Material and energy balances in a large-scale aerobic bioconversion cell

Abstract

On the basis of earlier experimental studies of the aerobic bioconversion of organic wastes, the preferred values of operating parameters and the biochemical rate constants of oxidation to CO₂ and H₂O were identified. Energy and material balances were then constructed for a large, 3 m deep aerobic cell holding 1,440 tons of the ‘wet’ component of organic wastes (major organic constituent: [C₆H₁₀O₄]_n). It was found that conduction/convection and radiation losses to the surroundings amount to a relatively small fraction of the chemical heat released by oxidation. Therefore, the surplus chemical heat must be removed by means of an upward water-saturated air flow that is several-fold the stoichiometric requirement for biodegradation. This study has quantified a basic process difference between anaerobic and aerobic bioconversion of organic matter: In the former, most of the chemical energy in the converted organic matter is stored chemically in the generated methane gas. In the latter, this energy is released in the cell and must be carried out in a relatively large air/water vapour flow through the cell.