Evaluation of single vs. staged mesophilic anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste with and without microwave pretreatment.

Effects of single and dual stage (acidogenic-methanogenic) mesophilic anaerobic digestion (AD) of kitchen waste (KW) was evaluated at hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 20, 15, 12 and 9 d with and without thermal microwave (MW) pretreatment (145 °C). Anaerobic acidification in terms of acid accumulation was superior compared to microaerophilic acidification. Maximum anaerobic acidification of KW was determined to occur with an HRT of 2 d which was then selected for the acidification stage.

Effect of leachate recirculation on mesophilic anaerobic digestion of food waste.

The effects of using untreated leachate for supplemental water addition and liquid recirculation on anaerobic digestion of food waste was evaluated by combining cyclic water recycle operations with batch mesophilic biochemical methane potential (BMP) assays. Cyclic BMP assays indicated that using an appropriate fraction of recycled leachate and fresh make up water can stimulate methanogenic activity and enhance biogas production. Conversely increasing the percentage of recycled leachate in the make up water eventually causes methanogenic inhibition and decrease in the rate of food waste stabilization.

Anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste combining two pretreatment modalities, high temperature microwave and hydrogen peroxide.

In order to enhance anaerobic digestion (AD) of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), pretreatment combining two modalities, microwave (MW) heating in presence or absence of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) were investigated. The main pretreatment variables affecting the characteristics of the OFMSW were temperature (T) via MW irradiation and supplemental water additions of 20% and 30% (SWA20 and SW30). Subsequently, the focus of this study was to evaluate mesophilic batch AD performance in terms of biogas production, as well as changes in the characteristics of the OFMSW post digestion.