Kinetics of accelerated solid-state fermentation of organic-rich municipal solid waste

Biotransformation of landfill solid wastes is a slow process requiring decades for completion. Accelerated anaerobic fermentation in modulated landfill environments may alleviate or eliminate pollution of land, water and air. This research was undertaken to demonstrate the application of biphasic fermentation to a simulated laboratory-scale landfill to effect rapid biomethanation of biodegradable solids. The biphasic process consisted of solid-state, acidogenic fermentation of the organic fraction of MSW followed by biomethanation of acidic hydrolysates in a separate methane fermenter. Solid-state fermentation of the MSW with effluent recirculation resulted in rapid hydrolysis, acidification and denitrification, with soluble COD and VFA concentrations accumulating to inhibitory levels of 60,000 mg/l and 13,000 mg/l, respectively, at a pH of 4.5. The landfill gas methane concentration reached a maximum of 55 mol.%. By comparison, the methanogenic reactor produced high methane-content (70-85 mol.%) gases. The biphasic process effected carbohydrate, lipid, and protein conversion efficiencies of 90%, 49%, and 37%, respectively. Development of a Monod-type product-formation model was undertaken to predict methane formation and to determine kinetic parameters for the methanogenic processes in the simulated landfill and separate methane reactors. A first-order solids hydrolysis rate constant of 0.017 day-1 was evaluated to show that landfill solids hydrolysis was slower than the inhibited methanogenesis rate.