WOODLAWN BIOREACTOR – PROGRESS REPORT ON THE WORLD’S LARGEST BIOREACTOR PROJECT

The Woodlawn Bioreactor has now (April 2007) been in operation 2.5 years and

has gone through a variety of operational issues which have generated management responses to

ensure that the objectives of the facility, namely the orderly disposal of 480,000 t of waste per

annum; the expected generation of energy and, finally, the avoidance of environmental impacts

is achieved. This paper describes the issues encountered which include initial waste saturation

with acid sulfate rich runoff and groundwater inflows; H2S generated OH&S issues, the

competition of sulfur reducing bacteria with methanogens and the maintenance of effective gas

harvesting, gas generation and monitoring. During this process a great deal has been learned

about the processes within the waste mass and how these can be controlled and utilized. An

essential element of the learning process has been and will continue to be, the focus of

monitoring on parameters which reflect the processes which are sought to be managed to achieve

optimal benefit