Biogas Production from Biodegradable Kitchen Waste Generated on University of Science and Technology Campus, Ghana

Abstract

The alarming potential environmental problems (low investment, operation cost, technical requirements, air, water and land pollutions, improper waste management practices) linked to organic fraction of municipal solid waste which is mostly landfilled in many parts of the world have fostered the need for a biological treatment using anaerobic digestion. This is an attractive technology for waste stabilization with potential mass and volume reduction and significantly the generation of valuable by-products such as biogas and compost material.This research work focused on the biogas production from kitchen waste generated on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology campus, Ghana. The experiment was carried out in a multi-stage anaerobic digestion system operated under mesophilic temperature. Various process parameters were measured including temperature, pH, conductivity, total solids, moisture content, BOD, percentage BOD removal, biogas production and biogas production rate. The waste degraded at a rate of 36.1±2.2% / day, with average biogas production of 8.9±3.15 litres per day. Maximum biogas production rate per kilogram of total solids (TS) was 4.5±1.6 L/kg TS of biogas per day.