scholarly journals Waste to Energy: A Focus on the Impact of Substrate Type in Biogas Production

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 1224
Author(s):  
Nwabunwanne Nwokolo ◽  
Patrick Mukumba ◽  
KeChrist Obileke ◽  
Matthew Enebe

Anaerobic digestion is an efficient technology for a sustainable conversion of various organic wastes such as animal manure, municipal solid waste, agricultural residues and industrial waste into biogas. This technology offers a unique set of benefits, some of which include a good waste management technique, enhancement in the ecology of rural areas, improvement in health through a decrease of pathogens and optimization of the energy consumption of communities. The biogas produced through anaerobic digestion varies in composition, but it consists mainly of carbon dioxide methane together with a low quantity of trace gases. The variation in biogas composition are dependent on some factors namely the substrate type being digested, pH, operating temperature, organic loading rate, hydraulic retention time and digester design. However, the type of substrate used is of greater interest due to the direct dependency of microorganism activities on the nutritional composition of the substrate. Therefore, the aim of this review study is to provide a detailed analysis of the various types of organic wastes that have been used as a substrate for the sustainable production of biogas. Biogas formation from various substrates reported in the literature were investigated, an analysis and characterization of these substrates provided the pro and cons associated with each substrate. The findings obtained showed that the methane yield for all animal manure varied from 157 to 500 mL/gVS with goat and pig manure superseding the other animal manure whereas lignocellulose biomass varied from 160 to 212 mL/gVS. In addition, organic municipal solid waste and industrial waste showed methane yield in the ranges of 143–516 mL/gVS and 25–429 mL/gVS respectively. These variations in methane yield are primarily attributed to the nutritional composition of the various substrates.

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2017
Author(s):  
Domenica Pangallo ◽  
Altea Pedullà ◽  
Demetrio Antonio Zema ◽  
Paolo S. Calabrò

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a suitable management option for the energy valorization of many wastes, including the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). However, in some cases, long storage after the separate collection of this waste is required for management reasons, especially when the amount of waste to be treated temporarily exceeds the capacity of available AD plants. This study evaluates the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of the OFMSW after preliminary storage of 2, 6, and 10 days, in order to assess whether they are still suitable for AD or not. Moreover, the accuracy of three kinetic models (first order, Gompertz, and logistic models) in estimating the methane yield of stored OFMSW is tested. The resulting methane yield was between about 500 and 650 NmL·gVS−1 and slightly increased with the increase of the storage time after collection. Overall, this study has demonstrated that storage of OFMSW, when the collected amount of solid waste exceeds the treatment capacity of AD plants, a storage time up to 10 days does not impact the methane yield of the process.


Author(s):  
Abraham Shu

The application of mass burn waste-to-energy (WTE) plants is becoming more popular in Asia, not just for proper disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) like most plants in the western world do but stretched by many Asian plants to co-incinerate non-hazardous industrial waste (IW) in order to maximize the use of the plant facilities, hence to save costs from building facilities specifically for treating IW. As the plants are designed with conventional considerations practiced in the western world and the original designs are not oriented towards co-incinerating large percentages of IW, plant operators frequently face challenges such as unstable combustion quality, frequent boiler tube rupture amplified by co-incineration, inadequacy of the conventional control systems and other facilities to handle the co-incineration application. One co-incineration WTE plant in Taiwan is used as an example to illustrate the significance of these challenges, some measures taken to abate the problems and the cost impacts. Suggestions are also provided for technical management of co-incineration plants.


Author(s):  
Animesh Sharma

Abstract: This paper aims at determining the recent composition of municipal solid waste of Gwalior city and provide sa notion to take action and proposed economical & viable waste management technologies and techniques for effective utilization of waste. In this study, MSW samples were collected from the Kedarpur landfill site situated at Shivpuri link road and were analyzed for physical composition. The study reveals that Gwalior city produces a high quantity of biodegradable waste (58.03%) with high moisture content (68.60%) and plastic waste (15.96%). Waste composition and characterization disclosed that vigorous segregation is required before dispatching the waste for different treatment processes or landfilling. Based on this study, we may conclude that the combined mechanism of planning and implementation of waste-to-energy (WTE) technologies and treatment such as Anaerobic Digestion/ Bio-methanation, Material recovery facility (MRF), and Bio-remediation/Bio-mining for old existing waste and new generating waste is needed for upgrading the waste management scenario of the city. Keywords: Municipal solid waste (MSW), Kedarpur Landfill site, Composition & Characteristics, Waste to Energy, Anaerobic Digestion, Bio-Mining, Recycling & Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-446
Author(s):  
Obadia Kyetuza Bishoge ◽  
Xinmei Huang ◽  
Lingling Zhang ◽  
Hongzhi Ma ◽  
Charity Danyo

