Anaerobic co-digestion of coffee waste and sewage sludge

Abstract

The feasibility of the anaerobic co-digestion of coffee solid waste and sewage sludge was assessed. Five different solid wastes with different chemical properties were studied in mesophilic batch assays, providing basic data on the methane production, reduction of total and volatile solids and hydrolysis rate constant. Most of the wastes had a methane yield of 0.24–0.28 m³CH4(STP)/kg VSinitial and 76–89% of the theoretical methane yield was achieved. Reduction of 50–73% in total solids and 75–80% in volatile solids were obtained and the hydrolysis rate constants were in the range of 0.035–0.063 dֿ¹. One of the solid wastes, composed of 100% barley, achieved a methane yield of 0.02 m³ CH4(STP)/kg VSinitial, reductions of 31% in total solids, 40% in volatile solids and achieved only 11% of the theoretical methane yield. However, this waste presented the highest hydrolysis rate constant. Considering all the wastes, an inverse linear correlation was obtained between methane yield and the hydrolysis rate constant, suggesting that hydrolysis was not the limiting factor in the anaerobic biodegradability of this type of waste.