Enhancement of Biogas production potential of slaughterhouse and meat processing wastes using pre-treatment

The effects of thermal and ultrasonic pre-treatment on the characteristics and biogas production potential (BPP) of slaughterhouse and meat processing wastes were investigated. No significant change to the characteristics of the pre-treated waste was observed. On the other hand biogas production from pre-treated wastes using homogeniser and bath ultrasonic technologies was around 40% and 19%, respectively, higher than non-treated samples. Wastes subjected to combined thermal and bath-ultrasonic pre-treatment produced 42% more biogas compared to no-pre-treated samples. On the contrary, combined thermal with homogeniser-ultrasonic had a negative effect on BPP where 27% less biogas production was observed. The results show the potential of pre-treatment for enhancing biogas production.