Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 380–387

Anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste as a treatment

prior to landWll
¤
P.H.L. Nguyen, P. Kuruparan, C. Visvanathan
Environmental Engineering and Management Program, Asian Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 4, Klong Luang, Pathumthani 12120, Thailand

Received 20 August 2005; received in revised form 14 December 2005; accepted 17 December 2005
Available online 9 February 2006

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste was conducted in pilot-scale reactor based on high-solid combined
anaerobic digestion process. This study was performed in two runs. In Run 1 and Run 2, pre-stage Xushing and micro-aeration were con-
ducted to determine their eVect in terms of enhancing hydrolysis and acidiWcation in ambient condition. In Run 2, after pre-stage, the
methane phase (methanogenesis) was started-up after pH adjustment and inoculum addition in mesophilic condition. AcidiWed leachate
produced in pre-stage was used for percolation during active methane phase. At the end of methane phase, air Xushing was conducted
before unloading the digesters. Hydrolysis and acidiWcation yield of 140 g C/kg TS and 180 g VFA/kg TS were achieved, respectively in
pre-stage. Micro-aeration exhibited an equivocal result in terms of enhancing hydrolysis/acidiWcation; however it showed a positive eVect
in methane phase performance and this needed further investigation. Leachate percolation during methane phase showed an enhanced
methanization when compared to the reactors without leachate percolation. After 60 days, 260 l CH4/kg VS was obtained. Based on the
waste methane potential, 75% biogas conversion and 61% VS degradation were achieved.
© 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Flushing; Micro-aeration; Hydrolysis; AcidiWcation; Methane phase

1. Introduction high moisture content, and the generation rate is increasing

Direct landWlling of municipal solid waste (MSW) was
known to create lasting detrimental impacts to the environ-
ment. Among the major issues associated with landWlls are
the consequential emissions to the atmosphere, hydro-
sphere, and pedosphere; risk in landWll stability; and scar-
city of land. Since landWll was regarded as an integral part
of solid waste management in Asia, it was realized that
waste treatment prior to landWll is indispensable. In this
regard, biological pre-treatment of waste like anaerobic
digestion is an attractive method especially in Asian coun-
tries, because of its suitable waste characteristics. Accord-
ing to Visvanathan et al. (2004), municipal solid waste
stream in Asian cities is almost similar, composed of high
fraction of biodegradable material of more than 50% with
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +66 2 524 5640; fax: +66 2 524 5625.
E-mail address: visu@ait.ac.th (C. Visvanathan).
with time. For example, in Thailand, the organic fraction in
MSW consist of food waste (50%), paper (10%), and yard
waste (5%) and the remaining inorganic fraction is com-
posed of plastics (14%), glass/stone/can (5%), wood (4%),
metals (3%), textile (3%), rubber/leather (2%), and soil/
other (4%).
Anaerobic digestion of organic fraction municipal
solid waste (OFMSW) has been studied in recent decades,
trying to develop a technology that oVers waste stabili-
zation with resources recovery. In the complex process of
anaerobic digestion, hydrolysis/acidiWcation and methano-
genesis are considered as rate-limiting steps. However, it is
possible to increase the hydrolysis rate with the applica-
tion of micro-aerophilic conditions (Capela et al., 1999;
Wellinger et al., 1999). Moreover, Dayanthi et al. (2004)
studied the leaching experiment on organic fraction of
MSW showed that Xushing the waste bed could enhance
hydrolysis and acidiWcation. SpeciWc features of high-solid

