Enhanced biomethane recovery from fat, oil, and grease through co-digestion with food waste and addition of conductive materials.

In this study, the effect of conductive additives on co-digestion of fat, oil, and grease (FOG) and food waste (FW) was evaluated. Initially, biochemical methane potential (BMP) test was conducted for optimization of mixing ratio of FW and FOG. The optimal methane production (800 L (kg VS)-1) was obtained from co-digestion of 70% FW + 30% FOG (w/w), which was 1.2 times and 12 times of that obtained from mono-digestion of FW and FOG, respectively. This optimal mixing ratio was used for subsequent fed-batch studies with the addition of two conductive additives, granular activated carbon (GAC) and magnetite. The addition of GAC significantly shortened the lag phase (from 7 to 3 d), reduced accumulation of various volatile fatty acids (VFAs), and enhanced methane production rate (50-80% increase) compared to the control and magnetite-amended bioreactor. Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) analysis suggested that the degradation of lipids, protein and carbohydrates was the highest in GAC amended reactor, followed by magnetite and control reactors. GAC addition also enriched more abundant and diverse bacteria and methanogens than control. Magnetite addition also showed similar trends but to a lesser degree. The substantial enrichment of syntrophic LCFA ß-oxidizing bacteria (e.g. Syntrophomonas) and methanogenic archaea in the GAC-amended bioreactor likely attributed to the superior methanogenesis kinetics in GAC amended bioreactor. Our findings suggest that the addition of GAC could provide a sustainable strategy to enrich kinetically efficient syntrophic microbiome to favor methanogenesis kinetics in co-digestion of FW and FOG.

Impacts of seasonal variation and operating parameters on double-stage trommel performance.

The high-level objective of this research was to quantify and assess impact of uncertainties of trommel screening with respect to feed-rate variation, clogging of screen apertures, and seasonal variation in waste characteristics, including particle size distribution (PSD) and composition using full-scale trials. A two-stage trommel screen which is operated at a municipal solid waste processing facility located in a cold region (Edmonton, Canada) was evaluated. The waste processed was co-mingled refuse with the recyclable material removed. The variation of size separation mass balance and recovery with respect to total and overs loading feed rate, season and operation time were monitored. The characteristics of the feedstock and separated waste streams were determined by sieve and compositional analyses. Separation and recovery results verified that the performance of the first stage where <5 cm of organic-rich waste was screened out, varied seasonally. Further, a strong linear correlation was obtained between recovery results and corresponding overs loading rate that varied between seasons. This correlation also varied within operation cycle during the winter trials due to clogging of screens. An equation is proposed to quantify clogging formation according to operation uptime and feed rate. Waste characterization results indicated the waste generated in the winter, spring, and summer had three distinct PSDs, especially the compostable fraction, contributing to the seasonality in trommel performance. In contrast, the PSD of the combustible fraction remained consistent in all seasons. This research successfully quantified the impact of uncertainties of full trommel operations in different seasons and during the operation cycle.

Benefits to decomposition rates when using digestate as compost co-feedstock: Part II - Focus on microbial community dynamics.

Linkage between composting reactor performance and microbial community dynamics was investigated during co-composting of digestate and fresh feedstock (organic fraction of municipal solid waste) using 25L reactors. Previously, the relationship between composting performance and various physicochemical parameters were reported in Part I of the study (Arab and McCartney, 2017). Three digestate to fresh feedstock ratios (0, 40, and 100%; wet weight basis) were selected for analysis of microbial community dynamics. The 40% ratio was selected because it was found to perform the best (Arab and McCartney, 2017). Illumina sequencing results revealed that the reactor with a greater composting performance (higher organic matter degradation and higher heat generation; 40% ratio) was associated with higher microbial diversity. Two specific bacterial orders that might result in higher performance were Thermoactinomycetaceae and Actinomycetales with a higher sequence abundance during thermophilic composting phase and during the maturing composting phase, respectively. Galactomyces, Pichia, Chaetomium, and Acremonium were the four fungal genera that are probably also involved in higher organic matter degradation in the reactor with better performance. The redundancy analysis (RDA) biplot indicated that among the studied environmental variables, temperature, total ammonia nitrogen and nitrate concentration accounted for much of the major shifts in microbial sequence abundance during the co-composting process.

