Ethanol and Methane Production from the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste in a Two-Stage Process

In the present study, the OFMSW was utilized for ethanol and methane production in a two-stage process. First, the OFMSW was fermented by adjusting different levels of total solids (10%, 20%, and 29%) and a yeast dose (6, 12, and 24 g/kg(OFMSW)) for bioaugmentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A control treatment without bioaugmentation was used for benchmarking. In the self-fermentation of the OFMSW with its indigenous microbiota, lactic acid was mainly produced, followed by ethanol and acetic acid, where a maximum ethanol production of 113 +/- 2 g(COD)/kg(TS), corresponding to 10.8 +/- 0.4 g/L, at 20% of total solids was observed. The results showed that in all treatments with bioaugmentation, regardless of the content of total solids, the main metabolites were ethanol, lactic acid, and acetic acid, which represented more than 95% of the total metabolites. The ethanol concentration was increased by increasing the total solids and the yeast dose. The highest ethanol production was 407 +/- 3 g(COD)/kg(TS) with the bioaugmentation of 24 g/kg(OFMSW) and 20% of total solids, whereas the maximum ethanol concentration of 43.4 +/- 0.1 g/L was obtained with bioaugmentation of 12 g/kg(OFMSW) and 29%. The methane potential of the raw OFMSW was 329 +/- 5 NL-CH4/kg(VS), whereas the solid digestates resulting from the fermentation exhibited similar or even higher methane yields than raw OFMSW. A maximum methane potential of 464 +/- 2 NL-CH4/kg(VS) from the solid digestate obtained after fermentation of the OFMSW with bioaugmentation of 6 g/kg(OFMSW) of yeast and 10% of total solids was achieved. Thus, large amounts of ethanol and methane were achieved without the application of pretreatment and/or enzymatic hydrolysis, which implies a low-cost alternative for the production of biofuels.

Automated summary

In this study, organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) was used for ethanol and methane production in a two-stage process. Different levels of total solids and yeast dose were adjusted for bioaugmentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae to ferment the OFMSW. The main metabolites in all treatments with bioaugmentation were ethanol, lactic acid, and acetic acid, representing more than 95% of the total metabolites. The highest ethanol production was achieved with the bioaugmentation of 24 g/kg(OFMSW) and 20% of total solids, while the maximum methane potential was obtained with bioaugmentation of 6 g/kg(OFMSW) of yeast and 10% of total solids. This study demonstrated a low-cost alternative for the production of biofuels without the need for pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis.