Optimization of Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Mess Food Waste with Parthenium hysterophorus for Improved Biogas Yield

Abstract Mess food waste is an ever-present issue in institutional & hostel dining facilities. The increasing generation of mess food Waste can cause serious public health and environmental risks if it is improperly handled. Anaerobic digestion technology for biogas production through many organic the topic of substrates has garnered global attention. because of It's economic viability & simplicity of use. The potential of pretreatment parthenium was assessed in this investigation hysterophorus weeds as a Mixed feedstocks for the Mixed substrate digestion of mess food leftovers laboratory-scale anaerobic digesters operated at varying feedstock ratios (0:100, 30:70, 70:30, 30:70, 70:30, & 100:0 on a Total solid bases) For biogas generation, the efficiency of the anaerobic digestion process was analyzed based on Chemical oxygen demand (COD), carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, total level of solids and pH, & biogas yield capacity. The findings revealed that the maximum rate of biogas generation (558 mL L⁻¹ d⁻¹) & total biogas production (5422 mL L⁻¹) were Obtained in the PCP2 co-digestion reactor, containing 70% mess food waste & 30% pr-treated Parthenium hysterophorus under static incubation at 32 ± 1°C. Furthermore, A gradual reduction in volatile solids (VS), total solids (TS), the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio, and organic matter content was noted during digestion process. The maximum organic matter removal effectiveness (37.8%) was achieved in the co-digestion reactor PCP2, which exhibited the greatest reduction in a 78% reduction in iCOD was recorded over a 60-day digestion period. The results demonstrate the feasibility of using Parthenium that has been prepared as a viable co-feedstock for enhancing biogas generation through digestion under oxygen-free conditions mixed substrate of mess food leftovers.