Research Papers : Anaerobic Treatment of Food Waste Leachate for Biogas Production Using a Novel Digestion System

In this study, the performance of new digestion system (NDS) for the treatment of food waste leachate was evaluated. The food waste leachate was fed intermittently to an anaerobic reactor at increasing steps of 3.3 L/day (hydraulic retention time [HRT] = 30 day), 5 L/ day (HRT = 20 day), and finally 10 L/day (HRT = 10 day). In the anaerobic reactor, the pH and alkalinity were maintained at 7.6 to 8.2 and 8,940-14,400 mg/L, respectively. Maximum methane yield determined to be 0.686L CH4/g volatile solids (VS) containing HRT over 20 day. In the digester, 102,328 mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/L was removed to produce 350 L/day (70% of the total) of biogas, but in the digested sludge reduction (DSR) unit, only 3,471 mg COD/L was removed with a biogas production of 158 L/day. Without adding any chemicals, 25% of total nitrogen (TN) and 31% of total phosphorus (TP) were removed after the DSR, while only 48% of TN and 32% of TP were removed in the nitrogen, phosphorus, and heavy metals (NPHM) removal unit. Total removal of TN was 73% and total removal of TP was 63%.