Characterization and environmental studies of Pompano Beach anaerobic digestion facility. Semi-annual report

Technical Report · Fri Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5257068· OSTI ID:5257068

Sengupta, S; Farooq, S; Gerrish, H P; Wong, K F; Chriswell, C

Anaerobic digestion of municipal waste has been demonstrated to be feasible in bench scale experiments by Pfeffer (1974). Approximately, 50% reduction in mass and production of 6000 ft/sup 3/ of gas/ton have been estimated. The gas composition is estimated to be 50% methane and 50% carbon monoxide. The technical and economic feasibility of anaerobic digestion with an ultimate objective of commercialization are discussed. A plant has been built at Pompano Beach, Florida on an existing shredding and landfill operation site. The plant design capacity is 100 tons/day. Two digesters have been constructed to be used in parallel. The process consists of primary shredding, metal separation, secondary shredding, air classification and digestion of light fraction. Sewage sludge was used to seed the initial mixture in the digester. The output slurry is vacuum filtered and the filter cake disposed on an existing landfill. The filtrate is recycled. Excess filtrate is sprayed on the landfill. At present the output gas is being flared. A flow chart for the plant is presented. It is imperative that environmental investigations be conducted on new energy technology prior to commercialization. A project was initiated to characterize all input and output streams and to assess the potential for ground water contamination by landfill disposal of effluents. Detailed chemical, biological and physical characterization efforts supported by leaching and modelling studies are being conducted to achieve the stated objectives. Some mutagenic studies were also conducted. The environmental investigations were started in August 1978. Sengupta et al (1979a) reported the first year's efforts.

• Research Organization: Miami Univ., Coral Gables, FL (USA). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AS05-78EV10133
• OSTI ID: 5257068
• Report Number(s): DOE/EV/10133-T1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090122 -- Hydrocarbon Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320604* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Municipalities & Community Systems-- Municipal Waste Management-- (1980-)
42 ENGINEERING
420900 -- Engineering-- Waste Processing Plants & Equipment-- (-1989)
ALKANES
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
BIOCONVERSION
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DIGESTION
DISSOLUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FLORIDA
FLUIDS
HYDROCARBONS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
LEACHING
MANAGEMENT
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METHANE
MUNICIPAL WASTES
NORTH AMERICA
OPERATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PROCESSING
PRODUCTION
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOUTHEAST REGION
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTE PROCESSING PLANTS
WASTES