Determination of Biomethane Generation Potential in the Domestic Municipal Waste Flow of Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

The objective of this research project is to determine the anaerobic methane production capability of Hanoi’s domestic municipal waste flow given its chemical composition using biomethane potential tests. The research project sampled domestic waste matters from several households in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi. The chemical composition of the organic waste samples, including chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS), and volatile solids (VS), were examined, and the TS values were used to calculate the volume ratio between the organic waste and seeding sludge that has anaerobically digesting microorganisms. 10mL of waste and 290mL of sludge were combined for a 300 mL waste-sludge mixture. Four sludge mixtures were then placed in four reacting beakers at a temperature of 35oC for 21 days, two of which were mixed and the other two were not mixed. Two blank reactors with only the microorganisms were also placed in the same temperature condition. The results for the cumulative volume of methane generated were 294.3 mL per gram of VS for the mixed reactors and 177.8 mL per gram of VS for the unmixed reactors. Since the mixed reactors yield a much higher volume of CH4 generated than the unmixed reactors, it can be concluded that mixing of the substances in the beakers is important. Moreover, the maximum volume of generated methane for all the reactors was reached after day 3, which is a lot faster than the suggested experiment time for biomethane potential tests (21 days).