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Introduction

With the ever increasing energy demand of our lifestyles, there is a need to explore and exploit alternative sources of energy which are not just renewable but also eco-friendly (Achinas et al., 2017). In most parts of the world (developed and developing nations alike), there is an abundance of cellulosic biomass (kitchen waste, cow dung, agricultural residues etc.), which have the potential to cater for the energy demand, especially in the domestic sector (Tasnim et al., 2017). 

By and by, there is a global confrontation of various extreme issues in the division of energy creation, which might be increasingly genuine in the coming decade or something close (Gao et al., 2019). With the quick abatement in our underground normal assets, (for example, petroleum and coal) amount and level all through the world and issues identified with their powerful ignition, the developing interest to gain admittance to the new wellsprings of energy, as sustainable power sources and their assets is estimating their edges (Zareh et al., 2018). The interest for oil based commodities and their fundamental use in the advanced world is expanding as time passes (Kapoor et al., 2020). The modern scientists and researchers are constantly working to design different approaches to handle such inescapable issues (Zareei, 2018). 

In most developing nations, there is usually a lot of spending in forms of  cash-flow to import these items from abroad like, the Arabic region, the Persian gulf, OPEC (oil and petroleum exporting nations) and so on (Ramos-Suarez et al., 2019). The key issues encountered by most developing and developed nations of the present reality are mainly future energy security and better utilization of common assets (Cucchiella et al., 2019). There is a huge escape clause in the energy generation and utilization of these geographic regions (Gregorie et al., 2020). This circumstance may get increasingly aggravated in the long haul with joblessness and low gross domestic product (GDP) (Ammenberg et al., 2018). Restricted accessibility and absence of energy stays a standout amongst the most imperative impediments influencing mechanical advancements globally (Scarlat et al., 2018).

Green house impact is surely a matter of genuine worry for the survival the human species and nature (Sarkar and Saha, 2018). Deforestation and natural freedom is an issue, where genuine reasoning is to be carried out (Patinvoh and Taherzadeh, 2019). We have to restore the equivalent to accomplish prosperity and up-hold the nature-human relationship. A significant portion of the global population lives on charcoal and kindling for fuel supply and living which requires chopping down of trees, which thus diminishes the ripeness of soil and causes soil disintegration (Sehgal, 2018). In spite of the fact that traditionally, an expansive populace of rural developing regions live on wood, dairy animals manure cakes, charcoal, and so on because of its convenience, accessibility consistently, yet there are issues related with the side-effect created, causing infections because of smoke and destructive gases developing out of it (Pirelli et al., 2018).

Various reports show that the waste management authorities collects and disposes large volumes of domestic wastes globally (Rodic and Wilson, 2017). Metropolitan areas in developed regions disposes millions of tonnes of solid wastes and a large average waste generation rate is usually recorded (Heng and Qiu, n.d.). This depicts an inefficient waste management system globally, which is mainly due to lack of equipment, personnel and funds (Pariatamby et al., 2019).

Shortage of fuel is due to a number of reasons, but most importantly is the worldwide depletion of fossils (Angelidaki et al., 2018). The exploitation and consumption of the natural sources of fossil fuels is alarming and would eventually give rise to the exhaustion of these resources (Kougias and Angelidaki, 2018). The nonrenewable nature and non-availability of artificial production methods of fossils put the on the line .i.e. the fossil fuel era is coming to an end (Bradshaw et al., 2021). If this happens, various developing countries would be affected with the highest energy crisis, provided alternative sources of energy are not explored. Hence, the risk of an energy crisis will continue to loom if preventive and alternative survival measures are not put in place (Sharvini et al., 2018).

Problem Statement

The scarcity of LPG and kerosene poses a threat to the supply of fuel globally (Day and Day, 2017). The need to address the issues that arise with the combustion of fossil fuels has driven research in various corners to provide alternative sources of energy, like renewable energy resources (Mercure et al., 2018). Various forms of renewable energy are wind energy, solar energy, thermal and hydro sources of energy, and biogas (Martins et al., 2019). The peculiarity to collect, control and use organic wastes while producing water and fertilizer used in agricultural irrigation has made biogas distinctive from all other forms of renewable energy (Kumar, 2016).

Aim and Objectives

The aim of this work is to generate biogas from kitchen waste in a laboratory scale anaerobic digester and carry out a comprehensive comparative analysis on the composition of the generated biogas.

The objectives of this research project are: 

• Objective 1: Generation of biogas in an anaerobic digester from kitchen wastes; using cow and poultry dung respectively as activators.
• Objective 2:  Conduction of tests on the obtained biogas from different feedstock.
• Objective 3:  Optimization of the production of biogas by blending various proportions of kitchen wastes and activators.

Research Questions

The identified research questions for this project are provided below:

• What is the best process route and its optimal arrangement for this desired synthesis?
• How would the feedstock be acquired?
• How do we determine the optimum activator for the desired synthesis?
• Taking into account various constraints, how do we attain optimal selectivity and maximum yield of the desired product?
• What is the optimal duration for the completion of the process reaction?
• How does a change in various process variables affect the overall process dynamics?
• How is result testing carried out?

Deliverables

The deliverables of these project are a project report, samples of the synthesized products and gotten results. The synthesized products would be tested according to industry standards and literature to see how they compare with required standards.  Also, the report should contain a complete documentation of how the laboratory experiment was carried out, how various process variables were gotten, how the desired products were synthesized and how the results were arrived at.

Relevance

This project mainly focuses on the optimal generation of biogas from kitchen waste.

Methodology

This project focuses on secondary research, laboratory experiments and process analysis, and they are discussed below:

Secondary research

The secondary research in this project will utilize a systematic approach (Johnson et al., 2016) to review the works of literature. The steps involved in the systematic review of the literature are provided below:

• Step 1: Identify the research questions that can be used for the project.
• Step 2: Identify the keywords that should be used to research the works of literature.
• Step 3: Extract the journals and books that are appropriate for this project.
• Step 4: Write the literature review chapter.

Laboratory experiments

The laboratory experiments would cover a large chunk of this project. They would be carried out in stages, and as such described below;

• Stage 1:  Sourcing for the required feedstock (kitchen wastes)
• Stage 2:  Sourcing for the desired activators.
• Stage 3:  Developing an appropriate process route and optimal equipment arrangement for an efficient process setup.
• Stage 4:  Carrying out the process reaction.
• Stage 5:  Analyzing the process reaction.
• Stage 6:  Purification of the desired product (Baena-Moreno et al., 2019).
• Stage 7:  Results Testing.

Process Analysis

The totality of the process reaction would be analyzed and this would also occur in stages;

• Stage 1:  Process Testing
• Stage 2:  Process Control
• Stage 3:  Process Optimization

Evaluation

The risk assessment conducted for this project is provided in the table below:

Table 1:  Risk assessment