Production of biogas from food waste in laboratory scale dry anaerobic digester under mesophilic condition

Organic matter specifically food and vegetable waste contains the utmost proportion of the composition of solid waste in Bangladesh. It is estimated that the food waste generation rate of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) from its two major waste generation sources field mess and vista cafeteria is around 130-140 kg/day. There is an increasing concern to reduce this food waste burden by adopting appropriate measures. Therefore, the prime objective of this study was to manage the food waste generated in BUP by producing biogas through laboratory-scale dry anaerobic digestion processes under mesophilic conditions. The proximate analysis of food wastes or feedstock revealed that the solid content of feedstock was more than 15% which is considered suitable for dry anaerobic digestion. In this study, three different DAD (dry anaerobic digestion) models or digesters were designed and executed in 2 phases. It was observed that around 2079 ml (0.55 gal) biogas was produced on the 37th day of the second phase while no biogas was produced in the first phase during the residence time (14-50 days). The produced biogas's potential test showed that the biogas began to burn a shade of blue which confirmed the energy potentiality. Hence, the study's results suggest that the dry anaerobic digestion approach appears promising to generate biogas in the context of the growing energy demand using renewable energy sources as well as contributing to food waste minimization of BUP while promoting environmental, social, and economic benefits for the local sustainable development.