Abstract

PurposeAt present, most studies have been focused on anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste (FW) at temperatures above 35 degrees C. While AD of FW at psychrophilic temperature has been rarely reported, this may be a more economical procedure for municipal solid waste (MSW) management by reducing the organic fraction content and the corresponding environmental impact from its disposal.MethodsFW and inoculum have been characterized and AD of FW assays have been run for 12weeks in accordance with VDI 4630. The effect of FW to inoculum ratio (FWIR) has been assessed in batch assays and the organic load rate (OLR) has been tested in semi-continuous operation mode. In addition, soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) evolution has been periodically measured during all tests.ResultsResults showed an important reduction of specific methane yield (SMY) (up to 65%) when FWIR is increased (from 0.5 to 1.5) in batch tests while SCOD removal remains quite constant (approx. 90%). On the other hand, during semi-continuous operation SMY and SCOD removal have been highly reduced (up to approx. 70 and 73%) when OLR is increased (from 1 to 3 g_VS L-1 d(-1)).ConclusionsDespite the low SMY, the AD of FW at psychrophilic temperature is a feasible solution, especially at low organic loads. Therefore, it may be used in decentralized strategies for improving the MSW management. This operation mode reduces installation costs and reactor operation complexity at the same time decreases the SCOD of municipal waste stream.