scholarly journals Recent Updates on the Use of Agro-Food Waste for Biogas Production

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Caruso ◽  
Ada Braghieri ◽  
Angela Capece ◽  
Fabio Napolitano ◽  
Patrizia Romano ◽  
...  

The production of biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD) of residual agro-food biomasses represents an opportunity for alternative production of energy from renewable sources, according to the European Union legislation on renewable energy. This review provides an overview of the various aspects involved in this process with a focus on the best process conditions to be used for AD-based biogas production from residual agro-food biomasses. After a schematic description of the AD phases, the biogas plants with advanced technologies were described, pointing out the strengths and the weaknesses of the different digester technologies and indicating the main parameters and operating conditions to be monitored. Subsequently, a brief analysis of the factors affecting methane yield from manure AD was conducted and the AD of fruit and vegetables waste was examined. Particular attention was given to studies on co-digestion and pre-treatments as strategies to improve biogas yield. Finally, the selection of specific microorganisms and the genetic manipulation of anaerobic bacteria to speed up the AD process was illustrated. The open challenges concern the achievement of the highest renewable energy yields reusing agro-food waste with the lowest environmental impact and an increment of competitiveness of the agricultural sector in the perspective of a circular economy.

Author(s):  
Kai Schumüller ◽  
Dirk Weichgrebe ◽  
Stephan Köster

AbstractTo tap the organic waste generated onboard cruise ships is a very promising approach to reduce their adverse impact on the maritime environment. Biogas produced by means of onboard anaerobic digestion offers a complementary energy source for ships’ operation. This report comprises a detailed presentation of the results gained from comprehensive investigations on the gas yield from onboard substrates such as food waste, sewage sludge and screening solids. Each person onboard generates a total average of about 9 kg of organic waste per day. The performed analyses of substrates and anaerobic digestion tests revealed an accumulated methane yield of around 159 L per person per day. The anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and food waste (50:50 VS) emerged as particularly effective and led to an increased biogas yield by 24%, compared to the mono-fermentation. In the best case, onboard biogas production can provide an energetic output of 82 W/P, on average covering 3.3 to 4.1% of the total energy demand of a cruise ship.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 742
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Ślusarz ◽  
Barbara Gołębiewska ◽  
Marek Cierpiał-Wolan ◽  
Jarosław Gołębiewski ◽  
Dariusz Twaróg ◽  
...  

Energy obtained from renewable sources is an important element of the sustainable development strategy of the European Union and its member states. The aim of this research is, therefore, to assess the potential and use of renewable energy sources and their effectiveness from the regional perspective in Poland. The research covered the years 2012 and 2018. The diversification of production and potential of renewable energy sources was defined on the basis of biogas and biomass. Calculations made using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method showed that, in 2012, only three voivodeships achieved the highest efficiency in terms of the use of biogas and biomass resources; in 2018, this number increased to four. Comparing the effective units in 2012 and 2018, it can be seen that their efficiency frontier moved upwards by 56% in terms of biogas and 21% in terms of to biomass. Despite a large relative increase in the production of heat from biogas by 99% compared to the production of heat from biomass by 38%, the efficiency frontier for biogas did not change considerably. It was found that the resources of solid biomass are used far more intensively than the resources of biogas. However, in the case of biogas, a significant increase in the utilization of the production potential was observed: from 3.3% in 2012 to 6.4% in 2018, whereas in the same years, the utilization of solid biomass production potential remained at the same level (15.3% in 2012, 15.4% in 2018). It was also observed that, at the level of voivodeships, the utilization of biogas and biomass production potential is negatively correlated with the size of this potential. The combined potential of solid biomass and biogas can cover the demand of each of the studied regions in Poland in terms of thermal energy. The coverage ranges from 104% to 1402%. The results show that when comparing biomass and biogas, the production of both electricity and heat was dominated by solid biomass. Its high share occurred especially in voivodeships characterized by a high share of forest area and a low potential for biogas production (Lubuskie Voivodeship, Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship).


