Hunt, Jamie E. (2023) Co-digestion of abattoir paunch and stick water under mesophilic and ambient temperatures: a case study. [USQ Project]
![[img]](https://sear.unisq.edu.au/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text (Project – redacted)
HUNT_J_HARRIS_Redacted.pdf Download (2MB) |
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion (AD) has gained favour in the red meat processing industry for its ability to treat wastewater while generating biogas, a fuel alternative to natural gas (World Biogas Association 2021). Paunch, the stomach content of cattle, is an organic-rich waste material. Digestion of paunch is not widely adopted and is traditionally landfilled despite biogas production being considered best practice (ARENA, 2017). Rising utility costs has pushed abattoirs to revisit paunch AD as an alternative energy source and to reduce disposal fees (Ramirez et al. 2021). Effective paunch AD has limitations as it contains recalcitrant lignocellulosic material not available for degradation. Abattoir treatment processes are often not heated and increased temperature enhances methanogenic bacterial growth and increases biogas production rates.
The project aims to enhance the anaerobic degradation of paunch through two objectives: 1) increasing temperature from on-site ambient to 37°C, and 2) optimisation of carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio through co-digestion with stickwater. Biochemical methane potential testing was conducted to test both codigestion and temperature impacts. Temperate was varied from the case study ambient of 28°C to the optimum of 37°C. Feedstocks were co-digested in ratios representing production availability, and C:N ratios of 15, 20, 25, 30, & 35. Optimising the temperature enhanced methane yeild by 13.6%, the degradable fraction by 15.9%, and time of digestion by 39.9%. Biogas yield was highest at a C:N of 15, while the ideal ratios in the literature are between 20–30. Additionally, the degradable fraction was greatest in production ratio mixes, performing better than other mixes for both temparture ranges with degradable fraction of 67% at 28°C and 75% for 37°C.
Although no effect of C:N ratio was observed, significant benefit was obtained from optimising digestion temperature. The data supports the heating of digestion systems to manage paunch waste for energy production and the diversion of wastes to landfill.
|
Statistics for this ePrint Item |
| Item Type: | USQ Project |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Engineering (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Harris, Peter |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Sep 2025 22:13 |
| Last Modified: | 29 Sep 2025 22:13 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Anaerobic Digestion; Biogas; Bioenergy; Slaughterhouse; Energy Recovery; Circular Economy |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52958 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Archive Repository Staff Only |
