Breakthroughs in Anaerobic Digestion: New Trends and Advanced Processes
A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical and Molecular Sciences".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 January 2026 | Viewed by 90
Special Issue Editor
Interests: anaerobic digestion; wastewater treatment; biogas production; microbial communities; sustainable waste management; circular economy
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Anaerobic digestion is a well-known and widely applied technology where a microbial consortium facilitates the degradation of organic matter into a number of valuable products, such as energy in the form of methane and/or hydrogen; a digestate with fertilizing properties; and other by-products, such as short-chain fatty acids.
However, the great potential of this technology is yet underexploited, and current facilities are mainly focused on the production of biogas or as a means to reduce the organic load from wastewaters. Furthermore, recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence present a promising perspective in terms of process control and mechanization, reducing the traditional issues related to the maintenance of anaerobic digesters.
Therefore, the objective of this Special Issue is to consolidate recent breakthroughs in anaerobic digestion processes and energy utilization, thereby advancing the current state-of-the-art through the compilation of pioneering theoretical insights and engineering applications. The journal invites submissions of original research articles and reviews that explore advances across a wide range of disciplines. The following list provides a non-exclusive list of potential topics for consideration:
- Process modeling and machine learning applications;
- Production of biohythane through two-stage performances;
- Pretreatments, characterization, and novel substrates;
Biorefineries, circular economy models, and life cycle assessments.
Dr. David De La Lama
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- anaerobic digestion
- biogas
- methane production
- hydrogen production
- digestate
- short-chain fatty acids
- process optimization
- artificial intelligence (AI)
- machine learning
- biohythane
- two-stage digestion
- pretreatment methods
- biorefineries
- circular economy
- life cycle assessment (LCA)
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