AUTOCLAVE AND MICROWAVE PRE-TREAMENTS TO ENHANCE ANAEROBIC DIGESTION OF DIFFERENT LIGNOCELLULOSIC ORGANIC FRACTIONS OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE. A PILOT SCALE STUDY

The aim of this research was to enhance the anaerobic biodegradability of two synthetic Organic Fractions of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) with different lignocellulosic content by assessing microwaving and autoclaving. A pilot scale semi-continuous anaerobic digester was performed for 105 days and fed alternating two weeks with blank substrate and two weeks with pre-treated substrates. Changes in the soluble fractions of the organic matter (measured by soluble COD, carbohydrates and proteins), specific gas production (SGP), gas production rate (GPR), total volatile solids degradation (η) were used as control parameters to evaluate the efficiency of microwave and autoclave on substrates solubilisation and anaerobic digestion.