Application of Anaerobic Digestion Technology: Current Progress and New Trends
A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Fermentation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 597
Special Issue Editors
Interests: anaerobic digestion and fermentation; bioreactors; biorefinery concepts; greenhouse gas mitigation; solid waste management
Interests: biological treatment processes; anaerobic digestion; ammonia inhibition; heavy metals inhibition; volatile fatty acids
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
More than 100 billion tons of organic waste are generated annually worldwide, including food waste, sewage sludge, agricultural residues, and food industry by-products. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a key technology within circular bioeconomy frameworks, enabling the recovery of energy, nutrients, and carbon while contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emission mitigation. Through the production of biogas, biomethane, biogenic CO2, and digestate, AD supports resource efficiency and directly contributes to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to climate action, sustainable production, and clean energy systems.
Recent advances have transformed AD into a flexible, data-driven, and product-oriented platform. Developments in dynamic and hybrid process modelling, digital twins, and sensor and soft-sensor-based monitoring have improved process control, resilience, and scalability under variable and inhibitory conditions. In parallel, anaerobic fermentation and biorefinery concepts have expanded the role of AD toward the targeted production of value-added products, particularly through volatile fatty acids as key platform intermediates.
This Special Issue aims to present recent scientific and technological advances in anaerobic digestion and anaerobic fermentation systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Advanced and high-rate AD configurations;
- Two-phase and flexible anaerobic systems;
- Dynamic, mechanistic, and hybrid modeling approaches;
- Sensor, soft-sensor, and digital-twin-based monitoring and control;
- Substrate variability, co-digestion, inhibition, and process stability;
- Anaerobic fermentation for value-added product generation;
- Biogas upgrading, biogenic CO2 utilization, and nutrient recovery.
We welcome original research articles and reviews that advance anaerobic technologies as enablers of circularity, climate mitigation, and sustainable resource management.
Prof. Dr. Bariş Çalli
Prof. Dr. Orhan Yenigün
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. Fermentation 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 2100 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
- anaerobic fermentation
- pre-treatment
- co-digestion
- volatile fatty acids
- inhibition
- process control
- biogas and biomethane
- digestate valorization
- dynamic modeling
- circular bioeconomy
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.
