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Improvement of anaerobic biodegradability of organic fraction of municipal solid waste by mechanical and thermochemical pretreatments

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Abstract

The effect of particle size of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste on methane potentiel was investigated and tested at different substrate-to-inoculum ratios (0.1, 0.5 and 1.0). The highest methane yield was obtained with particle size fraction > 3 mm at S/I of 0.1. Thermo-alkali and thermo-acid methods were also tested as pretreatment to increase the organic matter solubilization and subsequently methane production. The results indicated that maximum variation (63.6%) of soluble chemical oxygen demand was obtained by thermo-acid method. Optimum conditions of thermo-alkali pretreatment were pH 10, time reaction of 30 min and temperature of 105 °C. Soluble chemical oxygen demand and reducing sugar variations reached, respectively, 40 and 69% under these conditions. The methane yield of untreated and thermochemical pretreated OFMSW was determined in batch condition. The highest methane yield (260.9 L/kg VS) was obtained with thermo-alkali pretreatment, which was 21% higher than that of raw substrate. This study may pave a new way for industrial application of dealing with the organic fraction of municipal solid waste.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted within the framework of MOBIDOC-Post doc as specified in PASRI program, funded by the European Union and managed by the "Agence Nationale de Promotion de la Recherche (ANPR)".  Financial support was also provided by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

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  1. Laboratory of Environmental Bioprocesses, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, B.P. “1177”, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia

    N. Mlaik, M. Khcharem, M. Kouas, S. Sayadi & S. Khoufi

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  1. N. Mlaik
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  2. M. Khcharem
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  3. M. Kouas
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  4. S. Sayadi
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  5. S. Khoufi
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Correspondence to N. Mlaik.

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Editorial responsibility: M. Abbaspour.

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Mlaik, N., Khcharem, M., Kouas, M. et al. Improvement of anaerobic biodegradability of organic fraction of municipal solid waste by mechanical and thermochemical pretreatments. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15, 1913–1920 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1563-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1563-0

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