The Valorization of Domestic Organic and Grocery Food Waste Through Anaerobic Digestion
Abstract:
This plant design project aims to design a process that uses food waste as a feedstock and converts it into value-added products. The objective of this project is to produce renewable energy sources while also sequestering harmful greenhouse gases that would otherwise end up in the atmosphere if the waste was simply sent to a landfill. Through the use of anaerobic digestion, a biogas product can be produced and further upgraded to renewable natural gas from the food waste collected from London, Ontario. Anaerobic digestion also results in a product called digestate, which can be further processed via pyrolysis to form biochar, a nutrient rich additive that can be used in fertilizers. This biochar sequesters carbon emissions from the food waste, something that the government of Canada will pay companies to do in the form of carbon credits, a secondary revenue stream for this plant. The results of the design show the layout of the plant, including equipment selection and sequencing, as well as the conditions that are required for operation. The design shows the feasibility of a food waste treatment plant by meeting safety requirements as well as showing a high likelihood of being profitable.
Students:
Seemal Saeeda, Ranim Ali, Andrew Sarazin, Benjamin Stenning
