Date of Award
Summer 2005
Document Type
Thesis - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering
First Advisor
Borg, John
Second Advisor
Zitomer, Daniel
Third Advisor
Nigro, Nicholas
Abstract
The novel Wet Waste Recovery System (WWRS) is an alternative solution for organic food waste disposal. The United States prototype of the WWRS is located at Pandl's Restaurant in Bayside, WI. The WWRS is a machine which is designed to convey, liquefy, and store organic waste from restaurants and/or food industries. Once the organic food waste is processed by the WWRS, it is taken to an anaerobic treatment facility were a biogas is produced and collected. The biogas contains methane that can be converted to energy in the form of electricity by means of combustion. The power potential in the average amount of methane produced from food waste at Pandl's Restaurant was approximately 750 kW-hr of electricity for every 500 gallons, or every one week. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity it takes to power five to six average American homes. The biosolid that is produced during the anaerobic digestion process can be used as an organic soil amendment. The purpose of this process is to divert organic food waste from landfills while utilizing its energy potential. It is estimated that approximately 130 tons/year of Pandl's food waste was diverted from Wisconsin landfills during the prototype operation. Nearly 40%, or 241,500 tons, of food waste could potentially be diverted from landfills if all non-residential food waste sources in Wisconsin utilized the WWRS. The suitability of utilizing the WWRS in the United States was determined by examining its overall advantages and disadvantages. The most significant disadvantage is initial cost associated with the WWRS versus the standard landfill disposal method. In order to directly compare the overall costs associated with the two waste disposal methods, the net present worth, or NPW, was determined using cost data compiled from the WWRS prototype at Pandl's Restaurant. The net present worth of the WWRS with a 1000 gallon holding tank has been calculated to be $138,608 assuming a ten year design life and a 5% interest rate, Applying the same ten year projection, the net present worth of the landfill disposal method is $27,027...
Recommended Citation
Hendricks, Joseph E., "Comparison of Wet Waste Recovery System and Landfill for Food Waste Disposal" (2005). Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus. 4824.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theses/4824