Mass Balance Calculations of the Organic Solid Wastes Treatment in Anaerobic Reactor

The treatment of organic solid wastes by anaerobic digestion carries out by amicroorganism´s consortium, in which theme thanogenic Archaea is the process limiting due their sensitiveness to changes in environmental conditions and for having a slow growth. To monitoring the system, some variables from the anaerobic process can be evaluate and, usually the COD has used to estimate the material degradability and its conversion into biogas. These values help to assess performance and process stability through the mass balance. Aiming to evaluate the mass conversion process efficiency and energy as biomass, this article is based on amass balance adapted from literature for this system using COD values and production of biogas generated in the reactor. The result was satisfactory, based on mass balance, 50% of the COD entered into the system were converted to methane gas. The literature shows a range of 50-70% conversion of the COD into methane in anaerobic reactors. According to the values found in the literature for anaerobic treatment, and under conditions in which it was done (lowpH and air temperature), the efficiency of COD conversion into methane can be increased with some adjustments at control parameters like pH, alkalinity and temperature. Setting temperature(37 °C), pH and alkalinity balanced, may improve the conditions of the medium at all stages of degradation of the material and conversion to methane.