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Article

Anaerobic Co-Digestion to Enhance Waste Management Sustainability at Yosemite National Park

1
Environmental Systems Graduate Group, University of California, Merced, CA 95343, USA
2
Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 11877; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911877
Submission received: 18 June 2022 / Revised: 12 September 2022 / Accepted: 18 September 2022 / Published: 21 September 2022
(This article belongs to the Section Sustainable Water Management)

Abstract

This study evaluated the co-digestion of domestic wastewater solids (WWS) and food waste (FW) at the bench-scale for Yosemite National Park, California, which operates a 1900 m3/d wastewater treatment plant in El Portal, California. A 35-day biochemical methane potential test was performed on varying amounts of FW as a percentage of total waste (WWS plus FW) on a volatile solids basis (%FW). Specific methane yield and volumetric methane yield increased substantially with increasing %FW. A higher %FW was also associated with slower degradation kinetics but higher methane content in biogas. The 75 %FW treatment had relatively rapid kinetics, a high cumulative specific methane yield (453 mL CH4/g VS), and an elevated methane content in biogas, and is suggested as an upper limit %FW mixture for full-scale co-digestion. This, coincidently, is near the estimated ratio of WWS and FW production at the Park (70 %FW). Co-digesting the Park’s feedstock of FW with WWS in existing anaerobic digestion facilities could increase methane production five-fold. Combusting this methane in a combined heat and power system would produce about twice the energy needed to heat anaerobic digestors and power the treatment plant.
Keywords: biochemical methane potential test; combined heat and power; food waste; wastewater solids biochemical methane potential test; combined heat and power; food waste; wastewater solids

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MDPI and ACS Style

Burmistrova, J.; Beutel, M.; Hestir, E.; Ryals, R.; Pandey, P. Anaerobic Co-Digestion to Enhance Waste Management Sustainability at Yosemite National Park. Sustainability 2022, 14, 11877. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911877

AMA Style

Burmistrova J, Beutel M, Hestir E, Ryals R, Pandey P. Anaerobic Co-Digestion to Enhance Waste Management Sustainability at Yosemite National Park. Sustainability. 2022; 14(19):11877. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911877

Chicago/Turabian Style

Burmistrova, Julia, Marc Beutel, Erin Hestir, Rebecca Ryals, and Pramod Pandey. 2022. "Anaerobic Co-Digestion to Enhance Waste Management Sustainability at Yosemite National Park" Sustainability 14, no. 19: 11877. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911877

APA Style

Burmistrova, J., Beutel, M., Hestir, E., Ryals, R., & Pandey, P. (2022). Anaerobic Co-Digestion to Enhance Waste Management Sustainability at Yosemite National Park. Sustainability, 14(19), 11877. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141911877

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