Decentralized energy from portable biogas digesters using domestic kitchen waste: A review

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion is one of the main waste-to-energy technologies in reducing the volume of biodegradable waste into energy-rich biogas. Recent studies have revealed that kitchen wastes as a feedstock possess great potential in energy production and anaerobic digestion proved to be a promising technology among different kitchen waste management techniques such as incineration, pyrolysis, gasification, landfills, composting, etc. To anaerobically treat feedstock, an airtight enclosed container commonly known as biodigester will be employed. To suffice the energy requirement for cooking in the rural areas and recently even in the urban areas, a small-scale biogas unit commonly referred to as portable type biodigester is blooming as an attractive alternative for the production of biogas domestically. Hence, this review emphasizes on anaerobic digestion of kitchen wastes and the design of portable type biodigester. The present review provides an overview of different kitchen waste management techniques. The paper also discusses the different types of biomass feedstock and provides a generalized procedure for the design of a portable biogas unit. This study confirms that the systematic design of biogas units and proper feeding of kitchen waste offers an advantage of effective utilization of wastes in the production of decentralized energy.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Biofuel; Biogas; Kitchen waste; Portable; Waste management.