Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianluca Caposciutti ◽  
Andrea Baccioli ◽  
Lorenzo Ferrari ◽  
Umberto Desideri

Biogas is a fuel obtained from organic waste fermentation and can be an interesting solution for producing electric energy, heat and fuel. Recently, many European countries have incentivized the production of biomethane to be injected into natural gas grids or compressed and used as biofuel in vehicles. The introduction of an upgrading unit into an existing anaerobic digestion plant to convert biogas to biomethane may have a strong impact on the overall energy balance of the systems. The amount of biomethane produced may be optimized from several points of view (i.e., energy, environmental and economic). In this paper, the mass and energy fluxes of an anaerobic digestion plant were analyzed as a function of the biogas percentage sent to the upgrading system and the amount of biomethane produced. A numerical model of an anaerobic digestion plant was developed by considering an existing case study. The mass and energy balance of the digesters, cogeneration unit, upgrading system and auxiliary boiler were estimated when the amount of produced biomethane was varied. An internal combustion engine was adopted as the cogeneration unit and a CO2 absorption system was assumed for biogas upgrading. Results demonstrated that the energy balance of the plant is strictly dependent on the biomethane production and that an excess of biomethane production makes the plant totally dependent on external energy sources. As for the environmental impact, an optimal level of biomethane production exists that minimizes the emissions of equivalent CO2. However, high biomethane subsides can encourage plant managers to increase biomethane production and thus reduce CO2 savings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teklit Gebregiorgis Ambaye ◽  
Eldon R. Rene ◽  
Capucine Dupont ◽  
Suchanya Wongrod ◽  
Eric D. van Hullebusch

2019 ◽  
Vol 280 ◽  
pp. 269-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinh Duc Nguyen ◽  
Byong-Hun Jeon ◽  
Jae Hoon Jeung ◽  
Eldon R. Rene ◽  
J. Rajesh Banu ◽  
...  

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Mancini ◽  
Stefano Papirio ◽  
Piet Lens ◽  
Giovanni Esposito

Rice straw is an abundant and sustainable substrate for anaerobic digestion (AD), but it is often deficient in essential trace elements (TEs) for proper microbial growth and metabolism. A lack of TEs leads to AD imbalances and suboptimal biogas yields. However, the total TE concentration is not a sufficient indicator of the amount of TEs available to the microorganisms. Therefore, this study investigated the degree of bioavailability of iron (Fe) and cobalt (Co) during the AD of rice straw, and correlated it to the biomethane yields and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) produced. When the two TEs were dosed at 205 µg Fe/g TS and 18 µg Co/g TS of rice straw, the biomethane production was approximately 260 mL CH4/g VS, i.e., similar to that obtained when Fe and Co were not added. Despite an increased bioavailable fraction of 23 and 48% for Fe and Co, respectively, after TEs addition, the AD performance was not enhanced. Moreover, VFAs did not exceed 250 mg HAc/L both in the presence and absence of added TEs, confirming no enhancement of the methanogenesis step. Therefore, the bioavailability of Fe and Co was not a limiting factor for the biomethane production at low total VFAs concentration.


2017 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 1172-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailong Li ◽  
Daheem Mehmood ◽  
Eva Thorin ◽  
Zhixin Yu

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka A. Pilarska ◽  
Krzysztof Pilarski ◽  
Kamil Witaszek ◽  
Hanna Waliszewska ◽  
Magdalena Zborowska ◽  
...  

Abstract The results of anaerobic digestion (AD) of buttermilk (BM) and cheese whey (CW) with a digested sewage sludge as inoculum is described. The substrate/inoculum mixtures were prepared using 10% buttermilk and 15% cheese whey. The essential parameters of the materials were described, including: total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), pH, conductivity, C/N ratio (the quantitative ratio of organic carbon (C) to nitrogen (N)), alkalinity, chemical oxygen demand (COD). The potential directions of biodegradation of the organic waste types, as used in this study, are also presented. Appropriate chemical reactions illustrate the substrates and products in each phase of anaerobic decomposition of the compounds that are present in buttermilk and cheese whey: lactic acid, lactose, fat, and casein. Moreover, the biogas and biomethane production rates are compared for the substrates used in the experiment. The results have shown that buttermilk in AD generates more biogas (743 m3/Mg VS), including methane (527 m3/Mg VS), when compared with cheese whey (600 m3/Mg VS, 338 m3/Mg VS for biogas and methane, respectively).


2017 ◽  
Vol 204 ◽  
pp. 1074-1083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaudhary Awais Salman ◽  
Sebastian Schwede ◽  
Eva Thorin ◽  
Jinyue Yan

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