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Anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste and sewage sludge under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions

A thermal study in DSC associated to infrared spectroscopy

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Abstract

In this study, thermal analysis in differential scanning calorimetry associated to Fourier self-deconvolution (FSD) of infrared spectra was applied to the study of anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of domestic solid waste and sewage sludge mixed in 1:1 ratio under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. Curves showed an exothermic peak in the high-temperature range and a number of endothermic and/or exothermic peaks in the low- and medium-temperature range. The high-temperature exotherm was a common feature on curves of all samples. Digestates evidenced a shift of this exotherm toward higher temperature with respect to both substrates and feed-in materials as a result of a greater chemical complexity attained by organic matter (OM) during the process. A further shift toward higher temperature values was observed on digestates obtained under thermophilic conditions with respect to digestates obtained under mesophilic conditions. This result was associated to a higher recalcitrance of digestates produced under more drastic conditions. Based on evidence obtained by FSD spectra, the exotherm in the medium-temperature range was assigned to combustion of carbohydrates and to loss of aliphatic structures and carboxylic groups. Enthalpy data associated to the high-temperature exotherm were used to differentiate feed-in materials and their corresponding digestates and to distinguish digestates obtained under different operative conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia e Chimica Agroforestale ed Ambientale, University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Maria Rosaria Provenzano, A. Daniela Malerba & Nicola Senesi

  2. Interdepartmental Center for Research on Environmental Science (C.I.R.S.A.), Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy

    Alessandro Buscaroli & Denis Zannoni

Authors
  1. Maria Rosaria Provenzano
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  2. A. Daniela Malerba
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  3. Alessandro Buscaroli
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  4. Denis Zannoni
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  5. Nicola Senesi
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Correspondence to Maria Rosaria Provenzano.

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Provenzano, M.R., Daniela Malerba, A., Buscaroli, A. et al. Anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste and sewage sludge under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. J Therm Anal Calorim 111, 1861–1870 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2598-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-012-2598-6

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