The effect of ultrasonic pretreatment on biogas generation yield from organic fraction of municipal solid waste under medium solids concentration circumstance

• Ultrasonic pretreatment improved biogas yields at lower TS content samples.
• Time of ultrasonication was significantly effective on maximum biogas yields.
• Ultrasonic pretreatment can cause the release of TVFA content before digestion.
• Specific energy between 5000 kJ/kg TS and 10,000 kJ/kg TS improved biogas yields.

Hydrolysis is the most rate limiting step in almost all anaerobic digestion systems. To tackle long time duration, ultrasonic pretreatment proved that it can effectively improve biogas yield efficiency by effecting on soluble particles. In this study, the effect of three different ultrasonic power densities (0.2 W/mL, 0.4 W/mL and 0.6 W/mL) at three different times (10 min, 20 min and 30 min) on biogas yield of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) at three different total solid content (6%, 8% and 10%) were analyzed. Results showed significant (p < 0.01) effect of both sonication density and time of sonication on biogas final yield and biogas yield after 72 h digestion with the 6% TS content. Parameters like specific energy input and total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) content were also evaluated to find the best sonication treatments for OFMSW. For lower TS contents (6% and 8%), sonication treatment significantly (p < 0.01) increased TVFA concentration before digesting. It is also proved that specific energy input between 5000 kJ/kg TS and 10,000 kJ/kg TS can effectively increase the biogas yields, especially for 6% TS content, and caused maximum biogas yield produced after 72 h of digestion.