Enhanced Biogas Production Of A Revamped Fixed Film Anaerobic Digester On Raw Spent Wash- A Case Study

Abstract

In the present scenario, the cost of conventional energies has increased at a rapid rate due to manifold increase in their consumption. Renewable sources of energy are our best option for sustainable and pollution free development. One of the chief renewable sources of energy is biogas. The biogas is produced as by product of anaerobic digestion of organic substrate. Raw Spent Wash (RSW) is generated as effluent from distilleries and is a high organic content wastewater with potential for tremendous quantity of biogas generation via anaerobic digestion. In the present study biogas generation from a revamped fixed media reactor was evaluated for biogas production using RSW as substrate. The revamped digester was able to achieve its designed performance and achieved an average COD reduction of 65%, with the average biogas production of 22343 m³/d. The biogas production was 3535 m³/day higher than design values, indicating the superiority of reactor system in treating the effluent. The present study found that media based reactor is highly efficient,  reducing pollution loads from the effluent of the distillery and can additionally produce biogas in surplus quantities providing a double benefit of clean source of energy and financial savings to the industry.