Pilot-Scale Anaerobic Co-Digestion of the OFMSW: Improving Biogas Production and Startup

This paper presents experimental results regarding anaerobic co-digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and fruit and vegetable waste in order to establish the efficiency of a 2 m(3) volume pilot plant in terms of biogas and methane yield and stability of the process. The research study presents the feasibility of developing anaerobic digestion as an effective method for municipal solid waste management. The experiments were conducted in mesophilic conditions (35 degrees C). Domestic waste water was used as inoculum. The results showed that the inoculum presence, temperature, and pH control, were essential in order to improve biogas production and its composition. Using liquid inoculum, the CH4 percentage in the biogas oscillated between 44% and 51%, and the biogas production from 0.504 and 0.6 m(3)/day. Compared to domestic waste water, animal manure increased the CH4 concentration in biogas (up to 63%), while the daily biogas production increased by 26% and varied from 0.693 to 0.786 m(3). The cumulative biogas production at the end of the experiments were 11.7 m(3) and 15.89 m(3), respectively. Using inoculum and co-digestion, the plant startup time was significantly reduced, the total solids content decreased from 22.7% to 19.8%, while the volatile solids decreased from 37.6% to 31.2%.