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Abstract:The objective of this study was to build and develop anaerobic biodigesters for optimization of biogas production using food waste (FW) and sewage (S) co-digestion from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The biodigesters operated with different mixtures and in mesophilic phase (37 • C). During the 60 days of experiments, all control and monitoring parameters of the biodigesters necessary for biogas production were tested and evaluated. The biodigester containing FW, S and anaerobic sludge presented the biggest reduction of organic matter, expressed with removal of 88.3% TVS (total volatile solid) and 84.7% COD (chemical oxygen demand) the biggest biogas production (63 L) and the highest methane percentage (95%). Specific methane production was 0.299 LCH 4 /gVS and removed. The use of biodigesters to produce biogas through anaerobic digestion may play an important role in local economies due to the opportunity to produce a renewable fuel from organic waste and also as an alternative to waste treatment. Finally, the embedded control and automation system was simple, effective, and robust, and the supervisory software was efficient in all aspects defined at its conception.

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The objective of this work was to develop an automated anaerobic biodigester capable of operating in a semi-continuous or batch system for biogas production. Low biodegradability biomass has little efficiency in the production of biogas by anaerobic digestion processes and an efficient alternative is the use of bioprocesses in semi-continuous system. Two experiments were carried out in the same proportions but in different processes, and all control and automation parameters were tested and evaluated. For testing, mixtures of organic waste, anaerobic sludge (inoculum) and raw sewage without any treatment from the sewage treatment plant, in mesophilic phase (37 °C), were used during the 60 days of experiment. The semi-continuous system showed the greatest reduction in organic matter, expressed by the removal of 80.7% Total Solids Volatile (TVS) and the greatest volume (68.5 L) and methane percentage (78.5%). Finally, with these and other results found, it is possible to conclude that the biodigester developed for semi-continuous system, with the automation and control system, was satisfactory for the reduction in organic matter and biogas production. In addition, all operating system worked properly and with the use of current, low-cost technologies, the application and development on a larger scale becomes viable in the future.

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