P. Llabres

Anaerobic digestion of organic solid wastes. An overview of research achievements and perspectives

The technology of anaerobic digestion of organic solid wastes is, in many aspects, mature. Topics such as fundamentals (kinetics, modelling, etc.), process aspects (performance, two- and single-phase systems, wet and dry technologies), digestion enhancement (several pre-treatments), co-digestion with other substrates and its relation to composting technology are examined in this review. Special attention is paid to the advantages of anaerobic digestion in limiting the emission of greenhouse gases. An overview of industrial achievements and future developments is given.

Anaerobic digestion of the Barcelona central food market organic wastes: Experimental study

Abstract Experiments carried out to obtain data for a preliminary design of an anaerobic digestion plant treating the organic wastes coming from a large food market are described. Four hydraulic retention times (8, 12, 14 and 20 days) were tested in 3-litre laboratory digesters. The methane yields were high (around 0·478 m3 CH4/kg VS added). Kinetic analysis, using a first-order model, resulted in a kinetic constant of 3·1 day−1 and an ultimate methane yield of 0·489 CH4/kg VS added. The biogeradability of the soluble and non-soluble fractions of the Volatile Solids (VS) is discussed.

The use of organic fraction of municipal solid waste hydrolysis products for biological nutrient removal in wastewater treatment plants

Experiments in a continuous UCT-bench scale plant using synthetic wastewater, have been carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of using the biodegradable organic fraction of municipal solid waste (BOF-MSW) as an easily biodegradable C source for nitrogen and phosphorous removal. Yields obtained are quite good and the additional load introduced by the use of the fermentation products of the BOF-MSW can be considered negligible. In addition, the basic mass balances carried out, show that the amount of easily biodegradable C-source needed to treat the wastewater produced by a given unit of persons can be obtained from the amount of BOF-MSW generated by this unit.