Anaerobic Digestion of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste for Methane Production: Research and Industrial Application

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of biowaste is increasing its interest because of the success of the separate collection of the fractions of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) which allows for the treatment of a relatively “clean” stream with high energy revenue: up to 200 m3 biogas per ton. On the opposite, several European experiences showed how the treatment of the mechanically selected organic fraction of municipal solid waste gave a number of problems and low energy revenue (typically, < 100 m3 biogas per ton). Because of its peculiarities, AD can be a key technology in the field of the so called “green economy” for the management of the organic wastes (biowaste, sludge, green waste, agro-waste....) so to recovery energy and organic matter. When designing AD plants, the production of biogas that will be achieved (Biochemical Methane Potential, BMP) is very important to take into account: The equations given in this paper help to better understand the importance of this parameter, and theoretical and experimental ways to calculate it are explained. Finally, this paper reviews the main findings of last years in the field of full scale applications for biowaste treatment and emphasis successes and problems encountered in the application of this technology