Dry thermophilic anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste: Study of the variables of the process in the start up and stabilization of the bio-reactor (Spanish text)

The aim of this research work has been to establish an appropriate protocol to carry out the start up and stabilization of the process of biomethanization of municipal solid waste, under dry and thermophilic (55°C) conditions, usable at industrial scale. The organic solid wastes studied were, restaurant waste (RW), synthetic waste (SW) and municipal solid waste for industrial plant (MSW).; The first study was conducted to develop and to apply several analytic techniques for the municipal solid waste characterization. The physical-chemical characteristics of the waste used were inside the ranges indicated in the bibliography.; The second stage of this work was to propose a specific procedure to carry out the start up and stabilization of the process of dry thermophilic anaerobic digestion of RW using the SEBAC technology (Sequential Batch Anaerobic Composting). The best conditions were: 20% Total Solids (TS), to operate with two layers of SLUDGE/SWINE using shell rice as structurant material at thermophilic conditions. The SEBAC technology reached stable operation in 15--30 days operating with RW, SW and MSW according to the proposed protocol.; The third objective was to propose a specific protocol to carry out the start up and stabilization of the biomethanization process of RW, SW and MSW at dry thermophilic conditions operating with the batch technology at laboratory scale (1.1 L total capacity). The best inoculum selected was mesophilic digested SLUDGE (30%) and 20% TS. The results showed a fast start up (20-30 days) and appropriate removal activity operating according to the proposed protocol.; Finally, the aim was to validate the proposed protocol for the start up and stabilization of RW, SW and MSW at dry (20%TS) thermophilic (55°C) anaerobic digestion at laboratory scale (5.0 L total capacity) and pilot plant scale (300 L) using mesophilic digested SLUGE (30%) as inoculum. All organic waste showed good start-up in 30 days.