Abstract
The purpose of this program is to evaluate and verify the technical and economical feasibiilty of the solid waste to methane fermentation process. Since anaerobic fermentation of solid waste materials has not been demonstrated on a large scale, there is a definite risk factor that the system will not perform as current research suggests. The proof of concept plant was built on an existing shredding and landfill site at Pompano Beach, Florida. Two digesters were built with a total capacity of 90 Mg/day of solid waste. Municipal solid wastes contain numerous substances of potential environmental concern. While some understanding of the composition of raw municipal waste and its leachate products is available, no information regarding characteristics of solid, liquid and gaseous outputs from anaerobic digestion exists. The areas of environmental concerns identified were: output gas quality, leachate (filter cake and filtrate) to groundwater system, wash water streams, filter cake, and filtrate. In order to characterize the effluent streams, the following sampling sites were chosen: air classified heavy fraction, air classified light fraction, digested slurry, output gas, filter cake, filtrate, wash water input, and wash water effluent. The technical approach consisted of physical, chemical, and biological characterization of all outputs at the plant. Analyses for major, minor and trace compounds of potential environmental concern were conducted. Relevant regulatory standards were recognized and searches for compounds on EPA priority pollutant list and carciongen list were conducted. The ultimate aim was to quantitatively relate contaminant potential with plant operating parameters. Some mutagenic studies were conducted. A significant part of the technical approach relates to the development of predictive criterion for pollutant migration by leaching and modeling studies.