0960-8524/$ - see front matter © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2005.12.018
 P.H.L. Nguyen et al. / Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 380–387
batch anaerobic digestion process such as simple design
and process control, lower investment cost, lesser water
consumption, etc. make them particularly attractive for
developing countries.
Temperature signiWcantly inXuences anaerobic diges-
tion process, especially in methanogenesis wherein the
degradation rate is increasing with temperature. The
reaction temperatures with maximum activity are meso-
philic and thermophilic (Mata-Alvarez, 2003). Micro-
organisms operating in mesophilic range are more robust
and can tolerate greater changes in the environmental
parameters than thermophilic condition. The stability of
the mesophilic process makes it more popular in current
anaerobic digestion facilities due to the fact that thermo-
philic bacteria are more sensitive to toxicants and tem-
perature Xuctuation outside the optimum range (Biey
et al., 2003). Since this study is in early stage of investiga-
tion, ambient condition in pre-stage and mesophilic con-
dition in methane phase was selected to investigate the
parameters.
The objective of this research was to study the eVect of
Xushing and micro-aeration in pre-stage as well as the eVect
of leachate percolation in methane phase enhancement in
order to develop a combined anaerobic digestion process in
batch systems.
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of anaerobic digestion experimental set-up.
381
2. Methods
2.1. System design
This study was performed in pilot scale, double-walled
stainless steel anaerobic digesters with a total volume of 375 l.
The designated volume for waste bed was 260 l, leaving the
available headspace and bottom space for biogas generation
and gravel support, respectively. The reactors were equipped
with top removable cover for waste loading and unloading in
each batch. Anaerobic condition was ensured by completely
closing the reactor by placing rubber gasket and silicone seal-
ant in between the lids. Temperature inside the digester was
controlled by a temperature controller wherein hot water
from water bath was pumped in the water jacket to maintain
the temperature of 37 °C in methane phase. Each reactor was
provided with 200 l and 60 l leachate tanks for pre-stage and
methane phase leachate storage, respectively. The operation
of pumps and air compressor were automatically controlled
at certain interval by setting the timers. Fig. 1 represents the
schematic diagram of the experimental set-up. Biogas pro-
duced in main-stage was directed to a “U” tube for gas sam-
pling before reaching wet gas meter for daily gas production
measurement. This was to ensure the biogas sample taken at
the “U” tube was not aVected by water in the wet gas meter.
382 P.H.L. Nguyen et al. / Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 380–387
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the three-stage anaerobic digestion system.
2.2. Process features
Fresh market waste were loaded into the reactors and
Xushed with tap water to produce eZuent in the form of
leachate. The purpose of Xushing was to leach out pollu-
tant in order to reduce the organic load from the waste
bed and at the same time to reduce the constraint of high
organic loading in high solid batch system. Fig. 2 illus-
trates the three stages involved in combined anaerobic
digestion process. (1) Pre-stage: volatile fatty acids
(VFA) and other dissolve organic compounds produced
by the fresh waste were Xushed into leachate. Flushing
and micro-aeration at diVerent strategies were provided
to optimize the hydrolysis/acidiWcation process at ambi-
ent temperature. (2) Methane phase: biogas production
at mesophilic temperature. Start-up was conducted with
pH adjustment and inoculum addition. An active meth-
ane phase was indicated by the presence of about 50%
methane in biogas and the pH of the system around 7. (3)
Final stage: the waste bed was Xushed with fresh air to
remove the remaining biogas in digester before unload-
ing the waste.
2.3. Feedstock characteristics and preparation
The substrate used was market waste collected from
Bangkok, Thailand. The waste was characterized for
moisture content (MC D 90%), volatile solids (VS D 79%),
and total solids (TS D 10%). Fresh waste was manually
segregated to remove bulky and inert materials. The
sorted waste was subjected to size reduction to <60 mm by
using mechanical pulverizer. The waste was loaded into
the reactor together with bamboo cutlets (10% volume of
the loaded waste) as bulking agent. The purpose of
employing bulking material was to create void space in
order to facilitate the distribution of Xushing water and
aeration. Bamboo cutlets were separated manually when
the waste was unloaded from the reactor and the digested
waste sample was taken for characterization at the end of
the process.
2.4. Experimental set-up
Three digestion systems ran in parallel to optimize the
pre-stage and methane phase. Pre-stage Xushing and micro-
aeration conditions were examined in Run 1 and Run 2
whereas methane phase was conducted only in Run 2. The
pre-stage operational sequence is schematized in Fig. 3.
In Run 1, the reactors were loaded with fresh waste
to a compaction density of 500 kg/m3 with bulking agent.
