Anaerobic digestion of waste from a slaughterhouse

This paper investigates the effects of variation in the inoculum to waste ratio on the anaerobic treatment of slaughterhouse waste, and proposes a low cost anaerobic treatment system. The work was carried out using a laboratory scale packed anaerobic digester with a gas collecting chamber. The inoculum used for seeding the reactors was septic tank sludge. The operating temperature ranged from 28 to 37 degrees C. The experimental results indicated chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies ranged from 60 to 90% and increased with increasing inoculum to waste ratio beyond (1:1). The decrease in the temperature (from 37 to 28 degrees C) reduced the COD removal efficiency from 90 to 75%. The system did not show any sign of destabilization under intermittent mode of operation of the reactors. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.