BMP tests of source selected OFMSW to evaluate anaerobic codigestion with sewage sludge

• BMP of nine source-selected OFMSW and one sewage sludge were defined.
• Macromolecular, elemental and physical–chemical analysis were performed on samples.
• Codigestion BMP tests of sewage sludge and SS-OFMSW mixture were carried out.

The aim of this study is to characterize different types of source selected organic fraction of municipal solid waste (SS-OFMSW) in order to optimize the upgrade of a sewage sludge anaerobic digestion unit by codigestion. Various SS-OFMSW samples were collected from canteens, supermarkets, restaurants, households, fruit–vegetable markets and bakery shops. The substrates characterization was carried out getting traditional chemical–physical parameters, performing elemental analysis and measuring fundamental anaerobic digestion macromolecular compounds such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and volatile fatty acids. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests were conducted at mesophilic temperature both on single substrates and in codigestion regime with different substrates mixing ratios. The maximum methane yield was observed for restaurant (675 NmlCH4/gVS) and canteens organic wastes (571 and 645 NmlCH4/gVS). The best codigestion BMP test has highlighted an increase of 47% in methane production respect sewage sludge digestion.