Pre-stage was conducted for seven days. AcidiWed leachate
was removed daily and was replaced by another 200 l of
tap water. Daily water replacement during pre-stage under
ambient condition was found to enhance leaching (Dayan-
thi et al., 2004). Initially Xushing at a rate of 5 l/min for 4 h
run/4 h stop was performed followed by micro-aeration at a
rate of 1 l/min (0.4 l/kg h) for 2 h run/4 h stop. It should be
noted that reactor 1 was non-micro-aerated while reactors
2 and 3 was only provided with micro-aeration for the Wrst
three and seven days of operation, respectively. The results
of pre-stage performance in Run 1 are illustrated in Fig. 4.
In general, it could be deduced that after Wve days of Xush-
ing in three reactors, the additional removal of DOC load
of only 64% was very low. In this regard, Wve days of Xush-
ing could be enough.
In Run 2, pre-stage was conducted for only Wve days.
Daily water replacement was applied in reactor 1, whereas
in reactors 2 and 3, water was replaced after day 1 and on
day 3 of operation. As a result, a total of 1000 l water (48.8 l/
kg TS) was used for reactor 1, and only 600 l water (29.3 l/
kg TS) was used for reactors 2 and 3. In reactor 3, Wve days
of micro-aeration was provided at a rate of 1 l/min (0.4 l/
kg h) for 2 h run/4 h stop; while in reactors 1 and 2, micro-
aeration was not applied. The reactors were loaded initially
 P.H.L. Nguyen et al. / Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 380–387
Reactor 1
120 kg
Run 1 0 1 2 3 4
150 kg 30 kg 30 kg
Run 2 0 1 2 3 4
0 1
Note
DOC cumulative load
4 160
3 120
DOC (g/l)
(g/kgTS)
2 80
1 40
0 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3 6.5
Alkalinity (g/l)
6.0
2
5.5
1 conducted on fresh waste based on the method established
5.0
0 4.5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Run time (day)
Fig. 4. Variation of DOC, pH, and alkalinity in pre-stage leachate of Run 1
(broken lines corresponding to primary Y-axis, continuous line correspond-
ing to secondary Y-axis); (–䊏–) reactor 1 (non-micro-aerated); (–䊉–) reactor
2 (three-day micro-aerated); (–䉱–) reactor 3 (seven-day micro-aerated).
of 150 kg of waste with bulking agent. Around 30 kg of
fresh waste was added after two and four days of Xushing.
This additional amount of waste corresponded to the avail-
able reactor’s headspace resulting from waste settlement
during pre-stage, also an optimum density of 500 kg/m3 was
maintained in the new layer of waste.
Following pre-stage, new condition was provided in
order to enhance the start-up of methane phase. The pH of
the system was adjusted to 6.5 and was followed by inocu-
lum addition. Mixture of cow dung, stabilized/digested
waste and anaerobic sludge was used as seeding material
totally accounting for 16% VS of the loaded waste. Percola-
tion was performed for two days to distribute inoculums
throughout the waste bed. Reactors were incubated to a
temperature of 37 °C. DiVerent strategies were applied for
three digesters. In reactors 1 and 3, leachate percolation
was only practiced by the time the reactor shifted to active
methane phase (CH4 D 50%) and that was on day 40 and
30, respectively. However, in reactor 2, leachate percolation
was not provided. Pre-stage leachate was percolated at a
383
Reactor 2 Reactor 3
120 kg 120 kg
5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
150 kg 30 kg 30 kg 150 kg 30 kg 30 kg
5 0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Run time in days, shaded part: micro-aeration
Flushing water 200l
Fig. 3. Pre-stage optimization.
rate of 0.2 l/min for 4 h run/4 h stop and replaced in batch
mode. At the end of methane phase, the waste bed was
Xushed with fresh air for one day before unloading the
digester in order to remove the remaining biogas in the
reactor for safe unloading.
2.5. Analytical method
Waste characteristic before and after digestion was
examined in order to determine the extent of waste degra-
dation (%VS loss). In addition, waste samples were deter-
mined in terms of MC, TS, and VS. The BMP test was
pH
by Hansen et al. (2004). During pre-stage, the representa-
tive leachate sample from three reactors were collected
daily from the leachate tank and analyzed for dissolved
organic carbon (DOC); total kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN);
VFA including acetic acid (HAc), propionic acid (HPro),
butyric acid (HBu), and valeric acid (HVa); pH; and
alkalinity. All parameters were determined based on the
analytical procedures in standard methods (APHA
et al., 1998). Daily biogas production was determined
from wet gas meter and biogas was analyzed in volumet-
ric composition (CO2, CH4, O2 and N2) by using Gas chro-
matography.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Pre-stage
Fig. 4 exhibits the variation of DOC, pH, and alkalinity
of leachate during pre-stage. In three digesters, highest
DOC concentration (3.5 g/l) was noted in the Wrst day of
Xushing. The result showed the DOC concentration in daily
leachate reduced sharply with run time to around 0.5 g/l in
Wve days. Similar trends were observed for TKN and VFA.
The VFA concentration during Wrst few days of Xushing
was about 3–4 g/l and decreased to around 0.7 g/l on day 5.
Although, Xushing could enhance acid production, it
diluted the produced acids from the digester too early. The
