title: Kinetics of mesophilic anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste: Influence of initial total solid concentration.
abstract: The anaerobic mesophilic degradation of municipal waste has been studied in discontinuous lab-reactors with two different initial concentrations of OFMSW: R20, with 931.1mg DOC/L (20% TS), and R30, with 1423.4 mg DOC/L (30% TS). The anaerobic digestion process was favoured when it was carried on material with a total solids content of 20% in comparison to a similar process with 30% TS. A higher level of organic matter, in terms of DOC and VFA, 18.18% and 8.09% respect, was removed in the system with the lower amount of solids. The kinetics parameters showed higher active biomass and a higher coefficient for the production of methane at the lower loading. The highest maximum specific growth rate for the microorganisms (mu(MAX)) in the reactors with 20% TS, a value of 0.192 d(-1), was achieved in comparison to 0.131 d(-1) in the reactors with 30% TS. The inverse of the F:M ratio was higher in the R20 system with a value of 0.0104 (cf. 0.0006 in R30) and, as a result, the R30 system required longer hydrolytic and acidogenic stages. X(V0)/Y(X/S) and the yield coefficient for product generation (alpha(P/S)) were higher, by around 53%, for the R20 digester.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, Faculty of Science, University of Cadiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Romero
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D018533:Biomass; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007700:Kinetics; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000378:metabolism*; D012037:Refuse Disposal
chemical_list: D009930:Organic Chemicals