Enzymatic Hydrolysis of FoodWaste and Methane Production Using UASB Bioreactor

Complex carbohydrates of food waste (FW) can be converted to biogas, methane. In this article, enzymatic solubilization of FW and methane production potential using an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor of FW liquor enzymatically hydrolyzed were investigated. The optimum conditions of FW hydrolysis were enzyme mixture ratio of 1:2:1 with carbohydrase: protease: lipase, respectively, 0.2% (w/w FW) of mixture dose, and 10-h hydrolysis reaction. More than 95% of high soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) removal efficiency and 0.35 L-CH4/g-SCOD of high methane yield were observed at 9.1 g-SCOD/L/d of organic loading rate. Our results revealed that methane production via a UASB reactor in conjunction with enzymatic hydrolysis of FW could be a novel anaerobic digestion process to obtain high-value biogas.