ENV 506 :INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE

MANAGEMENT
BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT :
COMPOSTING/ANAEROBIC DIGESTION

DR SITI ROHANA MOHD YATIM

CENTRE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH & SAFETY
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, UiTM
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to describe:

 Definition of biological treatment

 Type of biological treatment
 Advantages and disadvantages of biological treatment
 What is compost – why use it?
Composting is the decomposition of plant remains and
other once living materials to make an earthy, dark,
crumbly substance that is excellent for adding to
houseplants or enriching garden soil.

 compost improves soil structure, texture, aeration -

increases the soil's water-holding capacity.
 Compost loosens clay soils and helps sandy soils
retain water.
 improves soil fertility and stimulates healthy root
development
 Organic matter provides food for microorganisms -
nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus mineralized
 Composting is the natural process in which living organisms
decompose organic matter into inorganic matter in the soil.
 The organisms feed on the organic material and through respiration
generate the energy that they use for movement, growth,
reproduction or stored energy.
 The organism excrete inorganic material that enriches the soil.
 When the organisms die, their bodies add to the organic matter in the
compost pile.
Why you should compost?
CLIMATE CHANGE & COMPOST
Factors to consider in planning a composting plant

a) Waste material
I. Quantity & composition of waste
II. Type of waste
III. Collection of waste
IV. Pre-treatment required
V. Cost of bulking material
VI. Transport of raw waste to plant
VII. Transport of compost
VIII. Disposal of non compostable materials
IX. Marketing possibilities
X. Alternative disposal options
XI. Presence of toxic / hazardous material
b) Compost plant
i. Location of plant
ii. Capital & equipment costs
iii. Land requirement
iv. Site development
v. Expansion possibilities
vi. Applicability of existing types

c) Compost process
i. System required
ii. Choice of equipment
iii. Energy/fuel requirements
iv. Laboratory needs
v. Maintenance needs
vi. Maintenance costs
vii. Personnel costs

d) Compost demand
i. Market research
ii. Market promotion
iii. Marketing costs
 Advantages of composting

1. Makes landfill management easier because organic waste are

removed
2. Avoids the generation of gas in landfills
3. Contribute to recycling targets (waste separation)
4. Provides an enclosed, leak proof system, that enables all of the gas
produced to be collected effectively and efficiently in much shorter
period
5. Produces compost residue which could be used as soil conditioner
ENV506: SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION

DR SITI ROHANA MOHD YATIM

CENTRE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, UiTM
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Define Anaerobic Digestion

2. Explain the principles and process of AD
3. Explain advantages and disadvantages of AD

.
 INTRODUCTION

● Today, facing the soaring challenge of municipal solid waste

management in most urban areas in low and middle-income countries,
anaerobic digestion is considered a promising option also for treatment
of solid waste management in developing countries as well
● Anaerobic Digestion offers a valuable and innovative way to divert waste
from the landfill.
Anaerobic biogas digesters are airtight reactors in which organic waste is
decomposed and transformed into biogas by a biological process called anaerobic
digestion.
Biogas is recovered and transformed into heat or any other form of energy. The
remaining sludge contains many nutrients and can be used in agriculture (optionally
after an aerobic post-composting). Mainly in industrialized countries, this technology
has been evolved over the past centuries, resulting in various designs of different
complexities. Facing the problem of municipal waste disposal and soaring fuel prices,
low-tech set-ups, particularly adapted for developing countries have been developed
today.
● All biogas digesters are basically designed following the same process of anaerobic digestion.
● Anaerobic digestion is a four-stage process consisting of hydrolysis; fermentation (conversion of non-
soluble organic biomass to soluble organic compounds); acidification (e conversion of soluble organic
compounds to volatile fatty acids and CO2, followed by the conversion of volatile fatty acids to acetate and
H2); and finally methane formation.
● The final product, biogas, is a mixture of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and other trace gases
Hydrolysis: This phase is slow and consists in the breakdown of all
the big and complex molecules (polymers) into smaller units
(monomers and oligomers). This breakdown is done by enzymes
released by hydrolytic bacteria. Proteins are broken down into amino
acids, fats into long chain fatty acids, and sugars into
monosaccharides
Acidogenesis: This is the quickest stage. Here, acidogenic bacteria
convert all the monomers and oligomers into volatile fatty acids
(VFA). During the process carbon dioxide is released. Because
carbon dioxide does not burn, a non-flammable biogas means this
stage is prevailing in the biodigester.
Acetogenesis: Some authors combine this stage with Acidogenesis. In this
phase, volatile fatty acids are converted into acetate. Carbon dioxide and
hydrogen are also released during the process.
Methanogenesis: Methanogenic bacteria are very slow to duplicate which is a
disadvantage compared with acidogenic bacteria which need few hours to
replicate, methanogenic require days.There are many ways in which
methane is formed, but two routes prevail. The biggest part of the methane
comes from the acetate (70%), and the rest of the carbon dioxide and
hydrogen conversion (30 %).
• There are many ways in which anaerobic digestion can occur. The
simplest reactors are covered waste dumps, where anaerobic
digestion can occur naturally in uncontrolled systems.

• As mentioned above, today there is a large range of different types

and designs of anaerobic digester technologies for the treatment of
organic waste available. Even though the process for all these
technologies is always the same (i.e. anaerobic digestion),
depending on the composition of the substrate and the volume of the
waste stream, complexity of design, construction and operation vary
strongly.
 Anaerobic Digester Outputs

Biogas
• Biogas is composed of methane (CH4), which is the primary
component of natural gas, at a relatively high percentage (50 to 75
percent), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), water vapor,
and trace amounts of other gases.
• The energy in biogas can be used like natural gas to provide heat,
generate electricity, and power cooling systems, among other uses.
Biogas can also be purified by removing the inert or low-value
constituents (CO2, water, H2S, etc.) to generate renewable natural
gas (RNG).
• This can be sold and injected into the natural gas distribution system,
compressed and used as vehicle fuel, or processed further to
generate alternative transportation fuel, energy products, or other
advanced biochemicals and bioproducts.
Digestate
• Digestate is the residual material left after the digestion process.
• It is composed of liquid and solid portions.
• These are often separated and handled independently, as each have value that can be
realized with varying degrees of post processing.
• With appropriate treatment, both the solid and liquid portions of digestate can be used in
many beneficial applications, such as animal bedding (solids), nutrient-rich fertilizer
(liquids and solids), a foundation material for bio-based products (e.g., bioplastics),
organic-rich compost (solids), and/or simply as soil amendment (solids), the latter of
which may include the farm spreading the digestate on the field as fertilizer.
• Digestate products can be a source of revenue or cost savings, and are often pursued to
increase the financial and net-environmental benefit of an AD/biogas project.

Heat
Heat, generated from the combustion of the methane gas, can be captured and put to use as
either steam or hot water.
 REFERENCES

References
Van Lier, J. B., Mahmoud, N., & Zeeman, G. (2008). Anaerobic wastewater treatment. Biological
wastewater treatment: principles, modelling and design, 415-456.
Chernicharo, C. A. L., Van Lier, J. B., Noyola, A., & Ribeiro, T. B. (2015). Anaerobic sewage
treatment: state of the art, constraints and challenges. Reviews in Environmental Science and
Bio/Technology, 14(4), 649-679.
Thank you.