The problem of food waste (Food Waste) is a problem that the world is watching because in 2019, it was found that there was more than 931 million tons of food waste around the world, according to the Food Waste Index Report 2021 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). This, in addition to wasting food, is also the cause of up to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. When looking back at Thailand From the Thailand Pollution Situation Report 2022 by the Pollution Control Department, it was found that in 2022 there was food waste as high as 9.68 million tons, accounting for the proportion of food waste in municipal solid waste as high as 38%, with most food waste being fruit peels. and the inedible part Managing food waste to make it usable again is therefore an important way to solve the problem. Only this method has not been seriously used.
“General management of food waste involves using it to make animal feed, fermenting it, making fermented water before putting the part that can’t be used further into a landfill. This process has a reasonable cost. Especially the transportation costs are quite high. As a result, there are quite a few people who use food waste for further use. The research team is therefore looking for a new option for managing food waste by turning food waste into ‘biochar’ that can be used as a source of heat energy to replace the use of low-quality coal used in various industrial plants. Dr. TRAIRAT MUANGTHONG-ON Department of Environmental Engineering Faculty of Engineering King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) tells about the beginning of his research work. Characteristics analysis of biochar prepared from food waste (Food Waste-to-Char Characteristics obtained from Various Kinds of Food Waste)
research process It started by collecting data on the amount of waste in the university and collecting samples of mixed food waste from the cafeteria, divided into 2 groups: food waste (vegetable scraps, fruit peel scraps) and bread scraps. Let’s turn it into biochar through the pyrolysis process. or chemical thermal process It uses a fixed-bed tube reactor that helps transform food waste into biochar or biomass charcoal under multiple temperature conditions. The reaction was carried out under controlled conditions of temperature and nitrogen amount for 1 hour.
It appears that this process has changed food waste into solid fuel Char Charcoal or Biochar which has a higher carbon value. This makes the fuel properties similar to low quality coal. Can be used as a fuel to replace the use of coal. It is considered a low cost fuel production. which will be beneficial to the industrial sector This knowledge can be used to produce biochar or biochar for use in the factory. To reduce the cost of garbage disposal and reduce costs in purchasing alternative fuels By being able to analyze the possibilities for measuring sustainability, both Technical dimension, Economic dimension, especially in answering the questions. Environmental dimension, all of which are sustainability management guidelines This can be used for the Long term dimension in creating policies and strategies for the future.
“This research gives us insight into the fuel properties of food waste and biomass. technical methods appropriate technology model and engineering design that can be used in the production process and can expand the results to relevant agencies at the national level For example, Energy Regulatory Commission Ministry of Energy Ministry of Interior, Department of Toxic Control, Department of Industrial Works, educational sector, as well as the private sector or community. to bring this technology used to reduce energy costs and deal with the food waste problem at the same time.”
From the knowledge gained, Dr. TRAIRAT plans to continue further research in the future. That will be a study of the biochar production process from food waste in industrial sectors such as sugarcane and sugar factories. animal feed production factory Livestock food and various dietary supplement factories, including food waste from other countries, which results in biochar with different properties.
“Each type of food waste has different components. The research team believes there is still a lot of food waste that can be turned into biochar with better properties. This research is just the beginning of tackling the food waste problem. By enabling food waste to be put to good use. and come back to create new value for the industry again It is a choice for making use of the transition to Sustainability Waste reduction and Decarbonisation So that the environment can become better again.”
