Effects of mixture ratio on anaerobic co-digestion with fruit and vegetable waste and food waste of China

The biochemical methane potentials for typical fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) and food waste (FW) from a northern China city were investigated,which were 0.30,0.56 m3 CH4/kgVS (volatile solids) with biodegradabilities of 59.3％ and 83.6％,respectively.Individual anaerobic digestion testes of FVW and FW were conducted at the organic loading rate (OLR) of 3 kg VS/(m3·day) using a lab-scale continuous stirred-tank reactor at 35℃.FVW could be digested stably with the biogas production rate of 2.17 m3/(m3.day) and methane production yield of 0.42 m3 CHl4/kg VS.However,anaerobic digestion process for FW was failed due to acids accumulation.The effects of FVW:FW ratio on co-digestion stability and performance were further investigated at the same OLR.At FVW and FW mixing ratios of 2:1 and 1:1,the performance and operation of the digester were maintained stable,with no accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ammonia.Changing the feed to a higher FW content in a ratio of FVW to FW 1:2,resulted in an increase in VFAs concentration to 1100-1200 mg/L,and the methanogenesis was slightly inhibited.At the optimum mixture ratio 1:1 for co-digestion of FVW with FW,the methane production yield was 0.49 m3 CHl4/kg VS,and the volatile solids and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) removal efficiencies were 74.9％ and 96.1％,respectively.