Hydrolysis rates, methane production and nitrogen solubilisation of grey waste components during anaerobic degradation.

Municipal grey waste (i.e. the remaining fraction in municipal waste management systems in which putrescibles (biowaste) and other recyclables (paper, metals, glass) are source-segregated) was manually sorted into six main fractions on the basis of composition and also separated by sieving (100 mm mesh size) into two fractions, oversized and undersized, respectively. In practice, in waste management plant the oversized fraction is (or will be) used to produce refuse-derived fuel and the undersized landfilled after biological stabilisation. The methane yields and nitrogen solubilisation of the grey waste and the different fractions (all studied samples were first milled to 5 mm particle samples) were determined in a 237-day methane production batch assay and in a water elution test, respectively. The grey waste was found to contained remnants of putrescibles and also a high amount of other biodegradable waste, including packaging, cartons and cardboard, newsprint, textiles and diapers. These waste fractions comprised 41%-w/w of the grey waste and produced 40-210 m3 methane (total solids (TS))(-1) and less than 0.01 g NH4-N kg TS(added)(-1) except diapers which produced 9.8 g NH4-N kg TS(added)(-1) in the batch assays. In the case of the two sieved fractions and on mass bases, most of the methane originated from the oversized fraction, whereas most of the NH4-N was solublised from the undersized fraction. The first-order kinetic model described rather well the degradation of each grey waste fraction and component, showing the different components to be in the range 0.021-0.058 d(-1), which was around one-sixth of the values reported for the source-segregated putrescible fraction of MSW.

Biological nitrogen removal from municipal landfill leachate: low-cost nitrification in biofilters and laboratory scale in-situ denitrification.

The slow leaching of nitrogen from solid waste in landfills, resulting in high concentrations of ammonia in the landfill leachate, may last for several decades. The removal of nitrogen from leachate is desirable as nitrogen can trigger eutrophication in lakes and rivers. In the present study, a low-cost nitrification-denitrification process was developed to reduce nitrogen load especially in leachates from small landfills. Nitrification was studied in laboratory and on-site pilot aerobic biofilters with waste materials as filter media (crushed brick in upflow filters and bulking agent of compost in a downflow filter) while denitrification was studied in a laboratory anoxic/anaerobic column filled with landfill waste. In the laboratory nitrification filters, start-up of nitrification took less than 3 weeks and over 90% nitrification of leachate (NH4-N between 60 and 170mg N l(-1), COD between 230 and 1,300 mg l(-1)) was obtained with loading rates between 100 and 130 mgNH4-N l(-1) d at 25 degrees C. In an on-site pilot study a level of nitrification of leachate (NH4-N between 160 and 270 mg N l(-1), COD between 1,300 and 1,600 mg l(-1)) above 90% was achieved in a crushed brick biofilter with a loading rate of 50mg NH4-N l(-1) d even at temperatures as low as 5-10 degrees C. Ammonium concentrations in all biofilter effluents were usually below the detection limit. In the denitrification column. denitrification started within 2 weeks and total oxidised nitrogen in nitrified leachate (TON between 50 and 150mg N l(-1)) usually declined below the detection limit at 25 degrees C, whereas some ammonium, probably originating from the landfill waste used in the column, was detected in the effluent. No adverse effect was observed on the methanation of waste in the denitrification column with a loading rate of 3.8 g TON-N/t-TS(waste) d. In conclusion, nitrification in a low-cost biofilter followed by denitrification in a landfill body appears applicable for the removal of nitrogen in landfill leachate in colder climates.

Modeling solid waste decomposition.

The hydrolysis rate coefficients of sorted municipal waste were evaluated from the biochemical methane potential tests using non-linear regression. A distributed mathematical model of anaerobic digestion of rich (food) and lean (non-food) solid wastes with greatly different rates of polymer hydrolysis/acidogenesis was developed to describe the balance between the rates of hydrolysis/acidogenesis and methanogenesis. The model was calibrated using previously published experimental data [Biores. Technol. 52 (1995) 245] obtained upon various initial food waste loadings. Simulations of one- and two-stage digestion systems were carried out. The results showed that initial spatial separation of food waste and inoculum enhances methane production and waste degradation in a one-stage solid-bed digester at high waste loading. A negative effect of vigorously mixing at high waste loading reported in some papers was discussed. It was hypothesized that the initiation methanogenic centers developing in time and expanding in space under minimal mixing conditions might be a key factor for efficient anaerobic conversion of solid waste into methane.