Influence of liquid-to-biogas ratio and alkalinity on the biogas upgrading performance in a demo scale algal-bacterial photobioreactor

Marín, David; Ortíz, Antonio; Díez-Montero, Rubén; Uggetti, Enrica; Lebrero, Raquel; Muñoz, Raúl

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.02.029

Cited by 47 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The CO 2 concentration in the upgraded biogas increased from 2.5 to 14.1%, when the biogas flowrate was stepwise increased from 143 to 218, 300 and 420 L h −1 under uncontrolled conditions (at a constant liquid flowrate of 327 L h −1 ), which corresponded to a decrease in the L/ G ratio from 2.3 to 0.8. These results were in accordance with Marín et al (2019), who reported a decrease in the CO 2 content from 9.6% to negligible values when increasing the L/G ratio from 0.5 to 2.0. Subsequently, when the biogas flowrate was stepwise decreased from 420 to 300 L h −1 , the CO 2 concentration slightly increased up to 16.1% as a result of the previous acidification of the liquid remaining in the AC.…”

Section: Process Response To Stepwise Variations In Biogas Flowratesupporting

confidence: 93%

Performance evaluation of a control strategy for photosynthetic biogas upgrading in a semi-industrial scale photobioreactor

Rodero

Carvajal

Arbib³

et al. 2020

Bioresource Technology

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The validation of a control strategy for biogas upgrading via light-driven CO 2 consumption by microalgae and H 2 S oxidation by oxidizing bacteria using the oxygen photosynthetically generated was performed in a semi-industrial scale (9.6 m 3 ) photobioreactor. The control system was able to support CO 2 concentrations lower than 2% with O 2 contents ≤ 1% regardless of the pH in the cultivation broth (ranging from 9.05 to 9.50). Moreover, the control system was efficient to cope with variations in biogas flowrate from 143 to 420 L h −1 , resulting in a biomethane composition of CO 2 < 2.4%, CH 4 > 95.5%, O 2 < 1% and no H 2 S. Despite the poor robustness of this technology against failures in biogas and liquid supply (CH 4 concentration of 67.5 and 70.9% after 2 h of biogas or liquid stoppage, respectively), the control system was capable of restoring biomethane quality in less than 2 h when biogas or liquid supply was resumed.

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Section: Process Response To Stepwise Variations In Biogas Flowratesupporting

confidence: 93%

Performance evaluation of a control strategy for photosynthetic biogas upgrading in a semi-industrial scale photobioreactor

Rodero

Carvajal

Arbib³

et al. 2020

Bioresource Technology

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“…The photosynthetic biogas upgrading process was validated at demonstration-scale under outdoors conditions. The continuous operation of the system resulted in the production of biomethane, reducing the content of CO 2 and H 2 S and obtaining a concentration of CH 4 between 94.1% and 98.8%, complying with most international regulations for methane injection into natural gas grids [17]. Moreover, the digestate was further stabilised in a sludge treatment wetland with an effective surface area of 6 m 2 and height of 1.5 m. The wetland was planted with common reed (Phragmites australis) and the digestate was daily pumped and fed to the wetland through a sludge distribution system consisting in a net of pipes with risers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The volume of produced biogas was recorded every working day. The CH 4 and CO 2 content were periodically analysed from biogas samples using a GC equipped with a thermal conductivity detector (Trace GC with Hayesep packed column, Thermo Finnigan-Thermo-Scientific ® , Waltham, MA, USA), as described by Marín et al [17]. Samples of the influent biomass, pretreated biomass and digestate were analysed on a weekly basis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, microalgae have gained research interest due not only to their great potential and impact applications on wastewater treatment, but also for resource recovery and societal development [12,13]. Harvested microalgal biomass can be processed into protein for animal feed, agricultural fertilizer, pigments and biopolymers, while biogas can be produced by means of anaerobic digestion of the total or residual biomass [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Biogas production from microalgae is suitable and of special interest for small agglomerations and rural areas, since a positive energy balance can be achieved, producing more energy from the biogas than the energy required for the operation of the whole plant, if environmental conditions (solar radiation, temperature) are appropriate [11,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequently, the biomass was digested anaerobically for the production of biogas, after undergoing thermal pretreatment. The biogas was upgraded to biomethane in a photosynthetic absorption column [17], while the digestate was further stabilised and dewatered in a sludge treatment wetland for the production of biofertilizer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Scaling-Up the Anaerobic Digestion of Pretreated Microalgal Biomass within a Water Resource Recovery Facility

et al. 2020

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Microalgae-based wastewater treatment plants are low-cost alternatives for recovering nutrients from contaminated effluents through microalgal biomass, which may be subsequently processed into valuable bioproducts and bioenergy. Anaerobic digestion for biogas and biomethane production is the most straightforward and applicable technology for bioenergy recovery. However, pretreatment techniques may be needed to enhance the anaerobic biodegradability of microalgae. To date, very few full-scale systems have been put through, due to acknowledged bottlenecks such as low biomass concentration after conventional harvesting and inefficient processing into valuable products. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anaerobic digestion of pretreated microalgal biomass in a demonstration-scale microalgae biorefinery, and to compare the results obtained with previous research conducted at lab-scale, in order to assess the scalability of this bioprocess. In the lab-scale experiments, real municipal wastewater was treated in high rate algal ponds (2 × 0.47 m3), and harvested microalgal biomass was thickened and digested to produce biogas. It was observed how the methane yield increased by 67% after implementing a thermal pretreatment step (at 75 °C for 10 h), and therefore the very same pretreatment was applied in the demonstration-scale study. In this case, agricultural runoff was treated in semi-closed tubular photobioreactors (3 × 11.7 m3), and harvested microalgal biomass was thickened and thermally pretreated before undergoing the anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. The results showed a VS removal of 70% in the reactor and a methane yield up to 0.24 L CH4/g VS, which were similar to the lab-scale results. Furthermore, photosynthetic biogas upgrading led to the production of biomethane, while the digestate was treated in a constructed wetland to obtain a biofertilizer. In this way, the demonstration-scale plant evidenced the feasibility of recovering resources (biomethane and biofertilizer) from agricultural runoff using microalgae-based systems coupled with anaerobic digestion of the microalgal biomass.

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Algae and Biogas Plants: Digestate Remediation and Nutrient Recycling with Algal Systems

Zrimec Berden,

Reinhardt,

Rossi

et al. 2024

Algae Mediated Bioremediation

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Influence of liquid-to-biogas ratio and alkalinity on the biogas upgrading performance in a demo scale algal-bacterial photobioreactor

Cited by 47 publications

References 21 publications

Performance evaluation of a control strategy for photosynthetic biogas upgrading in a semi-industrial scale photobioreactor

Performance evaluation of a control strategy for photosynthetic biogas upgrading in a semi-industrial scale photobioreactor

Scaling-Up the Anaerobic Digestion of Pretreated Microalgal Biomass within a Water Resource Recovery Facility

Algae and Biogas Plants: Digestate Remediation and Nutrient Recycling with Algal Systems

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