Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yu-Ting Zhang, Wei Wei, Yun Wang, Bing-Jie Ni
Summary: The innovative use of diatomite in anaerobic algae digestion enhances methane production and increases the abundance of key microorganisms, improving the digestion process for energy recovery, indicating significant economic and environmental benefits in algae treatment.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Thermodynamics
Muhammad Arfan, Ola Eriksson, Zhao Wang, Shveta Soam
Summary: This study provides an environmental and economic assessment of hydrogen production from biowaste and biomass using a life cycle perspective. Ten environmental impact categories are analyzed using SimaPro LCA software and CML-IA method. The results show that hydrogen production from biowaste has higher climate impact, photochemical oxidant, and freshwater eutrophication compared to biomass. However, it performs better in other impact categories such as ozone depletion, terrestrial ecotoxicity, abiotic depletion-fossil, abiotic depletion, human toxicity, and freshwater ecotoxicity. The sensitivity analysis indicates that feedstock ratio and energy source significantly influence the results, particularly in climate change, abiotic depletion, and human toxicity.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Md Mosleh Uddin, Zhiyou Wen, Mark Mba Wright
Summary: This study comprehensively analyzes the economic and environmental impacts of using biochar in anaerobic digestion technology. The research shows that biochar addition can significantly reduce the selling price of renewable natural gas and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Kamonwan Khanthong, Rahul Kadam, Taeyoung Kim, Jungyu Park
Summary: The anaerobic co-digestion of food waste and algae was assessed to overcome the drawbacks of anaerobic mono-digestion. Batch tests showed that a food waste and algae mixture ratio of 8:2 resulted in the highest CH4 yield. Implementing this ratio in the anaerobic co-digestion reactor led to double the CH4 yield compared to anaerobic mono-digestion reactors, ensuring high operational stability. Furthermore, metagenomic analysis revealed an increase in the abundance of important methane-producing bacteria in the anaerobic co-digestion reactor.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Yun Wang, Wei Wei, Qi-Su Huang, Bing-Jie Ni
Summary: This study proposed a novel waste reuse technology using corncob ash as an additive to enhance methane production from anaerobic digestion of algae. Corncob ash was found to be beneficial to the solubilization, hydrolysis, and methanogenesis processes during anaerobic algae digestion, enriching key microorganisms. Additionally, corncob ash alleviated ammonia inhibition and improved electron transfer efficiency for methane production.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Matia Mainardis, Marco Buttazzoni, Fabian Gievers, Charlene Vance, Francesca Magnolo, Fionnuala Murphy, Daniele Goi
Summary: Different pretreatment technologies, such as low-temperature thermal treatment and ultrasonication, were investigated to increase biogas yield from sewage sludge. The study found that low-temperature thermal pretreatment showed the best performance in enhancing sludge solubilization and methane yield. LCA indicated that ultrasonication had the worst environmental impacts at laboratory scale, but could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, fossil depletion, and stratospheric ozone depletion at full-scale conditions.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Jose-Luis Galvez-Martos, Silvia Greses, Jose-Antonio Magdalena, Diego Iribarren, Elia Tomas-Pejo, Cristina Gonzalez-Fernandez
Summary: Research has found that adjusting operational conditions of anaerobic digestion can result in the production of volatile fatty acids, which show better environmental behavior mainly due to the substitution of conventional chemicals.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Michele Costantini, Michele Zoli, Matteo Ceruti, Rebecca Crudele, Marcella Guarino, Jacopo Bacenetti
Summary: This study evaluates the possibility of reducing the impact of beef cattle production by optimizing the fertilization management of home-grown forage on the same farms. The reduction of synthetic nitrogen fertilization can substantially reduce the evaluated impacts while maintaining satisfactory yields. However, trade-offs exist among different impact categories.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marina Mistretta, Teresa Maria Gulotta, Paola Caputo, Maurizio Cellura
Summary: This study evaluates the energy and environmental performances of electricity generated from Italian anaerobic digestion coupled with combined heat and power plants. It finds that small and medium plants mainly fed by organic by-products have the lowest impacts. Compared to electricity from the grid, biogas electricity has the lowest contribution in some impact categories and largest in others. In terms of global warming potential and cumulative energy demand, the impacts of biogas electricity are about 35% and 38% of that generated by the grid.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Yong Hu, Haiyuan Ma, Chen Shi, Takuro Kobayashi, Kai-Qin Xu
Summary: This study found that adding appropriate amounts of micro- and macro-nutrients can significantly improve methane production and maintain stability in the mono-digestion of sorghum. Supplementation of sulfur and cobalt was confirmed to be crucial for the efficiency of methane fermentation.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Zahra Al Hasani, Jagdeep Kumar Nayak, Halima Alhimali, Abdullah Al-Mamun
Summary: The study found that the use of conductive additive GAC/nZVI in anaerobic digestion process can significantly increase the biogas production and methane generation, as well as improve the removal rate of COD.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Giovanni Ferrari, Elena Holl, Jorg Steinbrenner, Andrea Pezzuolo, Andreas Lemmer
Summary: Biomethane plays a crucial role in decarbonization and sustainable development. A comparison of three different biomethane production scenarios was conducted to determine the option with the lowest CO2 emissions. The study found that combining a two-stage anaerobic digestion process with biological upgrading resulted in the lowest emissions.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Camila Ester Hollas, Karina Guedes Cubas do Amaral, Marcela Valles Lange, Martha Mayumi Higarashi, Ricardo Luis Radis Steinmetz, Evandro Carlos Barros, Leidiane Ferronato Mariani, Vanice Nakano, Airton Kunz, Alessandro Sanches-Pereira, Gilberto de Martino Jannuzzi
Summary: The decarbonization of production chains has focused on creating a sustainable future with minimal environmental damage and the use of waste for economic development. This study evaluates the environmental viability of five biogas plants using swine waste in Brazil and finds that both electricity generation and biomethane production can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jaewon Byun, Jeehoon Han
Summary: Converting food waste into green methane through anaerobic digestion can reduce global warming impacts by 44.3%. This proposed scenario has the potential to achieve a sustainable society and minimize environmental impacts of food waste treatment.
