Simulation and Optimization of Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Food Waste with Palm Oil Mill Effluent for Biogas Production

Jasmine Sie Ming Tiong, Yi Jing Chan, Jun Wei Lim, Mardawani Mohamad, Chii-Dong Ho, Anisa Ur Rahmah, Worapon Kiatkittipong, Wipoo Sriseubsai and Izumi Kumakiri
Additional contact information
Jasmine Sie Ming Tiong: Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia
Yi Jing Chan: Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia
Jun Wei Lim: HICoE-Centre for Biofuel and Biochemical Research, Department of Fundamental and Applied Sciences, Institute of Self-Sustainable Building, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Malaysia
Mardawani Mohamad: Faculty of Bioengineering and Technology, Jeli Campus, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli 17600, Kelantan, Malaysia
Chii-Dong Ho: Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Tamkang University, Tamsui, New Taipei 251, Taiwan
Anisa Ur Rahmah: Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Surakarta 57162, Central Java, Indonesia
Worapon Kiatkittipong: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Technology, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000, Thailand
Wipoo Sriseubsai: Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok 10520, Thailand
Izumi Kumakiri: Faculty of Engineering, Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 2-16-1 Tokiwadai Ube, Yamaguchi 755-8611, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-22

Abstract: Food waste (FW) utilized as substrate for anaerobic digestion (AD) to produce biogas is promising. Simultaneously, waste is handled and value-added products such as biogas and fertilizer are produced. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is used as the co-substrate. This study aims to simulate the complete process flow of anaerobic co-digestion (AcoD), consisting of pre-treatment of feedstock, biogas upgrading, wastewater treatment and sludge dying using SuperPro Designer. Parameters, namely hydraulic retention time (HRT), recycle ratio of sludge, water to FW ratio (kg/kg) and co-substrate to FW ratio (kg/kg), would affect the performance of digester. The optimization of these parameters is performed using Design-Expert software, involving response surface methodology (RSM). The effects on responses such as methane flow, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and volatile solid (VS) removal efficiencies are analyzed. In treating 25,000 kg/h of feed, the optimized values for HRT, recycle ratio, water to feedstock ratio, POME to FW ratio are 37.2 days, 0.381, 0.027 and 0.004, respectively. The methane yield is 0.30 L CH 4 /g of COD removed, with COD and VS removal efficiencies of 81.5% and 68.9%, respectively. The project is profitable, with a payback period of 6.14 years and net present value (NPV) of $5,680,000. A comprehensive understanding of AD matures it for commercialization purposes.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion; food waste; palm oil mill effluent; gas production; optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13665/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13665/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:24:p:13665-:d:699455

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().