New Research on Wastewater Biological Treatment and Resource Recovery

Dear Colleagues,

Methane production via the anaerobic digestion of wastewater is a biotechnological approach that integrates waste management strategies and bioenergy generation, aimed at promoting environmental sustainability. Extensive research has been dedicated to enhancing bioreactor performance, optimizing biomethane yield and working towards the valorization of the emerging effluents and co-digestion of different substrates. Moreover, this biotechnology is currently implemented in numerous domestic wastewater treatment plants, agricultural facilities and industrial activities worldwide. This Special Issue will focus on new research in wastewater biological treatment and resource recovery, aiming to promote emerging biotechnological opportunities and highlight the integration of methane conversion with value-added compound production as a promising strategy to maximize carbon utilization and improve energy efficiency in bioconversion systems. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• New reactor configurations to enhance biogas production: advances in anaerobic reactor design, high-rates bioreactors for industrial wastewater, process intensification strategies, and digital monitoring.
• Environmental and economic benefits of biofuels derived from wastewater: carbon footprint reduction and avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions, with comparison of wastewater derived biogas with fossil fuels.
• Challenges and solutions in biological wastewater treatment; inhibitory compounds and their impact on microbial processes: methods for detection and online monitoring, microbial adaptation and resilience engineering, and mitigation strategies.
• Circular bioeconomy and waste-to-energy integration: wastewater as a feedstock for bioenergy, biofertilizers, and biocompounds.
• Pretreatment strategies for recalcitrant waste streams: opportunities for process integration.
• Case studies of integrated resource recovery: anaerobic digestion, algae cultivation and nutrient recovery.
• Emerging technologies: synthetic biology, carbon capture, and bioelectrochemical integration process.
• Life cycle assessment and techno-economic evaluation of wastewater to resource systems.
• Economic feasibility of scale-up systems and industrial case studies.

Dr. Bruna Sampaio de Mello
Prof. Dr. Arnaldo Sarti
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• anaerobic digestion
• methane production
• wastewater treatment
• resource recovery
• bioreactor performance
• co-digestion