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Research on Conversion for Utilization of the Biogas and Natural Gas

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A4: Bio-Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1953

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Xiaoguang Guo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
Interests: biogas; catalyze
Dr. Xin Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
Interests: development of flame spray pyrolysis; monoatomic catalysis; high-value utilization of methane; in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biogas and natural gas are frequently invoked as cornerstones of the transition to low-carbon, circular energy systems, yet their genuine promise—an abundant, dispatchable, and carbon-mitigating complement to renewables—will remain locked underground and inside anaerobic digesters unless we master conversion technologies that are simultaneously hyper-efficient, intrinsically scalable, and demonstrably benign to air, water, soil, and climate. This Special Issue, “Research on Conversion for Utilization of the Biogas and Natural Gas,” is therefore conceived as a forward-looking forum that curates, connects, and amplifies the most disruptive advances in fundamental science, reactor engineering, process integration, and sustainability assessment required to transform these gaseous feedstocks into higher-value energy vectors (drop-in e-fuels, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, DME, FT liquids), versatile platform chemicals (olefins, aromatics, oxygenates), or grid-ready fuels that can be stored, transported, and dispatched within existing and future energy infrastructures.

By consolidating multidisciplinary insights—from catalysis and reaction engineering to life-cycle assessment, digital optimization, and policy analysis—this Special Issue aims to accelerate the commercialization of next-generation conversion processes. These processes must not only enhance energy security and diversify regional fuel portfolios, but also deliver measurable mitigation of greenhouse-gas emissions and promote the sustainable, closed-loop utilization of both biogenic and fossil gas resources. We invite contributions that interrogate the full innovation chain: fundamental surface-science discoveries, bench-scale proof-of-concepts, pilot-plant demonstrations, techno-economic and environmental feasibility studies, as well as market-deployment strategies that can shepherd emerging technologies from laboratory curiosity to societal reality.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Biogas upgrading and purification technologies (e.g., membrane separation, water scrubbing, PSA, chemical absorption)
  • Catalytic and biological methanation of CO2-/CO-rich gases to synthetic natural gas (SNG)
  • Advanced reforming, partial oxidation and dry/steam reforming of biogas/NG to syngas or hydrogen
  • Conversion of biogas/NG to liquid fuels, methanol, dimethyl ether or higher alcohols via Fischer–Tropsch or oxygenate routes
  • Techno-economic assessment (TEA) and life-cycle analysis (LCA) of biogas/NG valorization chains
  • Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) coupled with gas conversion units
  • Novel catalyst development (Ni, Ru, Co, Mo, zeolite, perovskite, MOF) for methane/CO2 activation
  • Operando characterization

Prof. Dr. Xiaoguang Guo
Dr. Xin Huang
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. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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

  • biomass conversion
  • methane conversion
  • carbon capture and utilization
  • heterogeneous catalysis

