title: Comparison of methane production by co-digesting fruit and vegetable waste with first stage and second stage anaerobic digester sludge from a two stage digester.
abstract: Fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) was co-digested with first stage (FSS) and second stage anaerobic digester sludge (SSS) separately, over the course of 10 days, in batch reactors. Addition of FVW significantly increased the methane production in both sludges. After 10 days of digestion FSS + FVW produced 514 ± 57 L CH(4) kg VS(-1)(added) compared with 392 ± 16 L CH(4) for the SSS + FVW. The increased methane yield was most likely due to the higher inoculum substrate ratio of the FSS. The final VS and COD contents of the sewer sludge and FVW mixtures were not significantly different from the control values suggesting that all of the FVW added was degraded within 10 days. It is recommended that FVW be added to the first stage of the anaerobic digester in order to maximize methane generation.
authors.affiliation: University of Northern British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Nathan D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ronald W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Thring
authors.forename: Steve S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Helle
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D005638:Fruit / Q000378:metabolism; D005735:Garbage; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D012722:Sewage; D014675:Vegetables / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D012722:Sewage; D008697:Methane