Kinetics of MSW Biodegradation with Different Inocula In Laboratory In-Vessel Reactor

The in-vessel composting is considered as an environmentally sound method for the treatment and disposal of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) as it produces good quality compost with lesser environmental impacts. In this study, the process was accelerated and the composting time was reduced using various industrial organic wastes as inoculums in a vertical in-vessel reactor with stirrer arrangement. This study examined the process kinetics which aims to show the interdependency between biological, chemical & physical factors. It is also the extension of the previous work which dealt with composting of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. The rate of degradation of volatile solids, TOC and C/N ratio are presented in First-order kinetic model and reaction rate constants are determined. The different inoculums used are yeast sludge, spent wash, distillery effluent and sugar sludge. Yeast sludge has the highest R2 values such as 0.979, 0.978 and 0.986 for VS, TOC and C/N ratio respectively. The R2 value of C/N ratio for the sugar sludge is 0.983. From the kinetic study, it can be concluded that the yeast sludge can be a better option when compared with other sludge to accelerate the process of composting.