FERMENTATION-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Alonso Albalate-Ramirez, Monica Maria Alcala-Rodriguez, Luis Ramiro Miramontes-Martinez, Alejandro Padilla-Rivera, Alejandro Estrada-Baltazar, Brenda Nelly Lopez-Hernandez, Pasiano Rivas-Garcia
Summary: This study proposes a statistical optimization strategy based on experimental designs to improve methane yields and reduce the environmental impact of cattle manure valorization through a waste to energy process. The results show that the highest methane yield and the lowest environmental impact were achieved with specific pretreatment, temperature, and co-digestion conditions.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Patrick K. Thomas, Gary P. Dunn, Erik R. Coats, Deborah T. Newby, Kevin P. Feris
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYCOLOGY
(2019)
Review
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Annika M. Quick, W. Jeffery Reeder, Tiffany B. Farrell, Daniele Tonina, Kevin P. Feris, Shawn G. Benner
EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2019)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Patrick K. Thomas, Gary P. Dunn, Alison R. Good, Michael P. Callahan, Erik R. Coats, Deborah T. Newby, Kevin P. Feris
ALGAL RESEARCH-BIOMASS BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS
(2019)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jonas Frankel-Bricker, Sven Buerki, Kevin P. Feris, Merlin M. White
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Ecology
Kurt O. Reinhart, Chris H. Carlson, Kevin P. Feris, Matthew J. Germino, Clancy J. Jandreau, Brynne E. Lazarus, Jane Mangold, Dave W. Pellatz, Philip Ramsey, Matthew J. Rinella, Morgan Valliant
RANGELAND ECOLOGY & MANAGEMENT
(2020)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Brynne E. Lazarus, Kevin Feris, Matthew J. Germino
Summary: Recent research on Weed-suppressive bacteria (WSB) shows that their effectiveness in selectively inhibiting invasive annual grasses varies in different settings, with agar culture showing more promising results than soil. Selective effects were observed in agar cultures at low WSB concentrations, but high concentrations led to non-selective inhibition. Additional research is needed to determine the effectiveness of WSB in field settings.
BIOLOGICAL CONTROL
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Erik R. Coats, Brent Deyo, Nicole Brower, Cynthia K. Brinkman
Summary: Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR) can recover significant quantities of wastewater phosphorus. The research evaluated the effects of anaerobic HRT (tau(AN)) and VFA concentration on EBPR performance. Increased PHA synthesis with increased VFAs and/or extended tau(AN) enhances aerobic phosphorus removal. Aerobic phosphorus uptake increases linearly with anaerobic phosphorus release. Increased VFAs can substitute for shorter anaerobic HRTs to enhance EBPR performance.
WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Abdelrhman Mohamed, Hannah M. Zmuda, Phuc T. Ha, Erik R. Coats, Haluk Beyenal
Summary: The combinatio of polarized electrodes with microbial fuel cells has led to the development of a switchable dual-mode bioelectrochemical wastewater treatment system, showing improved COD removal efficiency in both laboratory and pilot scale systems.
BIOELECTROCHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Casey Bryant, Erik R. Coats
Summary: Research was conducted on converting a wastewater treatment plant into a water resource recovery facility, where the production of electricity via combined heat and power was found to be crucial for achieving environmental sustainability by offsetting energy demand. Results showed that diversifying the portfolio of products and integrating dairy manure for bioplastics production can help maintain the facility's environmental performance while yielding a diverse range of resources.
WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Lindsey Smoot, Jason Mellin, Cynthia K. Brinkman, Inna Popova, Erik R. Coats
Summary: This study demonstrates that partial nitritation can be achieved and maintained by adjusting the conditions of nitritation and nitrification, using mixed microbial consortia cultured on real wastewater, leading to effective wastewater treatment with good effluent quality.
Article
Polymer Science
Maryam Abbasi, Dikshya Pokhrel, Erik R. Coats, Nicholas M. Guho, Armando G. McDonald
Summary: The thermal, mechanical, and rheological behavior of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) synthesized by mixed microbial consortia (MMC) fed fermented dairy manure at large-scale level was studied. The chemical structure of the extracted PHBV biopolymers was analyzed, and it was found that the PHBV had a random distribution of 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and 3-hydroxyvalerate (3HV) units with 3HV content between 16% and 24%. The glass transition temperature (T-g) of the extracted PHBV varied between -0.7 and -7.4 degrees C.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Erik R. Coats, Felicity J. Appel, Nick Guho, Cynthia K. Brinkman, Jason Mellin
Summary: The research investigated post-anoxic enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) at bench and pilot scales. The results showed that EBPR can achieve effluent of <0.2 mgP/L and <12 mgN/L. P:C and VFA:P ratios can be used to predict the stability of the EBPR process. The study also found that post-anoxic EBPR process was enriched for Nitrobacter spp. and Parcubacteria, which are putative fermenting heterotrophic organisms. Specific denitrification rates ranged from 0.70 to 3.10 mgN/gVSS/h.
WATER ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Water Resources
W. Jeffery Reeder, Annika M. Quick, Tiffany B. Farrell, Shawn G. Benner, Kevin P. Feris, William J. R. Basham, Alessandra Marzadri, Daniels Tonina, Christian Huber
JOURNAL OF APPLIED WATER ENGINEERING AND RESEARCH
(2019)