Life Cycle Assessment of high ligno-cellulosic biomass pyrolysis coupled with anaerobic digestion

Righi, Serena; Bandini, Vittoria; Marazza, Diego; Baioli, Filippo; Torri, Cristian; Contin, A.

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2016.04.052

Cited by 49 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…In terms of environmental performance, in general, bio-based products tend to compare poorly against their respective conventional counterparts on impact categories, such as eutrophication, an impact typically caused by fertilizers during biomass cultivation [76,77]. Mixed results have been reported for other categories, including acidification and tropospheric ozone formation.…”

Section: Comparison With Phas Literature and Other Polymers' Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment and Energy Balance of a Novel Polyhydroxyalkanoates Production Process with Mixed Microbial Cultures Fed on Pyrolytic Products of Wastewater Treatment Sludge

et al. 2020

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A “cradle-to-grave” life cycle assessment is performed to identify the environmental issues of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) produced through a hybrid thermochemical-biological process using anaerobically digested sewage sludge (ADSS) as feedstock. The assessment includes a measure of the energy performance of the process. The system boundary includes: (i) Sludge pyrolysis followed by volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production; (ii) PHAs-enriched biomass production using a mixed microbial culture (MMC); (iii) PHAs extraction with dimethyl carbonate; and iv) PHAs end-of-life. Three scenarios differing in the use of the syngas produced by both pyrolysis and biochar gasification, and two more scenarios differing only in the external energy sources were evaluated. Results show a trade-off between environmental impacts at global scale, such as climate change and resources depletion, and those having an effect at the local/regional scale, such as acidification, eutrophication, and toxicity. Process configurations based only on the sludge-to-PHAs route require an external energy supply, which determines the highest impacts with respect to climate change, resources depletion, and water depletion. On the contrary, process configurations also integrating the sludge-to-energy route for self-sustainment imply more onsite sludge processing and combustion; this results in the highest values of eutrophication, ecotoxicity, and human toxicity. There is not a categorical winner among the investigated configurations; however, the use of a selected mix of external renewable sources while using sludge to produce PHAs only seems the best compromise. The results are comparable to those of both other PHAs production processes found in the literature and various fossil-based and bio-based polymers, in terms of both non-biogenic GHG emissions and energy demand. Further process advancements and technology improvement in high impact stages are required to make this PHAs production process a competitive candidate for the production of biopolymers on a wide scale.

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Section: Comparison With Phas Literature and Other Polymers' Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Cycle Assessment and Energy Balance of a Novel Polyhydroxyalkanoates Production Process with Mixed Microbial Cultures Fed on Pyrolytic Products of Wastewater Treatment Sludge

et al. 2020

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“…Applications Soil improver Biochar (C) sequestration in the soil [93] Binding /deactivation of pesticides, herbicides and nutrients in soil [258] Reduced fertiliser requirements [93] BC as source of potential toxicants (heavy metals, PAHs, organics) [258] Reduced N2O emissions from soil [93] Enhanced plants growth [18] Reduced fossil fuel use in irrigation and cultivation [18] Enhanced nutrient availability [258] Increased H2O retention [258] Reduced leaching and run-off of nutrients [258] Adsorbent BC lower impacts than activated carbon [247] In conclusion, focusing the environmental assessment on perspective 4, the integration of AD of waste biomass and pyrolysis of digestate, as shown in Figure 2, could increase the net electricity production respect to AD alone [80] and enhance its quality as soil amendment [81] with economic and environmental benefits [242]. In conclusion, the integrated approach has been investigated by life cycle analysis and exhibited positive environmental outcomes if compared with non-integrated processes [255,259].…”

Section: Positive Effectsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Considering BC application in AD processes (perspective 3), to our knowledge the available scientific literature only focused on sequential processes, as pyrolysis followed by AD. A LCA from cradle to grave [255] considered BC produced from corn stover applied as carburant and soil amendment with sequential AD, achieving respectively: -2.47 kg CO2eq/t and energy saving of -6.53 MJ/ t for the first scenario and -4.67 kg CO2eq/t and energy saving of -9.73 MJ/ t for the second scenario. Table 13.…”

Section: Environmental Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of biochar role as additive in anaerobic digestion processes

Chiappero

Norouzi

et al. 2020

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

199

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Anaerobic digestion (AD) could be considered as a mature technology and nowadays it can still play a pivot role because of the urgent need to provide renewable energy sources and efficiently manage the continuously growing amount of organic waste. Biochar (BC) is an extremely versatile material, which could be produced by carbonization of organic materials, including biomass and wastes, consistently with Circular Economy principles, and "tailor-made" for specific applications. The potential BC role as additive in the control of the many well-known critical issues of AD processes has been increasingly

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“…Enhancing the AD microbial tolerance by acclimating the microorganisms to the APL and HTL-AP constituents or using suitable seed biomass is another approach that requires more research. Preliminary studies have shown that when the microbial consortium is adapted, APL and HTL-AP digestion is possible (Righi et al 2016;Zhou et al 2019;Seyedi et al 2020). Not many studies have examined the microbial community composition and shifts in the composition when thermochemical aqueous liquids are continuously digested.…”

Section: Outlook and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current status of biomethane production using aqueous liquid from pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction of sewage sludge and similar biomass

Seyedi

Venkiteshwaran

2020

Rev Environ Sci Biotechnol

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Pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) are potential technologies for renewable energy production and waste valorization using municipal wastewater sewage sludge and other lignocellulosic biomass. However, the organic-rich aqueous pyrolysis liquid (APL) and HTL aqueous phase (HTL-AP) produced currently have no apparent use and are challenging to manage. Furthermore, the toxic organic compounds in them can be harmful to the environment. Anaerobic digestion (AD) may be a viable method to manage the liquids and recover energy in APL and HTL-AP in form of methane-rich biogas. Integrating thermochemical processes with AD could promote a circular economy by recovering resources and reducing environmental pollution. The challenge, however, is the presence of toxic compounds recalcitrant to anaerobic biodegradation such as phenols and nitrogen-containing organics that can inhibit methaneproducing microbes. This review presents information

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Life Cycle Assessment of high ligno-cellulosic biomass pyrolysis coupled with anaerobic digestion

Cited by 49 publications

References 17 publications

Life Cycle Assessment and Energy Balance of a Novel Polyhydroxyalkanoates Production Process with Mixed Microbial Cultures Fed on Pyrolytic Products of Wastewater Treatment Sludge

Life Cycle Assessment and Energy Balance of a Novel Polyhydroxyalkanoates Production Process with Mixed Microbial Cultures Fed on Pyrolytic Products of Wastewater Treatment Sludge

Review of biochar role as additive in anaerobic digestion processes

Current status of biomethane production using aqueous liquid from pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction of sewage sludge and similar biomass

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