Advances in Biogas Desulfurization

A special issue of ChemEngineering (ISSN 2305-7084).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2019) | Viewed by 38653

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technologies, Wine and Agrifood Research Institute (IVAGRO), Faculty of Sciences, University of Cádiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain
Interests: bioreactor; biofiltration; biodesulfurization; biogas; hydrogen sulphide; microalgae; nitrification; optimization; PID control; modelling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The use of biogas is increasing in an effort to reduce the consumption of non-renewable energies. Biogas is an interesting renewable energy sources produced by the biodegradation of organic matter under anaerobic conditions. Its composition depends on the feedstock type and digestion system. Biogas is a gas rich in methane and carbon dioxide, however, numerous other compounds are also found, such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, volatile organic compounds, etc. For all applications (heat and power production, injection into natural gas grid, fuel for solid oxide fuel cells, biogas reforming, vehicle fuel, etc.) the hydrogen sulfide concentration needs to be reduced because its produces corrosion, damages equipment and sulfur dioxide emissions in biogas combustion.

Biogas desulfurization methods can be classified into two generic categories: Those involving physicochemical phenomena and those involving biological processes. The physicochemical techniques can be divided into two types process: Wet processes (ion-based chelation processes, alkanolamine scrubbers, etc.) and dry processes (ion-sponge, impregnated active carbon, etc.). Biological processes, are mainly carried out by biotrickling filters and bioscrubbers. Although it also can be supplied with air or oxygen for the anaerobic digesters to produce elemental sulfur under microaerobic conditions.

This Special Issue is open for all contributors in the field of biogas desulfurization. This Special Issue aims to bring together scientific/technical advances on physicochemical and/or biological processes for biogas desulfurization. Biogas desulfurization is seen as essential by many stakeholders (biogas producers, suppliers of biogas upgrading devices, gas traders, researchers, etc.) around the world, who knows the importance of biogas desulfurization to allow its valorization. International contributions to this Special Issue will show the latest advances in desulfurization processes.

Prof. Martín Ramírez Muñoz
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biogas
  • physicochemical desulfurization processes
  • biological desulfurization processes
  • hydrogen sulfide

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 219 KiB  
Editorial
Special Issue “Advances in Biogas Desulfurization”
by Martín Ramírez
ChemEngineering 2020, 4(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering4010017 - 9 Mar 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2980
Abstract
This Special Issue contains three articles and two reviews. The biological reactors used in the studies were fed with real biogas from Landfill or STPs. One research article concerns the use of a pilot scale plant with a combined process with a chemical [...] Read more.
This Special Issue contains three articles and two reviews. The biological reactors used in the studies were fed with real biogas from Landfill or STPs. One research article concerns the use of a pilot scale plant with a combined process with a chemical and biological system. The other two studies concern anoxic biotrickling filters, with one study focused on the study of variable operation and its optimization through the response surface methodology, and the other focused on the selection of packing material. The reviews concern the current state of biogas desulfurization technologies, including an economic analysis, and the microbial ecology in biofiltration units. This Issue highlights some of the most relevant aspects about biogas desulfurization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biogas Desulfurization)

