Energy production from mechanical biological treatment and composting plants exploiting solid anaerobic digestion batch: an Italian case study

The energetic potential of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste processed in both existing Composting plants and Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plants, can be successfully exploited by retrofitting these plants with the solid anaerobic digestion batch process. On the basis of the analysis performed in this study, about 50 MBT plants and 35 Composting plants were found to be suitable for retrofitting with Solid Anaerobic Digestion Batch (SADB) facilities. Currently the organic fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) arising from the MBT facilities is about 1,100,000 tons/year, whereas that arising from differentiated collection and treated in Composting plants is about 850,000 tons/year. The SADB performances were analyzed by the aid of an experimental apparatus and the main results, in agreement with literature data, show that the biogas yield ranged from 400 to 650 Nl/kg of Volatile Solids (VS), with a methane content ranging from 55% to 60% v/v. This can lead to the production of about 500 GW h of renewable energy per year, giving a CO2 reduction of about 270,000 tons/year. From the economic point of view, the analysis shows that the mean cost of a kWh of electrical energy produced by upgrading MBT and Composting facilities with the SADB, ranges from 0.11 and 0.28 €/kW h, depending on the plant size and the amount of waste treated.