Impact of volatile fatty acids to alkalinity ratio and volatile solids on biogas production under thermophilic conditions

Abstract

The study assessed the impact of volatile fatty acids (VFA) to total alkalinity (TA) ratio (VFA/TA), and percentage volatile solids (VS) reduction of batch and semi-continuous anaerobic co-digestion of palm nut paste waste (PNPW) and anaerobic-digested rumen waste (ADRW) on digester stability and biogas production under the environmental condition of 50 ± 1°C and hydraulic retention time of 21 days for the batch studies and 14 days for semi-continuous co-digestion. The co-digestion ratios were based on percentage digester volume corresponding to 90%:10%, 75%:25% and 50%:50%. During batch and semi-continuous anaerobic co-digestion, VFA/TA of 0.32–1.0 and VS reduction of 53–67% were observed as the stable range at which biogas production was maximum. In terms of semi-continuous anaerobic digestion (AD), except for the 50%:50% ratio where biogas production progressed steadily from the first to fourteenth days, biogas production initially dropped from 180.1 to 171.3 mL between the first and third days of the 90%:10% reaching a maximum of 184 mL on the fourteenth day. Biogas production declined from 198.8 to 187.5 mL on the second day and then increased to 198.8 ± 0.5 mL in the case of the 75%:25% with a significant difference between the treatment ratios at p < 0.05. Therefore, the study can confirm that the 50%:50% ratio (PNPW:ADRW) is a suitable option for managing crude fat-based waste under thermophilic AD due to its potential for rapid start-up and complete biodegradation of active biomass within a 21-day period. This presupposes that residual methane as greenhouse gas will be void in the effluent if disposed of.