low pollutant concentration in leachate from day 5 was
due to the early extraction of hydrolyzed materials and the
384 P.H.L. Nguyen et al. / Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 380–387
dilution of waste bed by Xushing. There was no further
signiWcant organic removal was noticed after Wve days. As
mentioned, the purpose of pre-stage operation was to
partly remove the organic fraction of the waste bed in the
form of leachate in preparation for methane phase; this
suggested that Xushing was insigniWcant after day 5. The
observation demonstrated that the short duration was
needed for Xushing.
Moreover, pH value in three reactors was low in the
range of 5–6 (Fig. 4). This might be due to high VFA pro-
duction and low buVering capacity (alkalinity) of the waste.
The pH value in reactor 3 (with seven days micro-aeration)
was quite high due to bicarbonate buVering capacity caused
by the formation of carbon dioxide in aerobic metabolism.
AcidiWcation occurs strongly at the early Xushing period
because acidogens are known to be fast-growing bacteria
with a minimum doubling time of around 30 min and are
capable of fermenting part of the soluble fraction of
organic refuse to produce VFA in a short time interval
(Mosey, 1983). Since hydrolysis is not rate limiting, acids
are produced quickly. At the end of Xushing, a maximum
VFA yield of 180 g VFA/kg TS was achieved in reactor 1.
Lower acid yield of 160 g VFA/kg TS was observed in reac-
tors 2 and 3.
The cumulative load of single VFA distribution during
pre-stage in three digesters did not vary much. Generally,
acetic acid dominates over propionic, butyric, and valeric
acids. Since acetic acid is the direct substrate for methano-
gens, its higher concentration shows that methanogenesis
do not occur during pre-stage. A comparison of DOC and
DOC equivalent of TVFA (Table 1) exhibited that over
half of the soluble organic carbon in leachate was acidiWed
into VFA. This showed that acidiWcation was strong over
hydrolysis. The high fraction of VFA in leachate favored
the proposal of feeding it back into the digester during
methane phase by leachate percolation. Early extraction of
VFA in pre-stage leachate would prevent imbalance
between acidogenesis and methanogenesis in methane
phase which was normally considered to cause instability in
high-solid digestion system (Mata-Alvarez, 2003).
Low concentration of VFA at the end of pre-stage sug-
gested that strict separation of acidogenesis and methano-
genesis could not be maintained at this point and it would
be better to shift the reactor to a new stage. In this regard,
Table 1
Load of DOC and DOC equivalent of VFA in pre-stage leachate (Run 1 and Run 2)
R1 (without micro-aeration)
Run 1 (7 days pre-stage)
DOC 140
DOC equivalent of TVFA 86
R1 (1000 l water)
Run 2 (5 days pre-stage)
DOC 140
DOC equivalent of TVFA 83
Note: Unit expressed in g C/kg TS.
in Run 2, pH adjustment and inoculum addition was per-
formed after pre-stage. Since it was also observed from Run
1 that VFA concentration in leachate was low on day 3 (less
than 2 g/l), it was possible to reduce the amount of water
used without causing VFA inhibition. Thus, in Run 2, the
amount of Xushing water was varied; 1000 l used in reactor
1, and 600 l was supplied in reactors 2 and 3. Also, addi-
tional 30 kg of waste added into the digesters in Run 2
showed an insigniWcant diVerence in terms of pollutant
load that could be extracted from the waste bed into leach-
ate. Optimum compaction density of 500 kg/m3 in the new
waste layer was hypothesized to be the reason for a com-
parable yield.
3.2. Methane phase
Fig. 5a and b show biogas composition and cumulative
production in methane stage, respectively. During start-up,
biogas production was low and methane content increased
slowly to 50% in reactors. The system was successfully
started-up after 25 days. Gas production rate in reactor 3
was higher than reactors 1 and 2. The possible explanation
was due to early micro-aeration in pre-stage which might
have resulted in better hydrolysis/acidiWcation during start-
up of methanization period providing substrate for metha-
nogens.
DiVerent behaviors could be observed after start-up
(Fig. 5b). In reactor 3, it was observed that cumulative gas
production increased immediately after lag phase, when
methane composition was stable and leachate percolation
was practiced. The curve implied that the waste bed was
suYciently inoculated and buVered so that the methano-
gens were activated. During batch 1 of leachate percolation
biogas production kept increasing but there was insigniW-
cant change in VFA in reactor 3 (Fig. 6a and b). The reason
could be due to the continuous production of VFA from
the waste bed. Thus, based on this observation, the phase
change from acidic to methanogenic stage had not yet com-
pleted. The cumulative methane yield rapidly increased and
the high methane content (>60%) indicated a balanced
methane fermentation.
Regarding the cumulative gas production, reactor 3
gained the highest biogas production of about 5000 l (256 l/
kg TS) after 60 days of operation. This implied that the
R2 (3 days micro-aeration) R3 (7 days micro-aeration)
127 119
72 70
R2 (600 l water) R3 (600 l water)
128 129
80 88
 P.H.L. Nguyen et al. / Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 380–387 385

