Amount of energy recoverable from an existing sludge digester with the co-digestion with fruit and vegetable waste at reduced retention time

Francesco Di Maria, Alessio Sordi, Giuseppe Cirulli and Caterina Micale

Applied Energy, 2015, vol. 150, issue C, 9-14

Abstract: The working operations of a full-scale digester of a wastewater treatment plant for waste-mixed sludge (WMS) stabilization was reproduced using a pilot-scale apparatus. The effect of WMS co-digested with fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) was investigated at different organic loading rates (OLR), from 1.46kgVS/m3day to 2.8kgVS/m3day, and reduced hydraulic retention time, from 14days to about 10days. Methane production per unit of digester volume increased from about 140NL/m3day to a maximum value of about 900NL/m3day when OLR was increased from 1.46kgVS/m3day to 2.1kgVS/m3day. Higher OLR caused an excessive HRT reduction, decreasing the percentage of volatile solids degradation without significantly affecting process stability. The maximum electrical energy producible from the full-scale anaerobic facility was about 3,500,000kWh/year. In these conditions the electrical power output and the net efficiency of the co-generator were 470kW and 37%, respectively.

Keywords: Anaerobic co-digestion; Biomethane; Energy recovery; Fruit and vegetable waste; Organic loading rate; Waste-mixed sludge (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.01.146

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