Comparative technology assessment of anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of MSW

Anaerobic digestion is the biological degradation process of organic matter under anoxic conditions, with production of methane and inorganic by-products, including carbon dioxide. Over the past years, many studies on anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) have been carried out at laboratory, bench and pilot scale. This work aims to summarize the main features of the OFMSW anaerobic digestion techniques and to define the state of art of this process in Europe, at both research and industrial level. To this end, main experimental results, design solutions and technologies are compared, also in relation to capital and operating costs and data about full scale experiences are reported. Among the different aspects discussed, particular interest has been provided to pretreatment possibilities in relation to substrate biodegradability and biogas production rate. The data collected and examined in this paper stress the aspects to be improved, in order to define future perspectives of the anaerobic process application for OFMSW treatment. © 2010 WIT Press.