title: Performance of thermophilic semi-dry anaerobic digestion process changing the feed biodegradability.
abstract: The study concerns the application of the semi-dry single phase thermophilic anaerobic digestion process to the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. The experiments were carried out using 3 m3 and 1 m3 CSTR pilot scale reactors. The process performance in terms of biogas yields, digester stability and kinetic aspects was studied, considering a progressive increase in the feed biodegradability, in order to evaluate the process behaviour changing from an undifferentiated collection of waste to a separate collection. This was carried out using blends of two different kinds of substrates: mechanically sorted organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (MS-OFMSW) and source sorted organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (SS-OFMSW). The study shows that OLR up to 6 kg TVS/m3d can be applicable for the medium selected fraction (TVS/TS < or = 0.7), while for the MS-OFMSW alone this limit can be doubled. The results obtained with SS-OFMSW alone suggest the use of the double phase process to give more stable conditions.
authors.affiliation: University of Venice, Department of Environmental Science, Calle Larga S. Marta 2137, Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pavan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Battistoni
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mata-Alvarez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cecchi
mesh_terms: D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology / Q000592:standards; D007700:Kinetics; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008697:Methane