BIOCHEMICAL HYDROGEN POTENTIAL TEST OF THE ORGANIC FRACTION OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE IN PILOT SCALE REACTORS

In this paper a new biochemical hydrogen potential test set-up was presented. The test was performed in pilot scale reactors (working volume 3 l, total volume 6 l) using automatic pH control by means of NaOH 2M solution addition. This configuration is an optimal solution when the investigated substrate is highly heterogeneous such as the case of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. Due to the automatic addition of NaOH solution, pH was stable all over the tests around the set value of 5.5. Experimental data were well fitted by the kinetic model of Gompertz with determination coefficients higher than 0.997.