Estimation of Biogas Potential of the Food Waste Generated in a Hostel Mess

Abstract

This research work focusses on the estimation of biogas production from the food waste collected from a hostel mess in National Institute of Technology Rourkela. Vikram Sarabhai Hall of residence being the biggest hostel in the institute generates enough food waste and has a huge biogas potential. This paper focusses on the theoretical estimation of biogas that is an initial step towards establishing a biogas plant at the backyard of the hostel. Along with the waste treatment technology available today, characterization and chemical analysis of the raw material supplied to the machine becomes exceptionally important when figuring out the design and operational parameters of the biogas plant. Thorough research both quantitative and qualitative parameters are very important prior to the establishment of any engineering model. A food waste sample was collected from the hostel mess. In order to do the qualitative analysis and characterisation of food waste, the sample was dried in hot air oven and further it was crushed using the mortar pistol to powdered form. This powdered sample was subsequently used for characterisation of the food waste. Characterisation process includes the carbohydrate estimation, protein estimation, cholesterol estimation and CHNS analysis. This research work includes an MATLAB tool that was used to theoretical estimate the methane generation if the CHNS data is known to us. Even though very few number of samples were analysed, the results are extremely valuable for the biogas plant designers.