Benefits to decomposition rates when using digestate as compost co-feedstock: Part I - Focus on physicochemical parameters.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) has gained a significant role in municipal solid waste management, but managing a high volume of digestate is one of the challenges with AD technology. One option is to mix digestate with fresh and/or stabilized organic waste and then feed to the composting process. In this study, the effect of co-composting anaerobic digestate (in different quantities) on a composting process was investigated. The digestate was prepared in a pilot-scale 500L high solids dry anaerobic digester and composting was completed in eight 25L reactors with different ratios of digestate to fresh feedstock from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). The digestate constituted 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 75, or 100% (wet mass) of the feedstock. The co-composting experiment was conducted in two phases: active aeration and curing. Monitored parameters included: process temperature, aeration rate, oxygen concentration of the outlet gas, mass changes, total solids, organic matter, pH, and electrical conductivity. In addition, respirometry, C:N ratio, ammonium to nitrate ratio, and Solvita® tests were used to quantify stability and maturity end points. The results showed that the addition of digestate to the OFMSW increased composting reaction rates in all cases, with peak performance occurring within the ratio of 20-40% of digestate addition on a wet weight basis. Reactor performance may have been influenced by the high total ammonia nitrogen (TAN) levels in the digestate. Composting rates increased as TAN levels increased up to 5000 TAN mgkg-1DM; however, TAN may have become inhibitory at higher levels.

An enhanced compost temperature sampling framework: case study of a covered aerated static pile.

Spatial and temporal temperature variations exist in a compost pile. This study demonstrates that systematic temperature sampling of a compost pile, as is widely done, tends to underestimate these variations, which in turn may lead to false conclusions about the sanitary condition of the final product. To address these variations, a proper scheme of temperature sampling needs to be used. A comparison of the results from 21 temperature data loggers randomly introduced into a compost pile with those from 20 systematically introduced data loggers showed that the mean, maximum and minimum temperatures in both methods were very similar in their magnitudes. Overall, greater temperature variation was captured using the random method. In addition, 95% of the probes introduced systematically had attained thermophilic sanitation conditions (≥ 55°C for three consecutive days), as compared to 76% from the group that were randomly introduced. Furthermore, it was found that, from a statistical standpoint, readings from at least 47 randomly introduced temperature loggers are necessary to capture the observed temperature variation. Lastly, the turning of the compost pile was found to increase the chance that any random particle would be exposed to the temperature ≥ 55°C for three consecutive days. One turning was done during the study, and it increased the probability from 76% to nearly 85%. Using the Markov chain model it was calculated that if five turnings had been implemented on the evaluated technology, the likelihood that every particle would experience the required time-temperature condition would be 98%.

A laboratory-scale comparison of compost and sand--compost--perlite as methane-oxidizing biofilter media.

Municipal solid waste landfills produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. A treatment approach is to passively vent landfill gas through a methane-oxidizing biofilter medium, a porous substrate that facilitates the growth of methanotrophic bacteria. Two substrates, compost and a sand-compost-perlite (SCP) mixture, were evaluated in a laboratory-scale experiment for their suitability as biofilter media. The SCP mixture was investigated to minimize settlement and was based on a particle size distribution specification used for turf grass. The long-term (218 days) methane removal rates showed that both compost and SCP were capable of removing 100% of the methane influent flux (134 g CH(4) m( -2) day(-1)). The post-experiment analysis showed that compost had compacted more than SCP. This did not affect the results; however, in a field installation, traffic on the biofilter surface (e.g. maintenance) could cause further compaction and negatively affect performance. Exopolymeric substance produced by the methanotrophic bacteria, attributed by others for declining removal rates due to bio-clogging, was not observed to affect the results. The maximum exopolymeric substance values measured were 23.9 and 7.8 mg D-glucose g(-1) (dry basis) for compost and SCP, respectively.