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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25 pages, 6693 KB  
Article
Integrated Materials-to-Process Design of a Two-Stage PSF/PEI Membrane System for Biogas Upgrading
by Artem A. Atlaskin, Kirill A. Smorodin, Sergey S. Kryuchkov, Maria E. Atlaskina, Nikita S. Tsivkovsky, Alexander A. Sysoev, Vyacheslav V. Zhmakin, Anton N. Petukhov, Liudmila I. Soloveva, Andrey V. Vorotyntsev and Ilya V. Vorotyntsev
Energies 2026, 19(10), 2294; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19102294 - 10 May 2026
Viewed by 429
Abstract
Biogas upgrading to biomethane is an important route for increasing the energy value of renewable gas streams and enabling their wider use in fuel, heat, and power applications. In the present study, a two-stage membrane process for biogas upgrading was developed and validated [...] Read more.
Biogas upgrading to biomethane is an important route for increasing the energy value of renewable gas streams and enabling their wider use in fuel, heat, and power applications. In the present study, a two-stage membrane process for biogas upgrading was developed and validated using polysulfone (PSF) and polyetherimide (PEI) hollow-fiber membranes. The main original aspects of this work include the formulation of a PEI/DMF/IPA spinning dope composition (27/60/13 wt.%), the mixed-gas testing of PSF and PEI hollow-fiber membranes in a six-component model biogas mixture, and the combined simulation, experimental validation, and techno-economic evaluation of a two-stage membrane process. Mixed-gas permeation experiments with a six-component model biogas mixture were used as the basis for process simulation of four membrane-stage configurations. Only the PSF + PEI cascade simultaneously provided methane recovery above 90%, methane concentration in the product above 95 mol.%, and residual carbon dioxide content below 2 mol.%. Experimental verification confirmed the modeled process concept and demonstrated that the target biomethane quality was achieved at feed flow rates of 0.9–1.1 L min−1, where methane recovery reached 93.5–95.2% and methane purity was 95.5–96.2 mol.%. A preliminary techno-economic analysis for a 100 m3 h−1 unit indicated an upgrading penalty of USD 96.4 per ton of 95.5 mol.% CH4. PSF membranes provided higher carbon dioxide permeance, whereas PEI membranes exhibited higher CO2/CH4 selectivity, which explains the efficiency of their combination in the two-stage scheme. The results show that the proposed PSF + PEI cascade is a promising membrane-based approach for energy-efficient biogas upgrading. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Conversion for Utilization of the Biogas and Natural Gas)
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21 pages, 435 KB  
Systematic Review
Design Implications of Headspace Ratio VHS/Vtot on Pressure Stability, Gas Composition and Methane Productivity—A Systematic Review
by Meneses-Quelal Orlando
Energies 2026, 19(1), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19010193 - 30 Dec 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1223
Abstract
Headspace (HS) in anaerobic batch biodigesters is a critical design parameter that modulates pressure stability, gas–liquid equilibrium, and methanogenic productivity. This systematic review, guided by PRISMA 2020, analyzed 84 studies published between 2015 and 2025, of which 64 were included in the qualitative [...] Read more.
Headspace (HS) in anaerobic batch biodigesters is a critical design parameter that modulates pressure stability, gas–liquid equilibrium, and methanogenic productivity. This systematic review, guided by PRISMA 2020, analyzed 84 studies published between 2015 and 2025, of which 64 were included in the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. The interplay between headspace volume fraction VHS/Vtot, operating pressure, and normalized methane yield was assessed, explicitly integrating safety and instrumentation requirements. In laboratory settings, maintaining a headspace volume fraction (HSVF) of 0.30–0.50 with continuous pressure monitoring P(t) and gas chromatography reduces volumetric uncertainty to below 5–8% and establishes reference yields of 300–430 NmL CH4 g−1 VS at 35 °C. At the pilot scale, operation at 3–4 bar absolute increases the CH4 fraction by 10–20 percentage points relative to ~1 bar, while maintaining yields of 0.28–0.35 L CH4 g COD−1 and production rates of 0.8–1.5 Nm3 CH4 m−3 d−1 under OLRs of 4–30 kg COD m−3 d−1, provided pH stabilizes at 7.2–7.6 and the free NH3 fraction remains below inhibitory thresholds. At full scale, gas domes sized to buffer pressure peaks and equipped with continuous pressure and flow monitoring feed predictive models (AUC > 0.85) that reduce the incidence of foaming and unplanned shutdowns, while the integration of desulfurization and condensate management keep corrosion at acceptable levels. Rational sizing of HS is essential to standardize BMP tests, correctly interpret the physicochemical effects of HS on CO2 solubility, and distinguish them from intrinsic methanogenesis. We recommend explicitly reporting standardized metrics (Nm3 CH4 m−3 d−1, NmL CH4 g−1 VS, L CH4 g COD−1), absolute or relative pressure, HSVF, and the analytical method as a basis for comparability and coupled thermodynamic modeling. While this review primarily focuses on batch (discontinuous) anaerobic digesters, insights from semi-continuous and continuous systems are cited for context where relevant to scale-up and headspace dynamics, without expanding the main scope beyond batch systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research on Conversion for Utilization of the Biogas and Natural Gas)
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