Asian Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology & Environmental Sciences Paper

Vol 11, Issue 4, 2009; Page No.(803-808 )

COMPARISION STUDY OF ANAEROBIC DIGESTION FOR SEGREGATED AND NON-SEGREGATED IBMW

S. JAYANTHI AND E. SAR0JINI

Abstract

Disposal of Infectious biomedical waste (IBMW) has been a typical task now due to its hazardous nature and also the failure of incinerator with high fuel cost and air pollution crisis. The proportion of generation of Organic fraction of Municipal Solid waste (OFMSW) and IBMW in health care institutions ranges from 4:1 to 6:1. Improper segregation has led to the mix of IBMW and OFMSW wastes. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is suited for treating organic wastes with high water contents, like industrial wastewaters, sewage sludge, and municipal and agricultural solid wastes. It enables the decomposition of organic matters as well as the production of fuel gas, methane. Furthermore, many other valuable materials can be produced or recovered through anaerobic digestion. Batch studies on anaerobic digestion of segregated Infectious Biomedical waste (IBMW) and non-segregated IBMW were carried out. Segregated IBMW were obtained from one of the hospitals in Coimbatore, India. Characteristics of the waste were analyzed. Lime pre-treatment was carried out for pathogenic reduction. A laboratory scale bio-digester of capacity 5 litres was operated separately in a batch mode at ambient temperature of 27°C to 40°C for both the studies. One reactor was run with 75% of pretreated IBMW and 25% of seeding sludge for 120 days in batch mode. Another reactor was fed with non-segregated IBMW along with 25% of seeding sludge in batch mode. pH and gas production were monitored daily. The studies involved the determination of parameters such as pH, COD, VS, alkalinity at different stages of digestion at regular intervals of 10 days. 81% of COD reduction and 75% of VS reduction were attained at the end of 80th day in the anaerobic digestion of IBMW with maximum gas yield of 720mL/day and a cumulative gas yield of 36.82 liters. From results of the non segregated IBMW experiment, 80% COD reduction and 68% VS reduction were observed with a maximum gas yield of 600 mL/day on fiftieth day and a cumulative gas production of 10.37 L was obtained at the end of 120 days. Feasibility study indicates proper segregation of IBMW gives higher reduction of physiochemical parameters and high cumulative gas yie'd. An attempt has been made on feasibility study on anaerobic digestion of segregated and non segregated IBMW with the shifting from burning to non- burning technology.

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