Research

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9 pages, 3928 KiB  
Article
Desulfurization of Biogas from a Closed Landfill under Acidic Conditions Deploying an Iron-Redox Biological Process
by Antonio Velasco, Mariana Franco-Morgado, Sergio Revah, Luis Alberto Arellano-García, Matías Manzano-Zavala and Armando González-Sánchez
ChemEngineering 2019, 3(3), 71; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering3030071 - 7 Aug 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3644
Abstract
Desulfurization processes play an important role in the use of biogas in the emerging market of renewable energy. In this study, an iron-redox biological process was evaluated at bench scale and pilot scale to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from biogas. The [...] Read more.
Desulfurization processes play an important role in the use of biogas in the emerging market of renewable energy. In this study, an iron-redox biological process was evaluated at bench scale and pilot scale to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from biogas. The pilot scale system performance was assessed with real biogas emitted from a closed landfill to determine the desulfurization capacity under outdoor conditions. The system consisted of an Absorption Bubble Column (ABC) and a Biotrickling Filter (BTF) with useful volumes of 3 L and 47 L, respectively. An acidophilic mineral-oxidizing bacterial consortium immobilized in polyurethane foam was utilized to regenerate Fe(III) ion, which in turn accomplished the continuous H2S removal from inlet biogas. The H2S removal efficiencies were higher than 99.5% when H2S inlet concentrations were 120–250 ppmv, yielding a treated biogas with H2S < 2 ppmv. The ferrous iron oxidation rate (0.31 g·L−1·h−1) attained when the system was operating in natural air convection mode showed that the BTF can operate without pumping air. A brief analysis of the system and the economic aspects are briefly analyzed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biogas Desulfurization)
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12 pages, 2875 KiB  
Article
Application of Response Surface Methodology for H2S Removal from Biogas by a Pilot Anoxic Biotrickling Filter
by Fernando Almenglo, Martín Ramírez and Domingo Cantero
ChemEngineering 2019, 3(3), 66; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering3030066 - 13 Jul 2019
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4082
Abstract
In this study, a pilot biotrickling filter (BTF) was installed in a wastewater treatment plant to treat real biogas. The biogas flow rate was between 1 and 5 m3·h−1 with an H2S inlet load (IL) between [...] Read more.
In this study, a pilot biotrickling filter (BTF) was installed in a wastewater treatment plant to treat real biogas. The biogas flow rate was between 1 and 5 m3·h−1 with an H2S inlet load (IL) between 35.1 and 172.4 gS·m−3·h−1. The effects of the biogas flow rate, trickling liquid velocity (TLV) and nitrate concentration on the outlet H2S concentration and elimination capacity (EC) were studied using a full factorial design (33). Moreover, the results were adjusted using Ottengraf’s model. The most influential factors in the empirical model were the TLV and H2S IL, whereas the nitrate concentration had less influence. The statistical results showed high predictability and good correlation between models and the experimental results. The R-squared was 95.77% and 99.63% for the ‘C model’ and the ‘EC model’, respectively. The models allowed the maximum H2S IL (between 66.72 and 119.75 gS·m−3·h−1) to be determined for biogas use in a combustion engine (inlet H2S concentration between 72 and 359 ppmV). The ‘C model’ was more sensitive to TLV (–0.1579 (gS·m−3)/(m·h−1)) in the same way the ‘EC model’ was also more sensitive to TLV (4.3303 (gS·m−3)/(m·h−1)). The results were successfully fitted to Ottengraf’s model with a first-order kinetic limitation (R-squared above 0.92). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biogas Desulfurization)
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12 pages, 1524 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Biogas Biodesulfurization Using Different Packing Materials
by Samir Prioto Tayar, Renata de Bello Solcia Guerrero, Leticia Ferraresi Hidalgo and Denise Bevilaqua
ChemEngineering 2019, 3(1), 27; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering3010027 - 8 Mar 2019
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3462
Abstract
The packing material selection for a bioreactor is an important factor to consider, since the characteristics of this material can directly affect the performance of the bioprocess, as well as the investment costs. Different types of low cost packing materials were studied in [...] Read more.
The packing material selection for a bioreactor is an important factor to consider, since the characteristics of this material can directly affect the performance of the bioprocess, as well as the investment costs. Different types of low cost packing materials were studied in columns to reduce the initial and operational costs of biogas biodesulfurization. The most prominent (PVC pieces from construction pipes) was applied in a bench-scale biotrickling filter to remove the H2S of the biogas from a real sewage treatment plant in Brazil, responsible for 90 thousand inhabitants. At the optimal experimental condition, the reactor presented a Removal Efficiency (RE) of up to 95.72% and Elimination Capacity (EC) of 98 gS·m−3·h−1, similar to open pore polyurethane foam, the traditional material widely used for H2S removal. These results demonstrated the high potential of application of this packing material in a full scale considering the robustness of the system filled with this support, even when submitted to high sulfide concentration, fluctuations in H2S content in biogas, and temperature variations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biogas Desulfurization)
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Review

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29 pages, 1811 KiB  
Review
Desulphurisation of Biogas: A Systematic Qualitative and Economic-Based Quantitative Review of Alternative Strategies
by Oseweuba Valentine Okoro and Zhifa Sun
ChemEngineering 2019, 3(3), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering3030076 - 2 Sep 2019
Cited by 70 | Viewed by 15429
Abstract
The desulphurisation of biogas for hydrogen sulphide (H2S) removal constitutes a significant challenge in the area of biogas research. This is because the retention of H2S in biogas presents negative consequences on human health and equipment durability. The negative [...] Read more.
The desulphurisation of biogas for hydrogen sulphide (H2S) removal constitutes a significant challenge in the area of biogas research. This is because the retention of H2S in biogas presents negative consequences on human health and equipment durability. The negative impacts are reflective of the potentially fatal and corrosive consequences reported when biogas containing H2S is inhaled and employed as a boiler biofuel, respectively. Recognising the importance of producing H2S-free biogas, this paper explores the current state of research in the area of desulphurisation of biogas. In the present paper, physical–chemical, biological, in-situ, and post-biogas desulphurisation strategies were extensively reviewed as the basis for providing a qualitative comparison of the strategies. Additionally, a review of the costing data combined with an analysis of the inherent data uncertainties due underlying estimation assumptions have also been undertaken to provide a basis for quantitative comparison of the desulphurisation strategies. It is anticipated that the combination of the qualitative and quantitative comparison approaches employed in assessing the desulphurisation strategies reviewed in the present paper will aid in future decisions involving the selection of the preferred biogas desulphurisation strategy to satisfy specific economic and performance-related targets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biogas Desulfurization)
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26 pages, 1415 KiB  
Review
Microbial Ecology of Biofiltration Units Used for the Desulfurization of Biogas
by Sylvie Le Borgne and Guillermo Baquerizo
ChemEngineering 2019, 3(3), 72; https://doi.org/10.3390/chemengineering3030072 - 7 Aug 2019
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 7564
Abstract
Bacterial communities’ composition, activity and robustness determines the effectiveness of biofiltration units for the desulfurization of biogas. It is therefore important to get a better understanding of the bacterial communities that coexist in biofiltration units under different operational conditions for the removal of [...] Read more.
Bacterial communities’ composition, activity and robustness determines the effectiveness of biofiltration units for the desulfurization of biogas. It is therefore important to get a better understanding of the bacterial communities that coexist in biofiltration units under different operational conditions for the removal of H2S, the main reduced sulfur compound to eliminate in biogas. This review presents the main characteristics of sulfur-oxidizing chemotrophic bacteria that are the base of the biological transformation of H2S to innocuous products in biofilters. A survey of the existing biofiltration technologies in relation to H2S elimination is then presented followed by a review of the microbial ecology studies performed to date on biotrickling filter units for the treatment of H2S in biogas under aerobic and anoxic conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Biogas Desulfurization)
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