Will anaerobic digestion of solid waste survive in the future?

2006 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 187-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. De Baere

Anaerobic digestion has captured a significant share of the European market for the biological treatment of the organic fraction in municipal solid waste. Almost 4 million ton per year in digestion capacity has been installed through the construction of more than 120 full-scale plants. Not all plants have been equally successful, due to poor planning, design or bad operation. This, besides higher than expected investment and operating costs, may have slowed down the growth of anaerobic digestion of solid waste. However, an evaluation of the development of anaerobic digestion over the last 15 years shows that there is now a greater diversity in application, a wider range in types of systems and suppliers, and a continued increasing rate of implementation throughout most parts of Europe. New alternative treatment techniques have not seen the same level of success as anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion has been established as a viable treatment technology for the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and will most likely play an even more important role in the future.

2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110134
Author(s):  
Rasangika Thathsaranee Weligama Thuppahige ◽  
Sandhya Babel

The management of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) has continued to be a significant challenge in Sri Lanka. Anaerobic digestion is one of the management options of OFMSW. However, it generates unavoidable environmental impacts that should be addressed. The present study focuses to assess the environmental impact of a full-scale anaerobic digestion plant in Sri Lanka from a life cycle perspective. The inventory data were obtained from direct interviews and field measurements. Environmental burdens were found to be in terms of global warming potential (230 kg CO2 eq) ozone formation on human health (6.15 × 10−6 kg NO x eq), freshwater eutrophication (2.92 × 10−3 kg P eq), freshwater ecotoxicity (9.27 × 10−5 kg 1,4 DCB eq), human carcinogenic toxicity (3.98 × 10−4 kg 1,4 DCB eq), land use (1.32 × 10−4 m2 a crop eq) and water consumption (2.23 × 10−2 m3). The stratospheric ozone depletion, fine particulate matter formation, ozone formation on terrestrial ecosystems, terrestrial acidification, marine eutrophication, ecotoxicity (terrestrial and marine), human non-carcinogenic toxicity, mineral resource scarcity and fossil resource scarcity, were avoided due to electricity production. Results show that the direct gaseous emissions and digestate generation should be addressed in order to reduce the burdens from the anaerobic digestion plant. Finally, the results of the study could help in policy formation and decision-making in selecting future waste management systems in Sri Lanka.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 3293-3301
Author(s):  
Mingyu Qian ◽  
Ye Zhou ◽  
Yixin Zhang ◽  
Zhenxin Wang ◽  
Ruihua Li ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 3769-3782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alvarez-Gallego ◽  
Luis Fdez-Güelfo ◽  
María de los Angeles Romero Aguilar ◽  
Luis Romero García

2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 51-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Battistoni ◽  
P. Pavan ◽  
J. Mata-Alvarez ◽  
M. Prisciandaro ◽  
F. Cecchi

In this paper experimental results on the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge and organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) by using a double phase process are reported. The long-term experiment has been carried out on a pilot scale plant, performed in different sets of operative conditions, during which granulometric distributions of particles in sludges and rheological properties of sludges were monitored. A significant fluidification of sludge was evidenced in the meso-thermo process, especially taking into account the variation in sludge behaviour from the first to the second phase. In the thermo-thermo process a fluidification higher than that shown in meso-thermo conditions is not observed, this suggesting that better results in terms of sludge conditioning can be obtained in a long time spent in thermophilic anaerobic digestion. Total volatile solids (TVS) and total fixed solids (TFS) become the most important parameters when mathematical modelling is applied to these processes.In the acidogenic phase, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and temperature are used to determine rigidity coefficient (RC), while only temperature is needed for yield stress (YC). Organic loading rate (OLR) and specific gas production (SGP) exert an important role in methanogenic phase description.


2019 ◽  
Vol 127 ◽  
pp. 105286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Najwa Mlaik ◽  
Sonia Khoufi ◽  
Manel Hamza ◽  
Mohamed Ali Masmoudi ◽  
Sami Sayadi

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