Pre-stage Methane phase

Start-up Growing
70
60

% CH4 in Biogas
50
40

30
Reactor 1
20 Reactor 2
10 Reactor 3
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
(a) Run time (day)

Pre-stage Methanization stage

Lag phase Growing phase Mature phase

(Start-up)

5000
Reactor 1 250

Specific biogas production (l/kgTS)

4500
Cumulative biogas production (l)

Reactor 2
4000 Reactor 3
200
3500
3000
150
2500
2000
100
1500
1000 50
500
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
(b) Run time (day)

Fig. 5. (a) Biogas composition and (b) cumulative biogas production (reactors 1 and 3: leachate percolation on day 40, 30; reactor 2: no leachate percola-
tion).

reactor reached a mature phase in which the hydrolyzed In reactor 3, at the commencement of leachate percola-
and acidiWed products were almost consumed so that a tion, the daily gas production was increasing (Fig. 6a). This
long term reduction of daily gas production was observed. showed that leachate percolation had a beneWcial eVect in
In reactor 2, only 2700 l of biogas (146 l/kg TS) was pro- enhancing biogas generation. However, after nine days of
duced after 60 days because leachate percolation was not leachate percolation (batch 1), the daily gas production
practiced that caused the gas production rate to increase reduced suddenly without reducing VFA concentration. It
very slowly. It reached a highest daily gas production of was observed that propionic acid in leachate kept on increas-
100 l/day on day 60. This rate was obtained earlier in reac- ing and reached nearly 4 g/l (Fig. 6b) and might positively
tors 1 and 3 at day 47 and 30, respectively. This suggested cause the sudden decrease of biogas from 160 l to 110 l. It
that leachate percolation during methane phase could pos- could be likely that there was an inhibition caused by high
itively enhance biogas production. This was also proven to concentration of this acid, as reported by other authors
be an eVective means of mixing, provided moisture (Gourdon and Vermande, 1987; Mawson et al., 1991; Inanc
(Ghosh, 1985; Chanakya et al., 1992; O’Keefe et al., 1993) et al., 1996; Pullammanappallil et al., 2001). New batch of
and appropriate pressure to help release biogas (Mohee pre-stage leachate with low propionic acid concentration
and Ramjeawon, 2003). On the other hand, Chan et al. was percolated causing daily gas production to increase back
(2002) demonstrated that leachate recirculation was not to the level of 150 l/day. The daily gas production was stable
only eVective in enhancing the degradation rate of waste for a week before it started to decrease again. This time, the
and gas production but also in the reduction of the overall drop in biogas production was not accompanied by high
leachate loading. concentration of propionic acid. The reduction of acetic acid,
386 P.H.L. Nguyen et al. / Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 380–387

