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Processes
Special Issues
Agricultural and Industrial Waste Recovery Technology and Process Optimization
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Agricultural and Industrial Waste Recovery Technology and Process Optimization

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Green Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 4056

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Margherita Pettinato

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, 16145 Genoa, Italy
Interests: solid-liquid extraction; green processes; microencapsulation; emerging hazards; inherently safer design; process optimization; waste valorization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The management of waste and by-products from industrial and agri-food supply chains requires innovative solutions to guarantee sustainability. New processes, technologies, and applications are needed to face the environmental challenges they pose and to simultaneously supply new sources for the alternative production of materials, chemicals, and energy for future industries. Research on the effective exploitation of such waste is often related to the complex composition, high level of moisture, tendency to degrade easily, and thermosensitivity of the contained compounds, which imply the need for pretreatment, technical and economic issues, the revision of plant and equipment design, and process optimization.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue aiming to collect new insights, methodologies, proposals, and solutions for the green, safe, cost-effective and disruptive valorization of agricultural and industrial wastes.

This Special Issue on “Agricultural and Industrial Wastes Recovery Technology and Processes Optimization” aims to present innovative solutions, methods, feasibility studies, and successful examples in the field of industrial and agri-food waste recovery.

Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Design, optimization, safety aspects, and economics of the waste valorization process.
  • Methodologies and optimization of techniques, equipment and plants, as well as pre-treatment and downstream processes aimed at reducing the environmental impact and improving yields for the recovery of high-added-value compounds from waste.
  • Methodologies and optimization of techniques, equipment and plants, as well as pre-treatment and downstream processes aimed at reducing the environmental impact and improving yields for the conversion into energy.
  • Development of new materials and products from waste and by-products.
  • Industrial solutions and applicative case studies.

Dr. Margherita Pettinato
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Processes 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 2400 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

  • process intensification
  • process economics
  • process optimization
  • bioenergy
  • circular economy
  • emerging hazards
  • biomaterials
  • biopolymers
  • environmental impact

