Model calibration and validation for OFMSW and sewage sludge co-digestion reactors
- Department of Mechanics, Structures and Environmental Engineering, University of Cassino, via Di Biasio 43, 03043 Cassino (Italy)
- Department of Mathematics and Applications Renato Caccioppoli, University of Naples Federico II, via Cintia, Monte S. Angelo, I-80126 Naples (Italy)
- Department of Hydraulic, Geotechnical and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, via Claudio 21, 80125 Naples (Italy)
Highlights: > Disintegration is the limiting step of the anaerobic co-digestion process. > Disintegration kinetic constant does not depend on the waste particle size. > Disintegration kinetic constant depends only on the waste nature and composition. > The model calibration can be performed on organic waste of any particle size. - Abstract: A mathematical model has recently been proposed by the authors to simulate the biochemical processes that prevail in a co-digestion reactor fed with sewage sludge and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. This model is based on the Anaerobic Digestion Model no. 1 of the International Water Association, which has been extended to include the co-digestion processes, using surface-based kinetics to model the organic waste disintegration and conversion to carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. When organic waste solids are present in the reactor influent, the disintegration process is the rate-limiting step of the overall co-digestion process. The main advantage of the proposed modeling approach is that the kinetic constant of such a process does not depend on the waste particle size distribution (PSD) and rather depends only on the nature and composition of the waste particles. The model calibration aimed to assess the kinetic constant of the disintegration process can therefore be conducted using organic waste samples of any PSD, and the resulting value will be suitable for all the organic wastes of the same nature as the investigated samples, independently of their PSD. This assumption was proven in this study by biomethane potential experiments that were conducted on organic waste samples with different particle sizes. The results of these experiments were used to calibrate and validate the mathematical model, resulting in a good agreement between the simulated and observed data for any investigated particle size of the solid waste. This study confirms the strength of the proposed model and calibration procedure, which can thus be used to assess the treatment efficiency and predict the methane production of full-scale digesters.
- OSTI ID:
- 21578441
- Journal Information:
- Waste Management, Vol. 31, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2011.07.024; PII: S0956-053X(11)00331-X; Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0956-053X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
CALIBRATION
CARBOHYDRATES
EFFICIENCY
HYDROLYSIS
LIPIDS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METHANE
ORGANIC WASTES
PARTICLE SIZE
PROTEINS
SEWAGE SLUDGE
SIMULATION
SOLID WASTES
VALIDATION
WATER
ALKANES
BIOCONVERSION
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL WASTES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
DECOMPOSITION
DIGESTION
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LYSIS
MATERIALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SEWAGE
SIZE
SLUDGES
SOLVOLYSIS
TESTING
WASTES