Quantification and characterization of the production of biogas from blends of agro-industrial wastes in a large-scale demonstration plant

The use of energy contained in biogas is an interesting alternative to reconcile renewable electric power generation to environmental sanitation. Among the technologies used for recovering energy from biomass, the anaerobic digestion demonstrates ability to treat solid waste and effluents. This research work aims to analyze the influence of physical and chemical factors on the performance of anaerobic digestion reactors and to perform the characterization of biogas in order to assess their quality. The substrate evaluated is the mixture of liquid waste coming from different industrial processes and poultry manure. The characterization of CH4, CO2, H2S and O-2 was performed daily in two reactors, R-1 and R-2, for a period of three months, and the physical and chemical parameters were analyzed biweekly. The parameters analyzed are carbon (C), nitrogen (N), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), pH, total (TS), volatiles (VS) and fixed solids (FS). Among the results, stands out an average removal of 76% in relation to BOD and H2S concentration of 156.01 for R-1, and of 91.64 ppm for R-2, and the CH4: CO2 inverse relationship of 3.15 for R1 and 2.98 for R-2, during the monitoring period.