Anaerobic Decomposition Process Characteristics of Various Sizes of Garbage in a Lysimeter System

Abstract

Garbage is produced daily in significant quantities especially in densely populated areas, creating serious environmental problems. On the other hand, the garbage has a high organic content and is a potential resource for producing renewable energy in the form of biogas. The implementation of an integrated approach to the environmental management gives hope to create a win-win solution to solve the strategic problem.  The research work aims to characterize the biodegradation process of garbage in a lysimeter system. The lysimeters were intended to simulate the real conditions of landfill. The experiments were performed using 5 lysimeters filled with various sizes of garbage, consisting of powder (A), 0.1 – 0.9 cm (B), 1.0– 1.9 cm (C), 2.0 – 2.9 cm (D) and original shape (E). Observations were conducted for duration of 150 days focusing on the alteration of the fed material and the products of the conversion process. The research results showed that the process of biodegradation is unique to each garbage size variation. In the beginning phase, the biogas was dominated by methane gas (CH₄) in lysimeter A, while CO₂ was predominant in the other lysimeters. The smaller size of the garbage the larger volume of biogas was produced. In opposite, the larger size garbage was biodegraded, the faster garbage volume reduction and the higher leachate production will be.

Keywords: Garbage, biogas production rate, lysimeter, biodegradation process characteristics