The Effects of Agitation Method on the Food Waste Leachate Treatment Efficiency of an Anaerobic Digester

초록

Anaerobic digestion is a method for the proper management of the continuously increasing amount of food waste leachate, although it is costly and time consuming and requires enormous sites. Therefore, improving digestion efficiency with proper operation can be a realistic alternative. In this study, the effects of agitation methods on the performance of anaerobic digesters treating food waste leachate were evaluated by comparing two agitation methods: gas agitation and mechanical agitation. After changing gas agitation to mechanical agitation, the daily amount of food waste leachate treated increased from 131 to 147 t. In addition, the organic removal efficiency was improved by up to 6%. Digestion gas production also increased from 0.33 to 0.50 Nm3/kg CODcr-added. Moreover, it was found that it was possible to reduce electricity consumption by 40%. The above results indicate that the mechanical agitation method is more advantageous for the treatment of food waste leachate than the gas agitation method. © 2022, Korea Society of Waste Management. All rights reserved.

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