Evaluation of Waste with High Organic Content in Energy Production

Abstract

Animal and vegetable wastes are mostly utilized by burning or as fertilizer on agricultural lands. Burning these wastes does not produce a desired level of heat, and the remaining material after heat production cannot be used as fertilizer, either. For this reason, plant and animal wastes are converted into energy by obtaining biogas from biomass, which is one of the most environmentally acceptable methods of solution. This system makes it possible to both produce energy and evaluate the end product as fertilizer. In this study, the efficiency of biogas and methane production from kitchen waste and ovine manure via anaerobic fermentation was evaluated. First of all, the C/N ratio of randomly selected kitchen wastes was determined, and it was found as 34.30. The mixing ratios with ovine manure were determined by considering the C/N ratio that was found. The mixing ratios of kitchen waste and ovine manure by mass were determined as 1:0, 0:1, 1:1, 1:2, and 2:1, respectively, and the C/N values providing optimum biogas production in the mixtures were found. At the end of the 48-day-long anaerobic fermentation process, the highest biogas and methane production was achieved as 525 ml and 332 ml, respectively, in reactor 5 with a mixing ratio of 2:1. This reactor was followed by reactor 2 with 450 ml of biogas and 271 ml of methane production. Accordingly, it was concluded that kitchen waste could be a good mixture with ovine manure in anaerobic fermentation.