Biogas, as a renewable energy source, produced during the anaerobic digestion of organic waste

Abstract

Identifying alternative sources of energy is a matter of urgency, since conventional energy sources are becoming exhausted. Renewable energy sources, such as biogas, can be generated from organic waste, through the anaerobic digestion (AD) technology. Investigations were undertaken at the CSIR to study biogas potential derived from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste. The results of the study showed that biogas was generated when initially 100% kitchen waste was degraded and later kitchen waste combined with primary sludge in different concentrations in a laboratory scale anaerobic digester (Volume: 5L), which was operated at 35ºC. The results of the study showed that with increasing loading rates to the reactor as well when the percentage primary sludge increased (70%), a higher volume of biogas was obtained. Furthermore, the results showed a clear relationship between the loading rate and the gas production rate. This paper will provide recommendations as to the possible applications for the generation of heat and power. Possible applications are to fuel microturbines to generate electricity and process heat.