Study on the Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Wasted Fruits and Vegetables

Simeonov Ivan (1) , Snezhanka Mihaylova (1) , Boyko Kalchev (1) , Elena Chorukova (1) , Svetla Marinova (2)

1 Institut Stephan Angeloff
2 Institute of soil science "N. Poushkarov"

The paper deals with anaerobic co-digestion of wasted fruits and vegetables (WFV) with activated sludge (AS), cattle manure (CM) and swine manure (SM) in continuously stirred tank laboratory bioreactors at mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. As WFV, cucumbers (WC), tomatoes (WT), potatoes (WP) and apples (WA) from the markets in Sofia have been selected. AS, CM and SM as cosubstrates have been supplied from the Sofia wastewater treatment plant and a little farm nearby Sofia. Laboratory studies of continuous processes have been done in bioreactors with full volumes of: 5 L in mesophilic conditions (34 ± 0.5°C) and 20 L in thermophilic conditions (54 ± 0.5°C). To start the process, WFV have been added stepwise to both bioreactors treating AS or CM, respectively, in order to avoid problems during the start-up period. Finally, the anaerobic digestion of WFV only, at the ratio of: 40% WP:20% WT:20% WC:20% WA, has been studied in mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. As a supplement, an assessment of the digestate as a biological fertilizer has been made.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; wasted fruits and vegetables; mesophilic and thermophilic conditions; biogas; fertilizer

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology

Simeonov Ivan, Snezhanka Mihaylova, Boyko Kalchev, Elena Chorukova, Svetla Marinova. Study on the Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Wasted Fruits and Vegetables. BALWOIS 2012, 2012, pp.on-line. ⟨pasteur-00755377⟩