Seasonal Effects On Anaerobic Digestion of the Source Sorted Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste

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Abstract
The effects of seasonal temperature change on the quality of easily degradable organic matter in municipal solid waste was monitored and the related influence on the anaerobic digester performance examined. It was verified that increased external temperature caused the transformation of the ethanol contained in the source-sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste fed to the digester, into acetate. This transformation has been associated with a remarkable effect on the process kinetics of substrate utilization. Thus, the kinetic constant for the first order substrate utilization model in the summer (external temperature greater than 18-20°C) doubled with respect to the winter, although the digester was held at 35±2°C throughout.