Advancing energy autonomy in Canadian Arctic: using a UASB digester for biogas production from food waste

Waste management represents a major challenge in Canadian Northern communities as most waste is currently disposed in open dumps, leading to environmental challenges. Anaerobic digestion could represent a means to reduce these impacts by converting organic waste, such as food waste, into biogas. This biogas could be used to reduce the reliance of these communities on diesel. There are, however, several challenges related to the operation of an anaerobic digester in a northern context, including waste collection, water consumption, and low temperatures. In this study, an up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket digester was used to convert food waste in the community of Cambridge Bay, Canada, to assess the feasibility of this conversion. In addition, an energy balance was carried out to identify potential bottlenecks of the process. The digester was operated under different experimental conditions for a period of 6 months, leading to an overall good methane production with a maximum methane yield of 0.32 L CH 4 g −1 chemical oxygen demand fed. Process monitoring was identified as a major challenge for remote operation of anaerobic digestion. In addition, dilution and heating of the feed were identified as the main bottlenecks. Improvements are therefore required for a large-scale deployment of the technology.