Abstract
With the increasing use of municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) and more stringent limits on landfilling of organic waste, more MSWI bottom ash is being landfilled, and the proportion of inorganic wastes in landfills is increasing, causing the increased Ca concentrations in landfill leachate. In this research, the inhibition effect of Ca concentration on the anaerobic treatment of landfill leachate was studied using a biochemical methane potential experiment. Slight inhibition of methane production occurred when the addition of Ca concentration was less than 2000 mg/L. When the addition of Ca concentration was between 6000 and 8000 mg/L, methane production was significantly reduced (to 29.4–34.8 % of that produced by the BLK reactor), and the lag phase was increased from 8.55 to 16.32 d. Moreover, when the dosage of Ca concentration increased from zero to 8000 mg/L, reductions in solution Ca concentration increased from 929 to 2611 mg/L, and the proportion of Ca in the residual sludge increased from 22.58 to 46.87 %. Based on the results, when the dosage of Ca concentration was less than 4000 mg/L, the formation of Ca precipitates on the surface of sludge appeared to prevent mass transfer and was the dominant reason for the reduction in methane production and sludge biomass. At higher Ca concentrations (6000–8000 mg/L), the severe inhibition of methane production appeared to be caused by the toxic effect of highly concentrated Ca on sludge as well as mass transfer blockage.
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Abbreviations
- BLK:
-
blank
- BMP:
-
biochemical methane potential
- COD:
-
chemical oxygen demand
- EC:
-
electrical conductivity
- IC:
-
inorganic carbon
- IE:
-
inhibition effect
- MSW:
-
municipal solid waste
- MSWIBA:
-
municipal solid waste bottom ash
- TOC:
-
total organic carbon
- TS:
-
total solid
- UASB:
-
up-flow anaerobic sludge bioreactor
- VFA:
-
volatile fatty acid
- XRD:
-
x-ray diffraction
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Acknowledgments
This study was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 program, no. 2011CB201500), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 21277096), and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Regional Environmental Quality.
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Responsible editor: Gerald Thouand
Highlights
• Ca inhibition on anaerobic treatment of MSW leachate was investigated.
• Severe inhibition of methane production occurred at Ca concentrations >6000 mg/L.
• Ca in residual granular sludge increased as leachate Ca concentration increased.
• Hypotheses for inhibition mechanisms were developed.
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Xia, Y., He, PJ., Pu, HX. et al. Inhibition effects of high calcium concentration on anaerobic biological treatment of MSW leachate. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 7942–7948 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6052-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6052-3