Anaerobic Digestion Process of Food Waste for Biogas Production: A Simulation Approach

Anaerobic digestion (AD) involves a series of biological processes in which organic material is broken down and transformed into biogas. A simulation model of the AD process in treating food waste to produce biogas was developed using Aspen Plus software. The components list, thermodynamic property package, reaction list, reactor model, and process condition were specified in Aspen Plus. Sensitivity analysis was performed to study the effect of hydraulic retention time and changes in food waste composition on the biogas production. The methane composition in biogas decreased when the hydraulic retention time was increased which is due to the reduction of substrate consumption during the AD process. The process model is able to represent the AD process and provides a good approximation on the production of biogas under various process operating conditions.