2000 Volume 62 Issue 6 Pages 116-124
Characteristics of the 2nd phase of a methane fermentation system or gasification process were evaluated experimentally. The substrate for the 2nd phase was supernatant from the effluent of the 1st or acidogenic phase of an anaerobic process treating garbage slurry. The mesophilic bench scale apparatus consisting of four CSTR's performed as well as a thermophilic gasification process in regard to steady state data on pH, substrate consumption, biogas production rates and methane yield. Kinetic simulations on the microbe growth and methane production determined critical HRT was 5.4 days, HRT to facilitate maximum microbe density was 8.3 days, and HRT for the maximum methane production rate was 6.7 days, respectively. Based on these HRT's, the total vessel volume needed to handle the garbage produced by one person would be 82.5L and the methane produced per person would be 13.2L/d.
