Anaerobic digestion of semi-solid organic waste: biogas production and its purification

The main objective of the present experimental investigation was to evaluate the effects of using different bacteria inoculums at identical technical settings on the anaerobic digestion process for the treatment of semisolid organic waste available from the orthofruit market. As a possible means to improve the biogas production, as well as reduce their pollution potential, the idea of using recycled digested sludge from the reactor, along with the orthofruit waste, while operating the reactor at maximum retention period has been applied. Purification of the biogas produced was done by means of CO2 adsorption, resulting in a higher CH4/CO2 ratio and, thus, improving its use as fuel for power generation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.