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuri Yevdokimov ◽  
Olena Chygryn ◽  
Tetyana Pimonenko ◽  
Oleksii Lyulyov

The paper deals with analysis of the preconditions of alternative energy market development in Ukraine. In this case study, the authors analyzed the EU experience. The results of analysis showed that the leader of the EU countries in renewable energy has already achieved the target (20%), which had been indicated. In addition, the findings showed that the share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption has been increasing from year to year. The authors allocate that, according to the Ukrainian potential, biogas is the most perspective one among alternative resources. Moreover, results of analysis showed that Ukraine has the huge potential of agricultural sector. In this direction, the authors allocated the main types of the agricultural activities, which have the highest potential of biogas production: sugar factories, corn silage and poultry farms. The authors underlined that biogas spreading is restrained by the stereotypes that green investments are not attractive for investors. In order to analyze the economic efficiency of investments to the biogas installation, the authors calculated the profit from the biogas installation for poultry farm. The authors made two scenarios for calculation. The first – the whole volume of energy, which was generated from the biogas unit, will be sold with feed-in tariff. The second – the farm covers its own needs in electricity, the rest will be sold with feed-in tariff. The findings showed that the first scenario is more attractive. Moreover, the farm could receive higher profit if it installed the biogas in 2016, not in 2017. In addition, based on the EU experience and features of farm functioning, the authors approved that the biogas installation has not only the economic effect (profit and additional profit) for company, but also ecological and social effects for rural area, where this farm was located.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-134
Author(s):  
Jamie Ka Yan Li

Due to the rising concerns regarding food waste disposal as well as the increasing demand for renewable energy nowadays, a number of European countries have adopted anaerobic co-digestion, a technology that deals with food waste and sewage sludge. As stated in the HKSAR Government’s Policy Address 2016, the feasibility of using existing sewage treatment facilities for co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge has been under exploration. A trial scheme has been commenced in 2019. This paper aims to compare the efficiency of biogas production and volatile solid reduction in co-digestion of food waste and sewage with mono-digestion in laboratory scale.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kehinde Oladoke Olatunji ◽  
Noor A. Ahmed ◽  
Oyetola Ogunkunle

AbstractPopulation increase and industrialization has resulted in high energy demand and consumptions, and presently, fossil fuels are the major source of staple energy, supplying 80% of the entire consumption. This has contributed immensely to the greenhouse gas emission and leading to global warming, and as a result of this, there is a tremendous urgency to investigate and improve fresh and renewable energy sources worldwide. One of such renewable energy sources is biogas that is generated by anaerobic fermentation that uses different wastes such as agricultural residues, animal manure, and other organic wastes. During anaerobic digestion, hydrolysis of substrates is regarded as the most crucial stage in the process of biogas generation. However, this process is not always efficient because of the domineering stableness of substrates to enzymatic or bacteria assaults, but substrates’ pretreatment before biogas production will enhance biogas production. The principal objective of pretreatments is to ease the accessibility of the enzymes to the lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose which leads to degradation of the substrates. Hence, the use of pretreatment for catalysis of lignocellulose substrates is beneficial for the production of cost-efficient and eco-friendly process. In this review, we discussed different pretreatment technologies of hydrolysis and their restrictions. The review has shown that different pretreatments have varying effects on lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose degradation and biogas yield of different substrate and the choice of pretreatment technique will devolve on the intending final products of the process.


Author(s):  
Kevin N. Nwaigwe ◽  
Christopher C. Enweremadu

A work on the comparative analysis of selected substrates for biogas production using a developed digester is presented. The substrates utilized include cow dung and vegetable waste. The developed digester has 60 litres of substrate volume, incorporates ease of stirring the slurry and mobility of the digester within the farm. The digester was charged with cow dung and vegetable waste respectively with water in a ratio 1:2 at a mesophilic temperature range (20°C – 45 °C) for thirty days retention time and comparative yield within the same operating conditions was studied. The results obtained from the gas production showed that cow dung produced a cumulative biogas yield of 0.702 litres while vegetable waste produced a cumulative yield of 0.144 litres. This result showed that these wastes could be a source of renewable gas if operated on a large scale, while simultaneously reducing environmental pollution particularly within a farm. Also, the results highlight the selection options available to a rural farmer in terms of yield.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiyun Liu ◽  
Tao Huang ◽  
Xiaofeng Li ◽  
Jingjing Huang ◽  
Daoping Peng ◽  
...  

This paper explores the feasibility of flexible biogas production by co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge based on experiments and mathematical modeling. First, laboratory-scale experiments were carried out in variable operating conditions in terms of organic loading rate and feeding frequency to the digester. It is demonstrated that biogas production can achieve rapid responses to arbitrary feedings through co-digestion, and the stability of the anaerobic digestion process is not affected by the overloading of substrates. Compared with the conventional continuous mode, the required biogas storage capacity in flexible feeding mode can be significantly reduced. The optimum employed feeding organic loading rate (OLR) is identified, and how to adjust the feeding scheme for flexible biogas production is also discussed. Finally, a simplified prediction model for flexible biogas production is proposed and verified by experimental data, which could be conveniently used for demand-oriented control. It is expected that this research could give some theoretical basis for the enhancement of biogas utilization efficiency, thus expanding the applications of bio-energy.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2132
Author(s):  
Kinga Borek ◽  
Wacław Romaniuk ◽  
Kamil Roman ◽  
Michał Roman ◽  
Maciej Kuboń

