogas technologies and setting up new projects for conversion of food waste into energy.
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Separate collection of food waste is rare; where it exists, the service uses existing transport and infrastructure.
Photo courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:City_of_Westminster_rubbish_truck.jpg. LEFT: Food Waste-to-Energy Plant in Anyang City, South Korea. Photo courtesy of www.caddet-re.org/assets/no66.pdf.
for the treatment of organic waste because of its techno-economic viability and environmental sustainability. The use of anaerobic digestion technology generates biogas and preserves the nutrients, which are recycled back to the agricultural land in the form of slurry or solid fertilizer. The relevance of biogas technology lies in the fact that it makes the best possible use of various organic wastes as a renewable source of clean energy. A biogas plant is a decentralized energy system, which can lead to self-sufficiency in heat and power needs, and at the same time reduces environmental pollution. Thus, anaerobic digestion of food waste can lead to climate change mitigation, economic benefits and landfill diversion opportunities. Of the different types of organic wastes available, food waste holds the highest potential in terms of economic exploitation as it contains high amounts of carbon and can be efficiently converted into biogas and organic fertilizer. Food waste can either be used as a single substrate in a biogas plant, or can be co-digested with organic wastes like cow manure, poultry litter, sewage, crop residues, abattoir wastes, etc.
Fresh waste and re-circulated digestate (or digested food waste) are mixed in a mixing tank. The digestate is added to adjust the solids content of the incoming waste stream from 20 to 25 percent (in the incoming waste) to the desired solids content of the waste stream entering the digestion system (10 to 12 percent total solids). The homogenized waste stream is pumped into the feeding tank, from which the anaerobic digestion system is continuously fed. The feeding tank also acts as a pre-digester and subjected to heat at 55 to 60 C to eliminate pathogens and to facilitate the growth of thermophilic microbes for faster degradation of waste. From the predigestor tank, the slurry enters the main digester where it undergoes anaerobic degradation by a consortium of Archaebacteria belonging to the Methanococcus group. The anaerobic digester is a CSTR reactor having an average retention time of 15 to 20 days. The digester is operated in the mesophilic temperature range (33 to 38C), with heating carried out within the digester. Food waste is highly biodegradable and has much higher volatile solids destruction rate (86 to 90 percent) than biosolids or livestock manure. As per conservative estimates, each ton of food waste produces 150 to 200 m3 of biogas, depending on reactor design, process conditions, waste composition, etc. Biogas contains significant amount of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas that needs to be stripped off due to its corrosive nature. The removal of H2S takes place in a biological desulphurization unit in which a limited quantity of air is added to biogas in the presence of specialized aerobic bacteria that oxidizes H2S into elemental sulfur. The biogas produced as a result of anaerobic digestion of waste is sent to a gas holder for temporary storage. Biogas is eventually used in a combined heat and power (CHP) unit for its conversion into thermal
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and electrical energy in a cogeneration power station of suitable capacity. The exhaust gases from the CHP unit are used for meeting process heat requirements. The digested substrate leaving the reactor is rich in nutrients like nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, which are beneficial for plants as well as soil. The digested slurry is dewatered in a series of screw presses to remove the moisture from the slurry. Solar drying and additives are used to enhance the market value and handling characteristics of the fertilizer.
WasteAdvantage
The Advantage in the Waste Industry
2011 Waste Advantage Magazine, All Rights Reserved. Reprinted from Waste Advantage Magazine. Contents cannot be reprinted without permission from the publisher.
WasteAdvantage Magazine
July 2011
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