Current Trends in Anaerobic Digestion Processes, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Green Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 November 2024 | Viewed by 2192

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Department of New Energy Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430074, China
Interests: LCA; environmental impact; energy
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Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 67, 06125 Perugia, Italy
Interests: thermal machines; power plants; bioenergy; energy from waste
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Given the growing demand for green energy in developed and developing countries, biogas production from biomass and waste is a technology that is used to produce renewable methane. This can be obtained as biogas or biomethane (through a successive upgrading step). Different substrates can be used in the anaerobic digestion process, such as energy crops, waste, residual biomass, as well as food waste. Feedstock logistics, plant operation optimization, and biogas utilization in engines and turbines are key topics that must be carefully analyzed for the successful planning of biogas and biomethane projects. Process optimization should be based on the comprehension of biogas yields from different substrates, the analysis of pre-treatment processes of the raw materials, the optimization of pH in the reactor, the optimization of retention time, the optimization of volatile matter degradation efficiency, and the process integration and heat integration to reduce waste heat production (e.g., from CHP units). Together with these conventional aspects, other innovative technologies have to be developed to purify biogas through fermentation, separation of CO2, hydrogenation of CO2, use of biochar in the digester, or biogas purification.

This Special Issue on "Current Trends in Anaerobic Digestion Processes, Volume II" aims to curate novel advances in biogas production and use, focusing both on modeling and experimental campaigns. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Modeling of anaerobic digestion and biogas production;
  • Organic substrate characterization and pre-treatment;
  • Biogas purification and biomethane production and use;
  • Biogas combustion in engines and turbines.

Prof. Dr. Pietro Bartocci
Prof. Dr. Qing Yang
Dr. Francesco Fantozzi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • biogas
  • anaerobic digestion
  • biochar
  • biomethane
  • waste food
  • process integration
  • reactors
  • modeling
  • gas cleaning
  • emissions

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2183 KiB  
Article
A New ODE-Based Julia Implementation of the Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 Greatly Outperforms Existing DAE-Based Java and Python Implementations
by Courtney Allen, Alexandra Mazanko, Niloofar Abdehagh and Hermann J. Eberl
Processes 2023, 11(7), 1899; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11071899 - 24 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1401
Abstract
The Anaerobic Digestion Model 1 is the quasi-industry standard for modelling anaerobic digestion, and it has seen several new implementations in recent years. It is assumed that these implementations would give the same results; however, a thorough comparison of these implementations has never [...] Read more.
The Anaerobic Digestion Model 1 is the quasi-industry standard for modelling anaerobic digestion, and it has seen several new implementations in recent years. It is assumed that these implementations would give the same results; however, a thorough comparison of these implementations has never been reported. This paper considers four different implementations of ADM1: one in Julia, one in Java, and two in Python. The Julia code is a de novo implementation of the ODE formulation of ADM1 that is reported here for the first time. The existing Java and Python codes implement the more common DAE formulation. Therefore, this paper also examines how DAE implementations compare to ODE implementations in terms of computational speed as well as solutions returned. As expected, the ODE and DAE forms both return comparable solutions. However, contrary to popular belief, the Julia ODE implementation is faster than the DAE implementations, namely by one to three orders of magnitude of compute time, depending on the simulation scenario and the reference implementation used for comparison. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Trends in Anaerobic Digestion Processes, 2nd Edition)
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Review

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21 pages, 814 KiB  
Review
Impacts of Polyvinyl Alcohol and Chitosan-Modified Biochar on the Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage Sludge and Valuable Resource Recovery
by Ping Fa Chiang, Teng Ling Zhang, Ndungutse Jean Maurice, Mugabekazi Joie Claire, Bigirimana Gentil, Abdul Ghaffar Memon and Abdulmoseen Segun Giwa
Processes 2024, 12(9), 1987; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12091987 - 14 Sep 2024
Viewed by 354
Abstract
The accumulation of organic dyes and heavy metals (HMs) in sewage sludge (SS) after wastewater treatment is a significant problem due to the non-degradable nature of these pollutants. Moreover, the simultaneous removal of HMs and dyes in the complex process of SS treatment, [...] Read more.
The accumulation of organic dyes and heavy metals (HMs) in sewage sludge (SS) after wastewater treatment is a significant problem due to the non-degradable nature of these pollutants. Moreover, the simultaneous removal of HMs and dyes in the complex process of SS treatment, such as anaerobic digestion (AD), has become attractive. HMs and dyes present in SS can have a detrimental effect on anaerobic digesters. These pollutants not only inhibit the production of methane, which is crucial for biogas generation, but also affect the stability of AD treatment, which can result in failure or inadequate performance of the AD process. This review highlights a novel method of removing HMs and dyes from the AD process of SS through the use of biochar modified with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and chitosan (CTS). The applications of conventional biochar have been limited due to poor adsorption capacity. However, modification using PVA/CTS composites enhances properties such as surface functional groups, adsorption capacity, porosity, surface area selectivity, and stability. Furthermore, this modified version can function as an additive in AD of SS treatment to boost biogas production, which is a viable source for heat generation or electricity supply. In addition, the digestates can be further processed through plasma pyrolysis for the removal of HMs and dyes bound to the modified biochar. Plasma pyrolysis generates two major products: syngas and slag. The syngas produced can then be used as a source of hydrogen, heat, and electricity, while the slag can potentially be reused as an AD additive or as a biofertilizer in the agricultural sector. Additionally, this study addresses the challenges associated with this integration and biochar modifications, and offers an outlook on understanding the interactions between the modified biochar properties, microbial dynamics, and the presence of micropollutants to ensure the economic viability and scalability of this technology. This comprehensive review provides insights into the potential of PVA/CTS-modified biochar as an effective additive in AD systems, offering a sustainable approach to SS treatment and valuable resource recovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Current Trends in Anaerobic Digestion Processes, 2nd Edition)
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