Abstract

The process dynamics of anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste (MSW) in a batch bioreactor for the production of biogas has been analysed. An anaerobic batch digester was designed for the treatment of MSW in Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria, while at the same time generate biogas as a useful by-product. In the course of the design, the biochemical behaviour of the MSW in batch processing was investigated and analysed. Mathematical models were developed to describe the behaviour of the waste using material balance analysis. The models were validated by the formulation of a Microsoft Visual Basic Version 6.0 programme to simulate the digestion process for a fractional conversion of 0.2-0.8 and Total solids (TS) concentration of 4-30%. The results were analysed using Microsoft Chart Editor and showed that the fractional conversion has various levels of effect on other process parameters like the mean cell residence time, substrate and microbial concentrations and the volume of biogas/methane produced.

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