Abstract

SANCHEZ-REYES, Claudian et al. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) determination of wastes of fruits and vegetables from homes. Rev. Int. Contam. Ambient [online]. 2016, vol.32, n.2, pp.191-198. ISSN 0188-4999.  https://doi.org/10.20937/RICA.2016.32.02.05.

In this work we studied the decomposition of organic matter of food kitchen wastes (substrate) by sewage sludge (inoculum) from a wastewater treatment plant, through the process of anaerobic digestion (AD) in order to obtain biogas and to determine the biochemical methane potential (BMP) at the end of this process. The tests were performed with substrate:inoculum ratios 1:2 and 1:3, in terms of volatile solids (VS). The most important parameters that influence AD were VS, total solids (TS), chemical oxigen demand (COD) and pH. They were measured in the course of the process in mesophilic conditions (35 °C) and retention times of 15 days. The biogas obtained was purified by removing H2S and NH3 with NaOH and H2SO4 traps. For experiments with inoculum and substrate, 1.235 L of biogas with 80.15 % CH4 were recovered and for tests without substrate, 0.720 L of biogas with 90.47 % of CH4 were gathered. The quantification of this gas was performed by gas chromatography. The results agree with biogas production and organic load decrease, expressed as COD. For experiments S:I, the BMP values obtained were 124.82 and 127.89 mL CH4/g VS, for 1:3 and 103.39 and 116.27 mL CH4/g VS for 1:2.

Keywords : anaerobic digestion; biogas; inoculum; substrate.