A Technical and Economic Feasibility Study of Using a Small-Scale Anaerobic Digester for Energy Production from Cafeteria Food Waste at a Local North Carolina School
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- February 28, 2019
- Creator
-
Kominek, Byron
- Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
- Abstract
- The purpose of this study was to determine the technical and economic feasibility of operating an anaerobic digester on food waste at a local North Carolina school. This study reviewed literature pertaining to the environmental and operational conditions affecting methane production during mesophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste. Students at Smith Middle School in Chapel Hill were observed to throwaway 0.64kg of food each month, which was estimated to produce 95L of methane. Three methane-to- energy conversion methods were analyzed. Using methane directly in a boiler was found to be most cost-effective. A food waste-to-energy system(FWTE) was designed to maximize methane production during anaerobic digestion and to inexpensively transfer it into a boiler. Regulatory procedures for the approval of FWTE use in North Carolina schools were also outlined. A cost/benefit analysis was conducted using the combination of Smith Middle School plus two neighboring schools. Construction and regulatory approval costs were estimated at $14,400. Financial benefits from offsetting natural gas usage were estimated at $1,100/year and unable to payback the initial investment before the end of the FWTE lifetime. Environmental benefits, based on the effect of CH4 on global warming in CO2 equivalents, varied greatly with the price per ton of CO2. Only a value of $37 or more per ton of CO2 prevention would allow the FWTE to break-even within 4 years.
- Date of publication
- August 2008
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Advisor
- Aitken, Michael
- Walters, Glenn
- Characklis, Gregory
- Degree
- Master of Science in Environmental Engineering
- Academic concentration
- Environmental Engineering
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Graduation year
- 2008
- Language
- Deposit record
- e00f1df6-6c31-41ba-867b-150d86a8c8cb
- Date uploaded
- June 30, 2016
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