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Distributed model of solid waste anaerobic digestion: Effects of leachate recirculation and pH adjustment
Author(s) -
Vavilin Vasily A.,
Rytov Sergey V.,
Lokshina Ljudmila Ya.,
Pavlostathis Spyros G.,
Barlaz Morton A.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.10450
Subject(s) - acidogenesis , leachate , methanogenesis , anaerobic digestion , municipal solid waste , bioreactor , waste management , methane , chemistry , environmental science , volume (thermodynamics) , pulp and paper industry , digestion (alchemy) , environmental chemistry , chromatography , engineering , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
A distributed model of solid waste digestion in a 1‐D bioreactor with leachate recirculation and pH adjustment was developed to analyze the balance between the rates of polymer hydrolysis/acidogenesis and methanogenesis during the anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste (MSW). The model was calibrated on previously published experimental data generated in 2‐L reactors filled with shredded refuse and operated with leachate recirculation and neutralization. Based on model simulations, both waste degradation and methane production were stimulated when inhibition was prevented rapidly from the start, throughout the reactor volume, by leachate recirculation and neutralization. An optimal strategy to reduce the time needed for solid waste digestion is discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 81: 66–73, 2003.