Biogas Production from University Hostel Food Waste: Renewable Energy through Efficient Waste Management

Biogas is a renewable energy source that can be produced from various organic wastes, including animal manure, food waste, sewage sludge, and agricultural residues. It provides a greener alternative to fossil fuels, reducing reliance on nonrenewable resources and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, biogas production offers an efficient way to manage waste and has financial advantages. This research focuses on the effectiveness of biogas production. Waste was collected from Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall, BUET. In our sample, the biodegradable portion of the solid waste was $87 \%$. Physical parameters such as Total Solids (TS) and Volatile Solids (VS) were determined, with TS at $52.2 \%$ and VS at $15.4 \%$. The digestion process of the sample was observed in a batch study, with anaerobic digestion conducted simultaneously in four reactors. For proper anaerobic digestion, an adequate amount of inoculum was used along with the waste sample. The inoculum was collected from the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhaka. For each experiment, the detention time of the kitchen waste was found to be 8-9 days, indicating that the volume of the digester can be relatively small. A decrease in pH was observed in every reactor. In experiments one and two, the pH ranged from 5-6, while in experiments three and four, it varied from 3-4.