title: Effect of total solids content on methane and volatile fatty acid production in anaerobic digestion of food waste.
abstract: This work investigates the role of the moisture content on anaerobic digestion of food waste, as representative of rapidly biodegradable substrates, analysing the role of volatile fatty acid production on process kinetics. A range of total solids from 4.5% to 19.2% is considered in order to compare methane yields and kinetics of reactors operated under wet to dry conditions. The experimental results show a reduction of the specific final methane yield of 4.3% and 40.8% in semi-dry and dry conditions compared with wet conditions. A decreasing trend of the specific initial methane production rate is observed when increasing the total solids concentration. Because of lack of water, volatile fatty acids accumulation occurs during the first step of the process at semi-dry and dry conditions, which is considered to be responsible for the reduction of process kinetic rates. The total volatile fatty acids concentration and speciation are proposed as indicators of process development at different total solids content.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and the Southern Lazio, Cassino, Italy flavia.liotta@unicas.it.
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liotta
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: d'Antonio
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and the Southern Lazio, Cassino, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Esposito
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimiliano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fabbricino
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Géomatériaux et Environnement, Université Paris-Est, Marne-la-Vallée, France.
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: van Hullebusch
authors.affiliation: UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Piet N L
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Lens
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pirozzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and the Southern Lazio, Cassino, Italy.
authors.forename: Ludovico
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pontoni
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000032:analysis*; D007700:Kinetics; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D062611:Solid Waste; D008697:Methane
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; dry digestion; food waste; moisture content; volatile fatty acids