article · Energies
Anaerobic digestion is an established, reliable, and feasible technology for managing organic biomass waste while generating renewable energy such as biogas and biomethane. Because technological developments have introduced increasingly complex systems, an updated understanding of these processes is essential. This review examines anaerobic digestion technologies used to process biomass waste, focusing on their classification, underlying operational mechanisms, and critical process variables that govern performance. It also evaluates the kinetic models commonly used to describe reaction kinetics within the process. Looking forward, the review highlights several priority areas expected to gain attention. These include cutting operational costs, developing novel thermochemical reactors, establishing integrated hybrid biorefinery and thermochemical systems, improving nutrient recovery, and advancing methods for handling solid and liquid digestion residues.
Continuous waste generation poses severe environmental problems across the globe. Anaerobic digestion addresses this challenge by converting organic waste into useful renewable energy. By consolidating knowledge on process controls, reaction rates, and system designs, this work helps clarify how operators and researchers can better optimise energy production and manage byproducts effectively.
This review synthesises process variables and kinetics to inform the development of organic waste treatment and renewable biogas production. Potential users include waste management operators, biorefinery developers, and energy producers seeking to improve digestion efficiency. The work sits at a review and early-stage development level, pointing towards future needs such as reduced operational costs, novel thermochemical reactors, and hybrid biorefinery systems that still require technological integration and testing before broader market deployment.
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The continual generation and discharge of waste are currently considered two of the main environmental problems worldwide. There are several waste management options that can be applied, though anaerobic digestion (AD) process technology seems to be one of the best, most reliable, and feasible technological options that have attracted remarkable attention due to its benefits, including the generation of renewable energy in the form of biogas and biomethane. There is a large amount of literature available on AD; however, with the continuous, progressive, and innovative technological development and implementation, as well as the inclusion of increasingly complex systems, it is necessary to update current knowledge on AD process technologies, process variables and their role on AD performance, and the kinetic models that are most commonly used to describe the process-reaction kinetics. This paper, therefore, reviewed the AD process technologies for treating or processing organic biomass waste with regard to its classification, the mechanisms involved in the process, process variables that affect the performance, and the process kinetics. Gazing into the future, research studies on reduced MS-AD operational cost, integrated or hybrid AD-biorefinery technology, integrated or hybrid AD-thermochemical process, novel thermochemical reactor development, nutrient recovery from integrated AD-thermochemical process, and solid and liquid residual disposal techniques are more likely to receive increased attention for AD process technology of biomass wastes.
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DOI: 10.3390/en16083378
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