Characterization of energy content in food waste by using thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA) and elemental analyzer (CHNS-O): article / Nursyafika Sahrin, Ir Normadyzah Ahmad, Fazni Susila Abd. Ghani

Recently, food waste generation has become a serious issue and become a hot topic among the superiors in order to handle the waste from going to landfill. There are many researches that have been done regarding to the how to handle this waste efficiently and effectively. The findings from those researches revealed that generally there are two ways, either by reducing the amount of food consumption as well as by converting the waste into something that can give benefit to others (waste-to-wealth concept). Not to forget that there are several findings that covering on the topic of converting the waste into an energy source. Thus, this research is interested in helping the world to convert the waste into an energy sources effectively by analyzing the characteristics that could be in each of the food waste. For this research, the food waste samples that have been analyzed are tofu, apple, carrot, corn, chicken, biscuit, rice and meat. This analysis is specified as the very first step in encouraging the ways of handling such waste before implementing the waste transformation into an energy sources process in order to identify and conclude whether the waste is suitable for the transformation process or not. The methods to be used are by conducting a proximate analysis and also an ultimate analysis. These two analyses will show several contents that may be presented in each of the food waste sample. A proximate analysis will observe the percentage of the moisture content, volatile matter content, ash content as well as the fixed carbon content while an ultimate analysis will provide the percentages of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur as well as oxygen element in that food waste sample. In conjunction with that, it is needed to run in a thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA) in order to study the proximate analysis and also for the ultimate analysis, a CHNS elemental analyzer can be used for that purpose. All of these contents will affect the results that are tabulated in a DTG-TGA curve for proximate analysis and for ultimate analysis the results were already calculated in percentages. Among the samples prepared, it can be observed that the most efficient ‘waste-to-energy’ sample is the food that contains protein the most.