Abstract
The main aim of this study was to evaluate the biomethane potential (BMP) of fruit waste by incorporating additives such as sewage sludge biochar at different inoculum to substrate ratios (ISR) of 2, 1.5 and 1 (w/w). The results showed an improvement in the maximum methane production by 13, 20 and 27 % upon the addition of sewage sludge biochar produced at 350 C for ISR of 2, 1.5 and 1 (w/w), respectively, and an increase 12, 18 and 22% for the added biochar produced at 550 C for ISR of 2, 1.5 and 1 (w/w), respectively, compared to the BMP tests performed without the addition of biochar. In addition to this, the amount of biochar with the best effectiveness at ISR = 2, 1.5, and 1 was reported to be 0.5, 1, and 0.5 g / g VS-fruit waste of biochar produced at 350 C and 1.5, 1.5 and 1 g / VS-fruit waste for the sewage sludge biochar produced at 550 C, respectively. Finally, the highest methane production rates were registered for ISR = 2, 1.5, and 1 at 1, 1.5, and 1 g biochar produced at 350 C per g VS-fruit waste and 1.5, 0.5 and 1 g biochar produced at 550 C per g / VS-fruit waste, respectively. The results from this study showed that the effectiveness of the anaerobic digestion process depends on the ISR, biochar dose as well as the pyrolysis temperature used for the production of the sewage sludge digestate biochar.
Highlights
The amount of municipal solid waste increases with economic development as well as population growth
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sewage sludge biochar prepared during slow pyrolysis at 350 and 550◦C and its optimal dosage, as well as the effect of the inoculum-to-substrate ratio (ISR) on the Anaerobic digestion (AD) of fruit wastes to enhance biogas production
The digestion performances in the treatments at ISR = 2 with an added concentration of biochar of 1 and 1.5 g/g volatile solid (VS)-fruit waste at a temperature of 350 and 550◦C, respectively, gave the best results
Summary
The amount of municipal solid waste increases with economic development as well as population growth. The unrestrained discharge of large amounts of FW may become the cause of severe environmental pollution especially in developing countries where solid waste management procedures are poorly implemented. In developed countries such as the Netherlands (i.e., a relatively small country with a high population density), FW has become a challenging problem in terms of solid waste management (Chen et al, 2008; Zhang et al, 2014). The environmental impact (contribution to global warming and climate change) of FW is estimated to be 20–30% worldwide, whereas for the Netherlands it is >50% (NOS Annual Report, 2016). An effective and environmentally friendly approach is needed for FW treatment where resource recovery strategies are included
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