Investigation of BMP and energy generation potential from municipal solid waste under anaerobic condition

Municipal solid wastes consist of a significant proportion of biodegradable materials that can be used to generate energy. As such, it is often used as a feedstock for biomethane production using an anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The AD process characteristics, kinetics, and energy potential of different types of municipal solid wastes often vary depending on various factors. This study attempts to capture the impact of these factors. Municipal solid wastes as feedstock were collected from five locations in Himachal Pradesh and inoculated with sewage samples to produce biomethane. It was observed from the chemical characterization that the average value of volatile solid concentrations was within the range of 23–28% with the summer season showing the highest concentrations. Batch testing process was carried out experimentally for 45 days to observe the rate of methane production. The maximum cumulative biomethane generation over the experimental period was determined as around 260 mL/g VS. Six kinetic modeling approaches were considered, of which the cone and modified Gompertz model best fitted the experimental results of the BMP production rate.