Production of biogas from municipal solid waste with domestic sewage

In this study, experiments were conducted to investigate the production of biogas from municipal solid waste (MSW) and domestic sewage by using anaerobic digestion process. The batch type of reactor was operated at room temperature varying from 26 to 36 °C with a fixed hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 25 days. The digester was operated at different organic feeding rates of 0.5, 1.0, 2.3, 2.9, 3.5 and 4.3 kg of volatile solids (VS)/m3 of digester slurry per day. Biogas generation was enhanced by the addition of domestic sewage to MSW. The maximum biogas production of 0.36 m3/kg of VS added per day occurred at the optimum organic feeding rate of 2.9 kg of VS/m3/day. The maximum reduction of total solids (TS) (87.6%), VS (88.1%) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) (89.3%) occurred at the optimum organic loading rate of 2.9 kg of VS/m3/day. The quality of biogas produced during anaerobic digestion process was 68-72%.