Two-phase anaerobic digestion within a solid waste/wastewater integrated management system

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Biotechnology
• Waste Management

Background:

• Municipal solid waste (MSW) management presents significant environmental challenges.
• Anaerobic digestion is a key technology for waste valorization and biogas production.
• Integrating MSW treatment with wastewater treatment offers potential for process optimization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a two-phase, wet anaerobic digestion process for mechanically pre-treated MSW.
• To assess the impact of integrating MSW and wastewater treatment cycles.
• To determine the feasibility of using facultative biomass from wastewater treatment in the acidogenic phase.

Main Methods:

• Laboratory-scale investigation of a two-phase wet anaerobic digestion system.
• Utilized mechanically pre-treated municipal solid waste (MSW) as substrate.
• Employed facultative biomass from a wastewater aeration tank in the acidogenic reactor.

Main Results:

• Successful performance under mesophilic conditions with short hydraulic retention time.
• Achieved high organic loading rates, significant volatile solids (VS) removal efficiency, and substantial biogas production.
• The integration of wastewater biomass enhanced the acidogenic phase, positively impacting the methanogenic phase.

Conclusions:

• The proposed integrated two-phase anaerobic digestion process is effective for MSW treatment.
• The process avoids effluent recirculation and improves overall performance.
• This approach offers a feasible and efficient method for co-treating MSW and wastewater.