Aerobic Biostabilization of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste—Monitoring Hot and Cold Spots in the Reactor as a Novel Tool for Process Optimization

The process of aerobic biostabilization (AB) has been adopted for treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). However, thermal gradients and some side effects in the bioreactors present difficulties in optimization of AB. Forced aeration is more effective than natural ventilation of waste piles, but “hot and cold spots” exist due to inhomogeneous distribution of air and heat. This study identified the occurrence of hot and cold spots during the OFMSW biostabilization process at full technical scale. It was shown that the number of hot and cold spots depended on the size of the pile and aeration rate. When the mass of stabilized waste was significantly lower and the aeration rate was two-fold higher the number of anaerobic hot spots decreased, while cold spots increased. In addition, the results indicated that pile construction with sidewalls decreased the number of hot spots. However, channelizing the airflow under similar conditions increased the number of cold spots. Knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of process gases can enable optimization and adoption of the OFMSW flow aeration regime. Temperature monitoring within the waste pile enables the operator to eliminate undesirable “hot spots” by modifying the aeration regime and hence improve the overall treatment efficiency.