Thermal Pre/Treatment of Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste

Abstract

OFMSW consists mainly of food waste, with small proportions of the yard and paper waste, composed of bio-polymers-lignin, cellulose, and hemicellu-lose, whose cross-linkage leads to difficulty in enzyme degradation thus reduce the overall process efficiency. Thermal pretreatment helps in the breakage of the lignin bonds and breaks down the crystalline structure of cellulose, leading to solubiliza-tion of COD, proteins, carbohydrates of OFMSW, higher biogas yield, and volatile solid removal during anaerobic digestion. This chapter concentrates on the temperature phase treatment and thermal pretreatment (conventional, microwave, and thermo-chemical), their principle, and their effect on process efficiency. Along with it, the merits, demerits of thermal pre/treatment, production of inhibitory compounds, and their effect on AD have been discussed. Furthermore, the commercial application, economic and environmental feasibility of thermal pretreatment of OFMSW has also been covered in this chapter. Keywords Organic fraction of municipal solid waste · Temperature phased treatment · Thermal pretreatment · Biogas · Solubilization · Recalcitrant Abbreviations AD Anaerobic digestion CHP Combined heat and power systems FVW Fruit and vegetable waste HHV High heating value HMF 5-Hydroxy methyl furfural