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Waste Management
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Article history: The effects of using untreated leachate for supplemental water addition and liquid recirculation on anaer-
Received 6 June 2011 obic digestion of food waste was evaluated by combining cyclic water recycle operations with batch mes-
Accepted 18 October 2011 ophilic biochemical methane potential (BMP) assays. Cyclic BMP assays indicated that using an
Available online 15 November 2011
appropriate fraction of recycled leachate and fresh make up water can stimulate methanogenic activity
and enhance biogas production. Conversely increasing the percentage of recycled leachate in the make
Keywords: up water eventually causes methanogenic inhibition and decrease in the rate of food waste stabilization.
Anaerobic digestion
The decrease in activity is exacerbated as the number cycles increases. Inhibition is possibly attributed to
BMP
Organic waste
accumulation and elevated concentrations of ammonia as well as other waste by products in the recycled
Leachate recycling leachate that inhibit methanogenesis.
Water reuse Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction untreated leachate. Using fresh water for dilution is not a sustain-
able or feasible option both environmentally and/or economically.
Anaerobic digestion (AD) of organic waste for solids reduction Recycling of leachate is a good solution but there are restrictions
and biogas production has become a reliable technology in recent and limits for water reuse. Accumulation of microbial waste prod-
years with a number of processes available. Variations in organic ucts, recalcitrant components from treated organic waste as well
waste digestion are often characterized by the level of moisture as intermediate breakdown components such as ammonia in the
used in the process. In general three categories of moisture and so- leachate with its reuse can eventually produce environmental con-
lid content exist: (a) low-solids or ‘‘wet’’ process with total solids ditions that inhibit the microbial consortia responsible for diges-
(TS) less than 20%, (b) high-solids or ‘‘dry’’ process with TS greater tion. Unfortunately information in the literature pertaining to
than 20%, and (c) ‘‘semi-dry’’ process with TS of about 20%. water reuse for digestion of organic waste is very limited. Nordberg
One of the main advantages claimed for the dry fermentation of et al. (1992) reported on the use of water and leachate to dilute al-
organic waste is high volumetric organic loading rates. However falfa silage to 6% TS for subsequent AD. While limited in its scope
there are a number of disadvantages: complete mixing of the waste they reported that AD could not be sustained if 100% leachate
is extremely difficult and in practice is not possible; accordingly was used for dilution. They indicated that the process failed due
the optimal performance and interactions of the various microbial to the accumulation of inhibitory concentrations of ammonium
consortia in the AD process is believed not to be achieved. More- in the system. Unfortunately they did not provide any information
over, expensive pumps or augers with high maintenance require- on water/leachate mixtures or potential operational scenarios to
ments are needed to move the denser material caused by the reduce fresh water consumption.
higher TS concentration in the reactors (Nichols, 2004). The objective of this study is to provide insight into the use of
Wet digestion of organic waste can be performed in conven- leachate for process make up water and investigate the impact of
tional reactor systems by incorporating organic waste dilution leachate/fresh water mixtures on the biogas production and stabil-
either by addition of fresh water and/or recycled leachate (De ization of a wet food waste treatment process. The study uses
Laclos et al., 1997; Hamzavi et al., 1999) or by co-digestion with batch biochemical methane potential (BMP) assays various
a more liquid waste if available (Bujoczek et al., 2002; Agdag and water/leachate mixtures and multiple cycles to evaluate the im-
Sponza, 2007). In some cases tap water (Pavan et al., 2000) and pact on the digestion of food waste.
in other cases (such as BTA) fresh make up water is mixed with
2. Methods
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: HSHAH045@uottawa.ca, haleh.shahriari@gmail.com (H. Shah
riari).
Initial base line BMP assays referred to as cycle 0 were per-
1
Address: Department of Environmental Technology and Management, Kuwait formed at 35 ± 1 °C in 250 mL (150 ml working volume) Kimax
University, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait. bottles sealed with 45 mm screw caps and butyl rubber stoppers.
0956-053X/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2011.10.022
H. Shahriari et al. / Waste Management 32 (2012) 400–403 401
400 400
0%
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Period of Digestion (Days)
Period of Digestion (Days)
400 400
0% 0%
300 300
30% 30%
Biomass Biomass
100 100
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 1
Period of Digestion (Days) Period of Digestion (Days)
Fig. 1. CBP for (a) cycle 1, (b) cycle 3, (c) cycle 4, (d) cycle 5.
402 H. Shahriari et al. / Waste Management 32 (2012) 400–403
dilution, it would assist in dampening pH fluctuations and main- De Laclos, H.F., Desbois, S., Saint-Joly, C., 1997. Anaerobic digestion of municipal
solid organic waste: valorga full-scale plant in Tilburg, the Netherlands. Water
tain it in favorable range which was suggested by Jarvis et al.
Science and Technology 36 (6–7), 457–462.
(1995). Hamzavi, N., Kennedy, K.J., McLean, D.D., 1999. Review of application of high-solids
anaerobic digestion to solid waste management. Journal of Solid Waste
Technology and Management 26 (3), 119–132.
Jarvis, A., Nordberg, A., Mathisen, B., Svensson, B.H., 1995. Stimulation of conversion
4. Conclusion rates and bacterial activity in a silage-fed two-phase biogas process by initiating
liquid recirculation. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek International Journal of General
This study does not provide a definitive answer regarding the and Molecular Microbiology 68 (4), 317–327.
Kayhanian, M., 1994. Performance of a high-solids anaerobic-digestion process
extent of leachate reuse that can be applied for AD of food waste. under various ammonia concentrations. Journal of Chemical Technology and
There are limitations regarding the number of times that leachate Biotechnology 59 (4), 349–352.
can be recycled. The use of 100% leachate for reuse is not recom- Kayhanian, M., 1999. Ammonia inhibition in high-solids biogasification: an
overview and practical solutions. Environmental Technology 20 (4), 355–365.
mended in the long term but may be used if necessary for short
Nichols, C.E., 2004. Overview of anaerobic digestion technologies in Europe.
term acute dilution applications. Gradual accumulation of ammo- Biocycle 45 (1), 47–54.
nia with 60% recycled leachate suggests that long term application Nordberg, A., Jarvis, A., Stenberg, B., Mathisen, B., Svensson, B.H., 2007. Anaerobic
digestion of alfalfa silage with recirculation of process liquid. Bioresource
of R60 is likely not sustainable. Speculating on the results it may be
Technology 98 (1), 104–111.
argued that the maximum water/leachate recycle scenario is no Nordberg, A., Nilsson, A., Blomgren, A. (1992). Salt accumulation in a biogas process
more than 50% (R50). with liquid recirculation. effect on gas production, vfa concentration and
acetate metabolism. in: Proc. Int. Symp. on Anaerobic Digestion of Solid Waste,
Venice.
Pavan, P., Battistoni, P., Mata-Alvarez, J., Cecchi, F., 2000. Performance of
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