Special Issue "Sustainability and Anaerobic Digestion Technologies"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021).

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nabin Aryal
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Microsystems, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3184 Borre, Norway
Interests: sustainable chemistry; CO2 conversion; biogas upgrading; methanation; bioelectrochemical systems; electrosynthesis; biowaste valorization and resource recovery
Dr. Wenche Hennie Bergland
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Process, Energy and Environmental Technology, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3918 Porsgrunn, Norway
Interests: anaerobic digestion; thermochemical pretreatment; AD modeling; high rate AD
Dr. Sunil Prasad Lohani
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal
Interests: biogas technology; biowaste valorization and resource recovery; renewable energy systems; energy-food-water system; solar energy applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a versatile and widely applied technology for biogas production from the microbial degradation of organic waste. Globally, AD installations for biogas production and utilization have been significantly increasing to fulfill the renewable energy demand. AD technology offers numerous benefits extending from organic solid waste treatment, renewable fuel production, greenhouse gas emission control by capturing methane (CH4), and improving rural communities' socio-economic livelihoods, especially in developing countries. However, AD also faces challenges, in particular the competitiveness of feedstock availability, digester efficiency, CH4 loss from the process, and a lack of anaerobic process monitoring and control. Some strategies have recently been applied, ranging from feedstock pretreatment, automation, optimization of the microbial degradation process, and operational parameter optimization for AD stimulation. This Special Issue aims to invite scientific papers on anaerobic digestion and the sustainability aspect of biogas production.

Biogas contains approximately 60% CH4, 40% carbon dioxide (CO2), with minor concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), and others. To meet natural gas specifications, the biogas needs to be upgraded to 95–97 % CH4, called biomethane, which has been broadly applied as transportation fuel, gas grid injection, and combined heat and power production. Recent technological innovation demonstrates shifting AD to anaerobic fermentation to enhance the process's efficiency, diversifying feedstock utilization such as syngas and flue gases, and also methanol production from CH4. Significant advances have been made in the innovation of novel processes, feedstock utilization, understanding of microbial dynamics, digestate utilization, digestate post-treatment, and sustainability assessment. This Special Issue entitled “Sustainability and Anaerobic Digestion Technologies” invites submissions of original research articles or critical reviews to cover such research topics.

Dr. Nabin Aryal
Dr. Wenche Hennie Bergland
Dr. Sunil Prasad Lohani
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 papers will be 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. Sustainability 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 1900 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 (AD)
  • feedstock pretreatments
  • syngas and flue gas methanation
  • conductive particle application in AD
  • biological system for biogas upgrading
  • methane loss from AD
  • bio electrochemical process
  • novel and hybrid/integrated process
  • mathematical modeling
  • techno-economic and sustainability assessment
  • life cycle assessment of AD
  • supply-chain of substrate
  • post-treatment of digestate

Published Papers (1 paper)

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

Review

Review
Digestate Post-Treatment Strategies for Additional Biogas Recovery: A Review
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9295; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169295 - 19 Aug 2021
Viewed by 271
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process in which microorganisms, under oxygen-free conditions, convert organic matter into biogas and digestate. Normally, only 40–70% of biomass is converted into biogas; therefore, digestate still contains significant amounts of degradable organic matter and biogas potential. The recovery [...] Read more.
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a process in which microorganisms, under oxygen-free conditions, convert organic matter into biogas and digestate. Normally, only 40–70% of biomass is converted into biogas; therefore, digestate still contains significant amounts of degradable organic matter and biogas potential. The recovery of this residual biogas potential could optimize substrate utilization and lower methane emissions during digestate storage and handling. Post-treatment methods have been studied with the aim of enhancing the recovery of biogas from digestate. This review summarizes the studies in which these methods have been applied to agricultural and wastewater digestate and gives a detailed overview of the existing scientific knowledge in the field. The current studies have shown large variation in outcomes, which reflects differences in treatment conditions and digestate compositions. While studies involving biological post-treatment of digestate are still limited, mechanical methods have been relatively more explored. In some cases, they could increase methane yields of digestate; however, the extra gain in methane has often not covered treatment energy inputs. Thermal and chemical methods have been studied the most and have yielded some promising results. Despite all the research conducted in the area, several knowledge gaps still should be addressed. For a more thorough insight of the pros and cons within post-treatment, more research where the effects of the treatments are tested in continuous AD systems, along with detailed economic analysis, should be performed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability and Anaerobic Digestion Technologies)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop