Kinetic Study on Biogas Production from Cabbage (Brassica oleracea) Waste and Its Blend with Animal Manure Using Logistic Function Model

Abstract

This research paper aimed to evaluate the kinetics of anaerobic digestion (AD) of mixtures of cabbage waste (CW) with (Poultry dropping (PD) and Cow dung (CD). The study was conducted in 10L bio-digesters for 35 days under mesophilic conditions (25 - 35OC). Logistic function equation was used to simulate the experimental data to test for its goodness of fit and kinetic parameters namely: maximum biogas potential (Pb), the maximum biogas production rate (Rm), and the lag phase duration (λ) were estimated in each treatment. Chemical analysis showed that individual substrates possess characteristics that could support microbial activities in biogas production. The biogas yield in terms of added volatile solids (VS) in decreasing order was as follows: 0.022, 0.018, 0.017, 0.014, 0.014 and 0.013 dm3/g VS for CW/CD 2:1, CW/PD3:1, CW/CD 1:1, CW alone, CW/PD1:1 and CW/PD 2:1, respectively. A significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) in biogas yield was recorded in CW/CD 2:1 with 7.19 dm3 (53.29% increase). The kinetic parameters (Pb, Rm, and λ) for CW/CD 2:1 was 7.01 dm3, 1.58 dm3.d, and 2.29 days, respectively. This was followed by CW/PD 3:1 (5.84 dm3); with 24.92% increase in gas production and CW/CD 1:1 (5.42 dm3) with 15.53% increase relative to CW alone, 4.69 dm3. The digesters fed with CW/PD 1:1 and CW/PD 2:1 exhibited inhibitory effects on biogas production, with 7.51 and 2.05% decrease in gas yield, respectively. The logistic function model demonstrated a strong relationship between the experimental and model-predicted data. The high correlation coefficient (R2) ranging between 0.978 - 0.993 is evident. The model proved to be a useful tool in predicting anaerobic digestion and biogas production process.