Lab-scale co-digestion of kitchen waste and brown water for a preliminary performance evaluation of a decentralized waste and wastewater management

Abstract

An overall interaction is manifested between wastewater and solid waste management schemes. At the Laboratory of Environmental Engineering (LISA) of the University of Padova, Italy, the scientific and technical implications of putting into practice a decentralized waste and wastewater treatment based on the separation of grey water, brown water (BW - faecal matter) and yellow water (YW - urine) are currently undergoing investigation in the Aquanova Project. An additional aim of this concept is the source segregation of kitchen waste (KW) for subsequent anaerobic co-digestion with BW. To determine an optimal mixing ratio and temperature for use in the treatment of KW, BW, and eventually YW, by means of anaerobic digestion, a series of lab-scale batch tests were performed. Organic mixtures of KW and BW performed much better (max. 520mlCH/gVS) in terms of methane yields than the individual substrates alone (max. 220mlCH/gVS). A small concentration of urine proved to have a positive effect on anaerobic digestion performance, possibly due to the presence of micronutrients in YW. When considering high YW concentrations in the anaerobically digested mixtures, no ammonia inhibition was observed until a 30% and 10% YW content was added under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions, respectively.

Chitosan Biopolymer and Its Nanocomposites: Emerging Material as Adsorbent in Wastewater Treatment

“…Excess fuoride can cause structural damage and to ligaments. Removal of fuoride was carried out with diferent physical and chemical methods earlier [88]. Recently, naturally occurring materials like clay and zeolites combined with biopolymers are used for removing the same.…”

Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Kitchen Waste and Blackwater for Different Practical Application Scenarios in Decentralized Scale: From Wastes to Energy Recovery

“…2 shows the detailed arrangement. The ratio of substrate (i.e., KW and BW) to inoculum was 0.5 g VS/g vs. [13].…”

The resource recovery potential of blackwater and foodwaste: anaerobic co-digestion in serial semi-continuous stirred tank reactors

“…The relevance of ammonium as a necessary nutrient for degradation and microbial development has been previously elucidated. Precaution of high free ammonia concentrations is necessary, most notably in high concentrations (1700-5000 mg/L) during the anaerobic bioprocess of complex substrates with organic waste, such as manure (Yenigün and Demirel 2013;Lavagnolo et al 2017;Giwa et al 2019c).…”

“…A decentralized water resource system for the BW can maximize water reuse and recovery of energy and nutrients (Poortvliet et al 2018). The decentralized treatment based on the separation of household wastewater (BW, gray water, and brown water) depicts future and sustainable solutions for the waste (water) treatment (Elmitwalli et al 2006;Lavagnolo et al 2017). In the reduction of water utilization for BW management, the vacuum toilet is often used due to less water consumption in the range (0.5-1L water per flush) compared to (6-9 L water per flush) of the traditional toilets (Zhang et al 2019).…”

“…These household waste streams (BW and FW) are a valuable source for nutrient and energy production if digested together. Anaerobic co-digestion of FW with BW would not only offer an economical and greener disposal approach but induced a reduction in fossil fuel consumption and avert the impact of global warming (Abbasi et al 2012;Lavagnolo et al 2017).…”