Full scale co-digestion of organic waste

Abstract

Operational results of a co-digestion facility were assessed over a period of 18 months. The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) contains a considerable amount of contaminants and grit (up to 6% w/w). A BTA-Pulper efficiently treated the different waste streams and converted a high amount of volatile solids (VS) into the digester feedstock. The seasonal fluctuations of the waste composition significantly influenced the biogas production. The impact of this seasonally variant degradability of VS had to be considered by evaluating the operation results. The waste streams investigated did not show any negative impact on digester performance. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) in the digester considerably affected the VS-reduction. Despite a considerable decrease of VS-degradation a reduction of HRT from 14 to 8 days slightly improves the gas production rate (GPR). An activated sludge system efficiently reduced the pollution of the effluent. The nutrient content of the anaerobic compost was favourable and the content of pollutants was low. The facility produced surplus electrical power up to 290 MJ/t. An overall energy balance shows that the facility substitutes primary energy.

Codigestion of solid wastes: A review of its uses and perspectives including modeling

“…One of the first papers dealing with this option was that of Rintala and Jarvinen (1996), who described the success of a 1 400 m 3 digester in Stormorsen (Finland), codigesting OFMSW and SS in a MSW treatment plant. Another similar example of codigestion of OFMSW with other food organic wastes at a full scale MSW plant, using BTA® technology is given by Kübler et al (2000), who report substantially improved performance.…”

Improvement of fruit and vegetable waste anaerobic digestion performance and stability with co-substrates addition

“…This alternative allows the recovery of energy and a solid product that can be used as an amendment of soils (Lawson, 1992;Gomez-Lahoz et al, 2007). The nutrient content of the anaerobic compost is favourable and the content of pollutants is low (Krugel et al, 1998;Kubler et al, 2000;Elango et al, 2007).…”

Anaerobic Digestion of Vegetable Wastes for Biogas Production in Single Chamber and Double Chamber Reactors

“…As the reactions in the anaerobic digestion process take place sequentially all products of a previous metabolic stage are converted into the next one without significant buildup of intermediate products in a well-balanced digestion process, and the anaerobically biodegradable organic matter is converted nearly completely into end products like methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia [18].…”