Investigating leachate decontamination and biomethane augmentation through Co-disposal of paper mill sludge with municipal solid waste in simulated anaerobic landfill bioreactors

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 329; p. 124889
• Main Authors: Srivastava, Abhishek N., Chakma, Sumedha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2021
• Subjects: Anaerobiosis; biochemical oxygen demand; Bioenergy generation; biogas; Bioreactor landfill; Bioreactors; Co-disposal; Decontamination; Effluent treatment plant sludge; growth models; landfills; leachates; Methane; methane production; Municipal solid waste; pulp and paper mills; pulp and paper sludge; Refuse Disposal; Sewage; sludge; Solid Waste; Waste Disposal Facilities; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Bioenergy generation; Effluent treatment plant sludge; Co-disposal; Bioreactor landfill; Municipal solid waste
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.124889

[Display omitted] •Effluent treatment sludge was found virtuous accompanying waste for co-landfilling.•Equal proportion of wastes produced maximum methane after 300 days of landfilling.•Reduced leachate strength was attained by ETPS co-disposal in bioreactor landfill.•Gompertz growth model showed excellent fit for experimental methane data. The study aims to investigate the feasibility of anaerobic co-landfilling of effluent treatment plant sludge (ETPS) from paper mill and municipal solid waste (MSW) in prismoidal shaped simulated anaerobic landfill bioreactors. Both ETPS and MSW were co-disposed in 0:100 (R1), 25:75 (R2), 50:50 (R3) and 75:25 (R4) ratios. Periodic assessments of leachate characteristics and biomethane production were carried out for 300 days. ETPS co-disposal with MSW showed considerable reduction in biochemical oxygen demand of leachate (R2: 95.9%, R3: 97.5% and R4: 93.2%). Moreover, cumulative methane gas generations were 2.974, 6.085 and 4.653 times more in R2, R3 and R4 bioreactors as compared to R1. Gompertz growth model was found in well-fitting for methane generation with the observed data. Correlogram plotted among leachate parameters exhibited exclusive relationships and justified leachate trends. This simulation of co-landfilling could be baseline study for the implementation of technology at pilot scale.