Author
Lise Appels
Other affiliations: University of Antwerp, Catholic University of Leuven
Bio: Lise Appels is an academic researcher from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The author has contributed to research in topics: Anaerobic digestion & Medicine. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 34 publications receiving 5690 citations. Previous affiliations of Lise Appels include University of Antwerp & Catholic University of Leuven.
Topics: Anaerobic digestion, Medicine, Biogas, Chemistry, Activated sludge
Papers
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors extensively review the principles of anaerobic digestion, the process parameters and their interaction, the design methods, the biogas utilisation, the possible problems and potential pro-active cures, and the recent developments to reduce the impact of the problems.
2,616 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the main beneficial properties of anaerobic digestion are discussed and the potential, opportunities and challenges of these biomasses are discussed, and the typical biogas yield and points of attention are included.
Abstract: It is clear that renewable resources will play a crucial role in limiting the CO2 emissions. Energy from biomass and waste is regarded as one of the most dominant future renewable energy sources, since it can provide a continuous power generation. In this regard, the application of anaerobic digestion is emerging spectacularly. This manuscript lists and discusses the main beneficial properties of anaerobic digestion. Different types of biomass and waste are suitable for anaerobic digestion: the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, waste oils and animal fat, energy crops and agricultural waste, manure and sewage sludge. The potential, opportunities and challenges of these biomasses are discussed. Typical biogas yield and points of attention are included. The manuscript concludes with an overview and discussion of the major research trends in anaerobic digestion, including the analysis of microbial community development, the extension of anaerobic digestion models, the development of pre-treatment techniques and upgrading of the biogas produced.
764 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a tentative economic assessment of bio-ethanol production, with production costs not only depending on the extent of applying process improvements, but also on the raw material used in the process.
445 citations
TL;DR: It was seen that organic and inorganic compounds are efficiently solubilised during thermal treatment and a higher temperature and a longer treatment time are beneficial for the release.
361 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the fundamentals of siloxanes and the current problems of the associated fouling and summarized the useable methods for siloxane abatement from biogas and made some recommendations towards preventive actions.
307 citations
Cited by
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors extensively review the principles of anaerobic digestion, the process parameters and their interaction, the design methods, the biogas utilisation, the possible problems and potential pro-active cures, and the recent developments to reduce the impact of the problems.
2,616 citations
TL;DR: A number of techniques have been developed to remove H 2 S from biogas, such as pressure swing adsorption, membrane separation, physical or chemical CO 2 -absorption as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Biogas from anaerobic digestion and landfills consists primarily of CH 4 and CO 2 . Trace components that are often present in biogas are water vapor, hydrogen sulfide, siloxanes, hydrocarbons, ammonia, oxygen, carbon monoxide and nitrogen. In order to transfer biogas into biomethane, two major steps are performed: (1) a cleaning process to remove the trace components and (2) an upgrading process to adjust the calorific value. Upgrading is generally performed in order to meet the standards for use as vehicle fuel or for injection in the natural gas grid. Different methods for biogas cleaning and upgrading are used. They differ in functioning, the necessary quality conditions of the incoming gas, the efficiency and their operational bottlenecks. Condensation methods (demisters, cyclone separators or moisture traps) and drying methods (adsorption or absorption) are used to remove water in combination with foam and dust. A number of techniques have been developed to remove H 2 S from biogas. Air dosing to the biogas and addition of iron chloride into the digester tank are two procedures that remove H 2 S during digestion. Techniques such as adsorption on iron oxide pellets and absorption in liquids remove H 2 S after digestion. Subsequently, trace components like siloxanes, hydrocarbons, ammonia, oxygen, carbon monoxide and nitrogen can require extra removal steps, if not sufficiently removed by other treatment steps. Finally, CH 4 must be separated from CO 2 using pressure swing adsorption, membrane separation, physical or chemical CO 2 -absorption.
1,117 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the methods that have been studied for pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass for conversion to biogas is presented, including physical, chemical, and biological approaches.
1,062 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents a review of the main sludge treatment techniques used as a pretreatment to anaerobic digestion, and it is likely that low impact pretreatment methods such as mechanical and thermal phased improve speed of degradation, while high impact methods improve both speed and extent of degradation.
1,058 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the characteristics of food waste, the principles of anaerobic digestion, the process parameters, and two approaches (pretreatment and co-digestion) for enhancing AD in food waste.
Abstract: The uncontrolled discharge of large amounts of food waste (FW) causes severe environmental pollution in many countries. Within different possible treatment routes, anaerobic digestion (AD) of FW into biogas, is a proven and effective solution for FW treatment and valorization. The present paper reviews the characteristics of FW, the principles of AD, the process parameters, and two approaches (pretreatment and co-digestion) for enhancing AD of food waste. Among the successive digestion reactions, hydrolysis is considered to be the rate-limiting step. To enhance the performance of AD, several physical, thermo-chemical, biological or combined pretreatments are reviewed. Moreover, a promising way for improving the performance of AD is the co-digestion of FW with other organic substrates, as confirmed by numerous studies, where a higher buffer capacity and an optimum nutrient balance enhance the biogas/methane yields of the co-digestion system.
971 citations