Mesophilic batch co‐digestion of municipal solid waste and food waste: improved digester performance and stability at optimum organic loading rates

BACKGROUND The accumulative municipal solid waste (MSW) production calls for emerging efficient technology for its handling. Anaerobic digestion (AD) of MSW provides effective waste volatilization. The high C/N ratio of MSW and increasing organic loading rates (OLRs) are central AD restrictions that affect the AD process performance, inhibition due to aggregation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs), and rapid fall in pH. RESULTS This study examines the consequence of OLRs on AD of MSW with a high C/N ratio of 406 in food waste (FW) to have a balanced C/N ratio of 30. Three batch scale digesters investigate under mesophilic conditions (35 °C) with OLRs of 10, 15, and 20 gVS L−1 to assess the digester performance and stability in biogas yield, methane yield, and volatile solids (VS) reduction. The cumulative biogas and methane yield are observed to be 1336 and 776 mL gVS−1, respectively, with a VS reduction rate of 78%, at 10 gVS L−1. VFA/alkalinity ratio ranges from 0.02 to 0.01 at OLR of 10 and 15 gVS L−1, which designates a higher buffering capability of the digester. While VFA/alkalinity ratio of 0.48 observes at OLR of 20 gVS L−1. A rapid deprivation in digester performance and stability finds at ORL of 15 and 20 gVS L−1. The cumulative biogas yield and methane yield decrease with the increase in OLR from 10 to 20 gVS L−1. CONCLUSION This study provided sufficient information for better AD processes and operational circumstances that are an optimum and effective method to convert organic matter to biogas fuel. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).