Carbon Monoxide Formation during Aerobic Biostabilization of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste: The Influence of Technical Parameters in a Full-Scale Treatment System

Sylwia Stegenta-Dąbrowska, Peter F. Randerson, Sarah R. Christofides and Andrzej Białowiec
Additional contact information
Sylwia Stegenta-Dąbrowska: Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Life Sciences and Technology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 37a Chełmońskiego Str., 51-630 Wrocław, Poland
Peter F. Randerson: School of Biosciences, Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
Sarah R. Christofides: School of Biosciences, Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK
Andrzej Białowiec: Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Faculty of Life Sciences and Technology, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 37a Chełmońskiego Str., 51-630 Wrocław, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: The present study sought to investigate the formation of carbon monoxide (CO) during aerobic biostabilization (AB) of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) in forced aerated piles. Understanding the factors influencing CO formation may be important not only for safety, but also for environmental and technical reasons. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of the technical parameters of the piles on the concentration of CO in the process gas during AB of the OFMSW in a full-scale waste treatment system: rate of waste aeration (from 3365 to 12,744 m 3 ?Mg −1 ), waste mass loads in the pile (from 391 to 702 Mg), thermal conditions, application of sidewalls as an element of pile bioreactor construction, concentration of O 2 and CO 2 in the waste piles and the duration of the process from 6 to 9 weeks. The temperature and concentration of O 2 , CO 2 , CO, CH 4 were measured in each pile at weekly intervals. All six reactors provide stable thermal and aerobic conditions, but the presence of CO was observed, ranging from a few to over 2000 ppm, which demonstrated that ensuring optimum conditions for the process is not sufficient for CO to be eliminated. A moderate, non-linear rise in CO concentration was observed along with a rise in the temperature inside the reactors. Concentrations of CO were not highly correlated with those of O 2 or CO 2 . An increase in waste mass loads increased the CO concentration in waste piles, while application of sidewalls decreased CO concentration. Increasing aeration rate had an influence on CO production, and the highest CO concentrations were noted under air flow rate 5.3 m 3 ·Mg −1 ·h −1 .

Keywords: aeration rate; aerobic biostabilization; carbon monoxide; municipal waste; organic fraction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/21/5624/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/21/5624/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:21:p:5624-:d:435674

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().