title: Enhanced anaerobic digestion of food waste by thermal and ozonation pretreatment methods.
abstract: Treatment of food waste by anaerobic digestion can lead to an energy production coupled to a reduction of the volume and greenhouse gas emissions from this waste type. According to EU Regulation EC1774/2002, food waste should be pasteurized/sterilized before or after anaerobic digestion. With respect to this regulation and also considering the slow kinetics of the anaerobic digestion process, thermal and chemical pretreatments of food waste prior to mesophilic anaerobic digestion were studied. A series of batch experiments to determine the biomethane potential of untreated as well as pretreated food waste was carried out. All tested conditions of both thermal and ozonation pretreatments resulted in an enhanced biomethane production. The kinetics of the anaerobic digestion process were, however, accelerated by thermal pretreatment at lower temperatures (<120 °C) only. The best result of 647.5 ± 10.6 mlCH4/gVS, which is approximately 52% higher as compared to the specific biomethane production of untreated food waste, was obtained with thermal pretreatment at 80 °C for 1.5 h. On the basis of net energy calculations, the enhanced biomethane production could cover the energy requirement of the thermal pretreatment. In contrast, the enhanced biomethane production with ozonation pretreatment is insufficient to supply the required energy for the ozonator.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and the Southern Lazio, Via Di Biasio, 43, 03043 Cassino, FR, Italy; UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611 AX Delft, The Netherlands. Electronic address: jaka@unicas.it.
authors.forename: Javkhlan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ariunbaatar
authors.affiliation: Telematic University Pegaso, Piazza Trieste e Trento, 48, 80132 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Panico
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Applications Renato Caccioppoli, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio, 21, 80125 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frunzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and the Southern Lazio, Via Di Biasio, 43, 03043 Cassino, FR, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.affiliation: UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Westvest 7, 2611 AX Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Piet N L
authors.initials: PNL
authors.lastname: Lens
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via Claudio, 21, 80125 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pirozzi
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D019149:Bioreactors; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D010126:Ozone / Q000737:chemistry*; D062611:Solid Waste; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D062611:Solid Waste; D010126:Ozone
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Energy requirement; Organic solid waste; Ozonation pretreatment; Thermal pretreatment