Currently, there are an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated per year globally, and this quantity is predicted to increase to 2.2 billion tonnes annually by 2025. If not well treated, this rapid growth of waste products can lead to socio-economic and environmental problems. Waste is potentially a misplaced valuable resource that can be converted and utilized in different ways such as renewable energy resources for the realization of sustainable development. Presently, waste-to-energy technologies (WtETs) are considered to be an encouraging advanced technology that is applied to convert MSW into a renewable energy resource (methane, biogas, biofuels or biodiesel, ethanol, syngas, or alcohol). WtETs can be biochemical (fermentation, anaerobic digestion, landfill with gas capture, and microbial fuel cell), thermochemical (incineration, thermal gasification, and pyrolysis), or chemical (esterification). This review mainly aims to provide an overview of the applications of these technologies by focusing on anaerobic digestion as biological (nonthermal) treatment technologies, and incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification processes as thermal treatment processes. Landfill gas utilization technologies, biological hydrogen production processes, and microbial fuel cells also are assessed. In addition, the contemporary risks and challenges of WtETs are reviewed.


Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 475
Author(s):  
Omid Norouzi ◽  
Animesh Dutta

With the implementation of new policies supporting renewable natural gas production from organic wastes, Canada began replacing traditional disposal methods with highly integrated biogas production strategies. Herein, data from published papers, Canadian Biogas Association, Canada’s national statistical agency, and energy companies’ websites were gathered to gain insight into the current status of anaerobic digestion plants in recovering energy and resource from organic wastes. The availability of materials prepared for recycling by companies and local waste management organizations and existing infrastructures for municipal solid waste management were examined. Governmental incentives and discouragements in Canada and world anaerobic digestion leaders regarding organic fraction municipal solid waste management were comprehensively reviewed to identify the opportunities for developing large-scale anaerobic digestion in Canada. A range of anaerobic digestion facilities, including water resource recovery facilities, standalone digesters, and on-farm digesters throughout Ontario, were compared in terms of digestion type, digester volume, feedstock (s), and electricity capacity to better understand the current role of biogas plants in this province. Finally, technology perspectives, solutions, and roadmaps were discussed to shape the future in terms of organic fraction municipal solid waste management. The findings suggested that the biogas industry growth in Canada relies on provincial energy and waste management policies, advanced technologies for diverting organic waste from landfills, improving biogas yield using existing pretreatment methods, and educating farmers regarding digester operations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 9828
Author(s):  
Anna Kurbatova ◽  
Hani Ahmed Abu-Qdais

In a mega city like Moscow, both municipal solid waste management and energy systems are managed in an unsustainable way. Therefore, utilizing the municipal solid waste to generate energy will help the city in achieving sustainability by decreasing greenhouse gases emissions and the need for land to dispose the solid waste. In this study, various Waste to Energy (WTE) options were evaluated using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to select the most appropriate technology for the Moscow region. The developed AHP model consists of 4 levels, which assessed four WTE technologies, namely landfill biogas, anaerobic digestion, incineration, and refuse derived fuel (RDF), using four criteria and nine subcriteria. The pairwise comparison was achieved by soliciting 16 experts’ opinions. The priority weights of various criteria, subcriteria, and alternatives were determined using Expert Choice Software. The developed model indicated that landfill biogas is the preferred option with a global weight of 0.448, followed by the anaerobic digestion with a weight of 0.320 and incineration with a weight of 0.138, while the least preferred technology is the RDF with a weight of 0.094. Sensitivity analysis has shown that the priorities of WTE alternatives are sensitive for the environmental and technical criteria. The developed AHP model can be used by the decision makers in Moscow in the field of WTE.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemysław Seruga ◽  
Małgorzata Krzywonos ◽  
Anna Seruga ◽  
Łukasz Niedźwiecki ◽  
Halina Pawlak-Kruczek ◽  
...  

The replacement of fossil fuel with renewable energy sources seems as though it will be crucial in the future. On the other hand, waste generation increases year by year. Thus, waste-to-energy technologies fit in with the actual trends, such as the circular economy. The crucial type of generated waste is municipal solid waste, which is in the research area. Regarding the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), anaerobic digestion (AD) allows the recovery of biogas and energy. Furthermore, if it is supported by source segregation, it should allow the recovery of material as fertilizer. The AD process performance (biogas yield and stability) comparison of source-segregated OFMSW (ss-OFMWS) and mechanically sorted OFMSW (ms-OFMSW) as feedstocks was performed in full-scale conditions. The daily biogas volume and methane content were measured to assess AD efficiency. To verify the process stability, the volatile fatty acid (VFA) content, pH value, acidity, alkalinity, and dry matter were determined. The obtained biogas yield per ton was slightly higher in the case of ss-OFMSW (111.1 m3/ton), compared to ms-OFMSW (105.3 m3/ton), together with a higher methane concentration: 58–60% and 51–53%, respectively, and followed by a higher electricity production capacity of almost 700 MWh for ss-OFMSW digestion. The obtained VFA concentrations, at levels around 1.1 g/kg, pH values (slightly above 8.0), acidity, and alkalinity indicate the possibilities of the digester feeding and no-risk exploitation of either as feedstock.


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