Pre-stage Methane phase

Batch 1 Batch 2 Batch 3

Specific gas production (l/kg TS.day)

200
10

Daily gas production (l/day)

150 8

6
100
4
50
2

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
(a) Run time (day)

Leachate batch 1 Leachate batch 2 Leachate batch 3

Single VFA concentration (g/l)

Hac Hpr Hbu Hva

3

0
30 35 40 45 50 55 60
(b) Run time (day)

Fig. 6. (a) Daily gas production and (b) single VFA concentration (reactor 3).

a direct substrate for methanogens, was the reason for bio- system had stabilized and the leachate was mature. The
gas production to decrease. Third batch of leachate was pH value increased from 5 (pre-stage) to a range of 7.3–7.8
replaced, in order to supply VFA for digester. The system (methane phase).
kept on producing biogas but not as high as observed before
and the rate was slowly dropping. Long-term decreasing 3.3. Air Xushing stage
trend of biogas production was observed showing that
hardly biodegradable waste remained. In reactor 1, similar In Run 2, the reactor 3 reached a mature phase after 60
behavior of biogas production was observed, daily biogas days and air Xushing was practiced to Xush out the remain-
generation started to increase at the commencement of ing biogas before unloading the digester. After one day of
leachate percolation. aeration, methane and carbon dioxide content dropped
In reactor 3, propionic acid was the highest accumu- to <5%. Thus, one day of aeration was suYcient to remove
lated acid in the system during Wrst batch of leachate per- the remaining biogas and the reactor could be safely
colation. It reached the level of nearly 4 g/l as compared to unloaded.
2 g/l of acetic acid. Butyric and valeric acids concentration
were low. Due to a favorable environmental condition for 3.4. BMP and actual methane yield
acid formation, mainly high pH, other acids started to
appear. The stable concentration of acetic acid indicated In reactor 3, approximately 5 m3 of biogas with meth-
the balance between the rate of acid consumption and ane content of 55% was obtained, which was equivalent
production. Propionic acid and other acids were produced to 230 l CH4/kg VS. The actual methane yield was 230 l
more while acetic acid was converted to methane and car- CH4/kg VS as compared to 300 l CH4/kg VS in lab-scale
bon dioxide. According to Mrz.-Viturtia et al. (1994), the BMP test. This highlighted that almost 75% methane
low acetic acid concentration compared with propionic conversion was obtained in the pilot scale system under
acid indicated a stable methane performance. In mature the inXuence of pre-stage (Wve days micro-aeration,
phase, most acids started to decrease revealing that the Xushing with 600 l of water) in ambient condition and
 P.H.L. Nguyen et al. / Bioresource Technology 98 (2007) 380–387
methane phase (with leachate percolation) in mesophilic
condition.
4. Conclusions
The application of micro-aeration during pre-stage
showed an equivocal result on hydrolysis/acidiWcation
enhancement. Flushing for short duration of Wve days with
lesser volume of water (29.3 l/kg TS) was found beneWcial to
partly remove the organic matter from waste bed in pre-
paration for methane phase. Hydrolysis yield of 140 g/kg
TS which is equivalent to 30% of C from the waste bed
was removed in leachate form and acidiWcation yield of
180 gVFA/kg TS were obtained. The importance of leach-
ate percolation during methane phase was recognized to
enhance biogas production. Nevertheless, micro-aeration
during pre-stage may have a positive eVect in methanogene-
sis since an active methane phase was reached early com-
pared to other reactors without micro-aeration. This might
have resulted in better hydrolysis/acidiWcation during the
start-up of methanization period providing substrate for
methanogens. Thus, micro-aeration exhibits an equivocal
eVect in terms of enhancing anaerobic digestion process
and this needs further investigation. The actual methane
yield of waste (260 l CH4/kg VS) was compared with the
result of BMP test (300 l CH4/kg VS), it revealed that 75%
process eYciency can be obtained in this process.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Swedish International
Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) for Wnancing
this research, which is a part of the Sustainable Solid Waste
LandWll Management in Asia under the Asian Regional
Research Program on Environmental Technology.
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