Advanced Bioprocessing Approaches in Energy and Nutrient Recovery from Waste

A special issue of Bioengineering (ISSN 2306-5354). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 853

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Sherbrooke Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2000 College Street, Sherbrooke, QC J1M 0C8, Canada
Interests: waste management; anaerobic digestion; ammonia/greenhouse gas mitigation; biotechnologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada
Interests: solid waste composting and digestion; waste utilization and resource recovery; advanced physiochemical and biological treatment; contaminant transport in multiphase; environmental risk assessment and management; synchrotron-assisted environmental process analysis; surface water and groundwater quality; environmental sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable energy and nutrient recovery from manure and wastewater is essential to advancing circular economy principles and minimizing environmental impact. This Special Issue presents innovative technologies for efficient resource recovery from organic waste streams, with a primary focus on biogas production and alternative conversion methods.

The Special Issue primarily emphasizes anaerobic digestion (AD), a cornerstone technology for converting organic waste into bioenergy, while exploring recent advancements in biogas upgrading and purification technologies aimed at maximizing methane yield, reducing contaminants, and improving the quality of biogas for diverse applications. In addition, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is investigated as a thermochemical conversion process that transforms wet biomass into hydrochar, which can be used as a renewable energy source or soil amendment. The integration of thermochemical and biological processes for nutrient and energy recovery is also examined, highlighting the synergies between these methods to optimize resource recovery from waste.

Microbial components play a crucial role in improving process efficiency and stability. This Special Issue delves into the latest research on microbial communities involved in anaerobic digestion and other waste treatment systems, offering strategies for microbial optimization to enhance nutrient and energy recovery.

Furthermore, computational modeling and machine learning are emerging as powerful tools to advance these technologies. This Special Issue explores the use of computational modeling for optimizing system design, predicting microbial behavior, and simulating integrated recovery systems. Additionally, machine learning techniques are investigated for enhancing system performance, optimizing operational conditions, and improving predictive capabilities for large-scale applications.

This Special Issue provides a comprehensive overview of the latest innovations in nutrient and energy recovery, integrating cutting-edge conversion technologies, microbial optimization, and modeling approaches (including machine learning) to drive sustainable waste management practices.

Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal
Dr. Chunjiang An
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Bioengineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • anaerobic digestion
  • biogas production
  • biogas upgrading
  • hydrothermal carbonization
  • thermochemical processes
  • microbial communities
  • manure management
  • wastewater treatment
  • nutrient recovery
  • energy recovery
  • computational modeling
  • machine learning
  • circular economy
  • methane yield
  • nitrogen recovery
  • phosphorus recovery

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

9 pages, 1764 KB  
Article
Preparation of Diopside-Rich Compounds Using Rice Husks and Their Phosphorus Recovery Capability
by Ryotaro Seki, Hiyu Naka, Ryouta Umebayashi, Kay Teraoka and Toru Nonami
Bioengineering 2025, 12(12), 1339; https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering12121339 - 8 Dec 2025
Viewed by 452
Abstract
Rice husks, wastes from rice production, are expected to be useful as a phosphorus recovery material. While rice husks could be used for phosphorus recovery as they are, there is potential to increase their phosphorus recovery capacity by diopside conversion. This is because [...] Read more.
Rice husks, wastes from rice production, are expected to be useful as a phosphorus recovery material. While rice husks could be used for phosphorus recovery as they are, there is potential to increase their phosphorus recovery capacity by diopside conversion. This is because diopside is one of the silica-based biomaterials that has the characteristic of precipitating calcium phosphate from aqueous solutions containing phosphorus, such as body fluids. In this study, diopside was synthesized by immersing Aichi no Kaori rice husks in a Ca–Mg aqueous solution followed by calcination. The diopside content of resulting compound was 12%. Phosphorus recovery by the diopside-containing compound was confirmed. Given the diopside content in the compound, it was considered possible that components other than diopside might also be contributing to the phosphorous recovery. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop