Effect of various leachate recirculation strategies on batch anaerobic digestion of solid substrates. (1st January 2012)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kusch, Sigrid; Oechsner, Hans; Jungbluth, Thomas
• Is Part Of: International journal of environment and waste management. Volume 9:Number 1/2(2012)
• Page Start: 69
• Page End: 88
• Publication Date: 2012-01-01
• Subjects: biogas -- dry digestion -- leachate recirculation -- one-stage system -- batch process; Refuse and refuse disposal -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Refuse collection -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Recycling (Waste, etc.) -- Periodicals; 363.72805
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1478-9876

Abstract

Various leachate recirculation strategies were applied to a batch-wise operated solid-phase digestion system in laboratory-scale tests. Comparative experiments with both continuous and intermittent leachate recirculation revealed no advantages of a continuous flow. Results suggest that leachate recirculation should not be carried out continuously during process initialisation when methanogenesis is the rate-limiting step. Continuous watering resulted in the accumulation of Volatile Fatty Acids (VFA) during process start-up. In addition, no need for continuous water circulation was found for the following digestion process when hydrolysis was rate-limiting. Even in the absence of liquid recirculation, degradation was only slightly retarded when the biomass moisture content was adjusted.