Sustainable food waste management in Thailand using anaerobic digestion | |
| Author | Nanthiya Saeteaw |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-17-12 |
| Subject(s) | Sewage--Purification--Anaerobic treatment Food--Waste disposal |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. EV-17-12 |
| Abstract | Food waste is a prominent issue in the world because one-third of food production is wasted from the food supply chain. In Thailand, the food waste generation is still increasing because of the increasing of population and economic growth. Moreover, the improper food waste management can cause impacts to the environment such as greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission as well as health problems. This research aimed to study food waste treatment methods which are widely used in Thailand. In, this study kitchen food waste was characterized and used as feedstock for anaerobic digestion process, which was identified as the most suitable technique for food waste management in Thailand. Bangkok was selected as the study area for analysis of food waste composition and physio-chemical parameters. Overall food waste composition included with rice and noodle, which accounted for 46.6% of the total food waste collected. The other component, which are vegetables and fruits, bones, meat and fish, tissue and plastics and bread and bakery constituted 24.8%, 12.9%, 11.5%, 3.7% and 0.5%, respectively. The food waste generation sources were classified in to four sectors consist of commercial, residential, academic and official sectors. The food waste composition from each sector was different. Moreover, the physio-chemical characteristics of food waste were also important factors for design and operation AD. In which, moisture content (MC) and carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio were the most important. The collected food waste had 65 –84 % of MC and 10.2 –24.5 of C/N ratio. The bench scale of continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) was used for AD technology for this study. The system was operated at the mesophilic condition (37 ̊C) by semi-continuous feeding. The operational parameter of pH, ORP and temperature were monitored online via PLC programme. At the organic loading rate (OLR) of 2 kg/m³·day, the volatile solid (VS) removal efficiency was 72 %. Methane yield was 0.330 –0.468 m³CH4/kg VS, which can be used to produce energy. Moreover, digestate from the reactor still remained organic high portion of organic matter 27 % and moisture content which requires further treatment for other applications. |
| Year | 2017 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Visvanathan, C.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Thammarat Koottatep;Salam, Abdul P.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Royal Thai Government Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2017 |