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

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 4560 KiB  
Article
Microbiological and Physicochemical Characterization During Biodrying of Organic Solid Waste
by Carlos Orozco-Álvarez, Aniela Gervacio-Hernández, María de Lourdes Moreno-Rivera, Belem Piña-Guzmán and Fabián Robles-Martínez
Processes 2025, 13(1), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13010078 - 1 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1016
Abstract
The correct management of high-moisture organic waste (HMOW) is crucial to minimize its environmental impact and take advantage of its potential as a valuable resource, thus linking it to the circular economy, sustainable production and recycling. Processes such as anaerobic digestion, composting and, [...] Read more.
The correct management of high-moisture organic waste (HMOW) is crucial to minimize its environmental impact and take advantage of its potential as a valuable resource, thus linking it to the circular economy, sustainable production and recycling. Processes such as anaerobic digestion, composting and, more recently, biodrying have been applied to support the sustainable management of HMOW. However, the latter has not yet been well characterized, so this study focuses on elucidating the behavior of microbial populations and their relationship with physical and chemical conditions during biodrying. In a greenhouse, a semi-static pile with an initial water content of 88%, composed of orange peel waste (80%), sugarcane bagasse (16.5%) and mulch (3.5%) was biodried for 50 days. Biodrying went through three stages: (1) the mesophilic stage, when different microbial populations decompose some organic matter, causing a temperature increase from 25 to 40 °C; (2) the thermophilic stage, in which the highest microbial counts were found, most of which corresponded to the highest temperatures reached and maintained between 40 and 62 °C, and, consequently, to the greatest decrease in water content (from 78 to 41%); and (3) the cooling phase, when the temperature dropped to 23–25 °C. The aeration and mainly the microbial activity were responsible for most of the water evaporation. Microbial activity in biodrying of HMOW ended on day 32, when the humidity was lower than 30% and the water activity (aw) was below 0.8. After that, moisture loss was carried out only by convection and radiation. Obtained biodried organic waste (10% water-content) could be used as an alternative fuel in many industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural and Industrial Waste Recovery Technology and Process Optimization)
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11 pages, 2249 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Energy from Pickled Chili Waste in Microbial Fuel Cells
by Rojas-Flores Segundo, De La Cruz-Noriega Magaly, Nélida Milly Otiniano, Nancy Soto-Deza, Nicole Terrones-Rodriguez, De La Cruz-Cerquin Mayra, Cabanillas-Chirinos Luis and Luis M. Angelats-Silva
Processes 2024, 12(9), 2028; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12092028 - 20 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1290
Abstract
The amount of waste from agriculture has significantly increased in recent decades due to the growing demand for food. Meanwhile, providing electricity to remote areas remains a challenge due to the high installation costs. Single-chamber fuel cells offer a promising solution as they [...] Read more.
The amount of waste from agriculture has significantly increased in recent decades due to the growing demand for food. Meanwhile, providing electricity to remote areas remains a challenge due to the high installation costs. Single-chamber fuel cells offer a promising solution as they can effectively generate electric power and treat organic waste. For this reason, the main objective of this research is to utilize pickled chili waste as fuel in SC-MFCs (single-chamber fuel cells), using carbon and zinc electrodes to assess its potential as a sustainable alternative fuel source. The fuel cells exhibited a maximum electric current and voltage of 5.565 ± 0.182 mA with 0.963 ± 0.033 V of voltage, respectively, with a substrate electrical conductivity of 113.526 ± 6.154 mS/cm with a pH of 6.62 ± 0.42 on the twelfth day. The internal resistance measured was 46.582 ± 6.845 Ω, and the maximum power density reached 148.128 ± 8.914 mW/cm2 at a current density of 3.657 A/cm2. Additionally, the microorganisms Pseudomonas taiwanensis and Candida parapsilosis were identified with 100% identity in the anode electrode. This study demonstrates that pickled chili residues can successfully generate bioelectricity and light an LED bulb connected to MFCs in series with a voltage of 2.67 V. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural and Industrial Waste Recovery Technology and Process Optimization)
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18 pages, 10148 KiB  
Article
Study on the Effect of Thermal Assisted Combined Plant-Based Biomass Conditioning on Dehydrated Sludge Bio-Drying
by He Li, Yujie Luo, Chang Jiang, Yizhuo Wang and Lu Xiang
Processes 2024, 12(5), 943; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12050943 - 7 May 2024
Viewed by 1176
Abstract
In recent years, the production of municipal sludge has gradually increased, and finding suitable sludge treatment and disposal technologies is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. Bio-drying of sludge is a relatively efficient and convenient drying method, but currently, there are [...] Read more.
In recent years, the production of municipal sludge has gradually increased, and finding suitable sludge treatment and disposal technologies is an urgent problem that needs to be solved. Bio-drying of sludge is a relatively efficient and convenient drying method, but currently, there are still problems with unstable drying effects and high moisture content of dried products, which limits the subsequent utilization of bio-drying products. This article uses a thermal assisted bio-drying device that simulates carbonization waste heat reflux, and uses corncob, straw, sawdust, and rice husk as conditioners to carry out bio-drying of dehydrated sludge. The influence of the types and ratios of conditioner under thermal assistance on the bio-drying of dehydrated sludge is explored. The results showed that the moisture removal efficiency of the corncob and straw groups was better, and their material moisture content could be reduced to below 10% within 24 h. The lower calorific value of straw-sludge drying products was the highest, at 11,608.8 kJ/kg. The best conditioner under the conditions of this experiment was straw, and the drying effect was best when the mass ratio of dehydrated sludge to straw was 4:1. The research results contribute to promoting the development of sludge bio-drying technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Agricultural and Industrial Waste Recovery Technology and Process Optimization)
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