Methane production by fermentation is a complex biochemical process, in which micromolecular organic substances are broken down by anaerobic bacteria into simple stabilized chemicals—mainly methane CH4 and carbon dioxide CO2. The organic matter of the slurry consists mainly of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. As a result of biochemical changes in the process of anaerobic decomposition, some of this matter is mineralized to simple chemical compounds. Cattle and pig husbandry offers enormous potential for useable biogas plant substrates. As a result of the constantly increasing amounts of animal husbandry products, and increasingly stringent environmental protection requirements aimed at reusing natural fertilizers, it is necessary to look for alternative processing methods. The need for efficiency in obtaining biogas from substrates (e.g., manure) was met by the laboratory stand presented in this article, for which the Polish patent No. 232200 was obtained. The new technology also allows leaching of the organic liquid, e.g., from manure, and subjecting it to methane fermentation. The solution allows the individual elements of the technological line that determine the fermentation process to be tested under laboratory conditions. It also allows testing of the substrates in terms of fermentation, to determine their physical and chemical characteristics, and then to characterize the fermentation process in terms of the quality and quantity of the resulting biogas and the quality of post-fermentation residues. Compressing biogas for local distribution was also proposed. As part of the research, using a laboratory stand, the organic matter was leached from manure, for the purpose of biogas production. In addition, the biogas yield from manure at varying degrees of maturity was assessed. The best properties in terms of biogas yield forecasting were demonstrated by manure composted for 4–8 weeks.


Author(s):  
Virginija SKORUPSKAITĖ ◽  
Eglė SENDŽIKIENĖ ◽  
Milda GUMBYTĖ

The secondary raw materials of fish can be used for various purposes in food industry, agriculture, etc. No less important way for usage of secondary raw fish, dead fish and fish farming sludge is the utilization of mentioned feedstocks for energy purposes, i.e. biofuels production. In this reearch, the possibilities of the consumption of dead fish and fish farming sludge for biodiesel and biogas production has been studied. The influence of the basic biodiesel production parameters, including the methanol to oil molar ratio, amount of catalyst, temperature and process duration on transesterification yield was determined. The guantitative and gualitative research of biogas production using different substrates such as fish waste, fish farming sludge and substrates composed of fish waste (de-oiled and non de-oiled biomass)+fish farming sludge and fish farming sludge+wastewater sludge was performed. The biodiesel yield higher than 96.5% could be achieved under the following process conditions: methanol/oil molar ratio – 4:1, amount of enzyme content – 7% from oil mass, temperature – 40 ° C, reaction time – 24 hours. The highest biogas yield (1224 ml/gVS) was determined using wet fish waste biomass and mixed substrates consisted of fish waste and fish farming sludge. The results of qualitative biogas research revealed, that biogas produced from both homogeneous and heterogeneous substrates contained more than 60% of methane. The highest calorific value (app. 70% of methane) had biogas gained from fish waste biomass.


Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sagor Kumar Pramanik ◽  
Fatihah Binti Suja ◽  
Mojtaba Porhemmat ◽  
Biplob Kumar Pramanik

A large quantity of food waste (FW) is generated annually across the world and results in environmental pollution and degradation. This study investigated the performance of a 160 L anaerobic biofilm single-stage reactor in treating FW. The reactor was operated at different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) of 124, 62, and 35 days under mesophilic conditions. The maximum biogas and methane yield achieved was 0.934 L/g VSadded and 0.607 L CH4/g VSadded, respectively, at an HRT of 124 days. When HRT decreased to 62 days, the volatile fatty acid (VFA) and ammonia accumulation increased rapidly whereas pH, methane yield, and biogas yield decreased continuously. The decline in biogas production was likely due to shock loading, which resulted in scum accumulation in the reactor. A negative correlation between biogas yield and volatile solid (VS) removal efficiency was also observed, owing to the floating scum carrying and urging the sludge toward the upper portion of the reactor. The highest VS (79%) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency (80%) were achieved at an HRT of 35 days. Three kinetic models—the first-order kinetic model, the modified Gompertz model, and the logistic function model—were used to fit the cumulative biogas production experimental data. The kinetic study showed that the modified Gompertz model had the best fit with the experimental data out of the three models. This study demonstrates that the stability and performance of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process, namely biogas production rate, methane yield, intermediate metabolism, and removal efficiency, were significantly affected by HRTs.


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