BIOCHEMICAL METHANE POTENTIAL TESTS OF DIFFERENT AUTOCLAVED AND MICROWAVED LIGNOCELLULOSIC ORGANIC FRACTION OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

The aim of this research was to enhance the anaerobic biodegradability and methane production of two synthetic Organic Fractions of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) with different lignocellulosic contents by assessing microwave and autoclave pre-treatments. Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) assays were performed for 21 days. Changes in the soluble fractions of the organic matter (measured by soluble COD, carbohydrates and proteins), the first order hydrolysis constant kh and the cumulated methane production (BMP21) were used to evaluate the efficiency of microwave and autoclave on substrates solubilisation and anaerobic digestion. Results showed an increase on the soluble fraction after pre-treatments for both the synthetic OFMSW. Microwave treatment led to a BMP21 increase of 8.5% for both the tested OFMSW, while autoclave treatment had an increase of about ranging from 1.0% to 4.4%. Under this perspective, microwaving was found to be an efficient treatment for both OFMSW while autoclaving was registered to be more suitable for substrates with high lignocellulosic content.