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Innovations in Anaerobic Digestion Technology
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Innovations in Anaerobic Digestion Technology

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2025 | Viewed by 2328

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Rebecca Serna-García

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CALAGUA—Unidad Mixta UV-UPV, Departament d’Enginyeria Química, Universitat de València, Avinguda de la Universitat s/n, 46100 Valencia, Spain
Interests: anaerobic digestion; AnMBR; co-digestion; biogas valorization; resources recovery; biogas upgrading; CO2 capture

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is considered an advanced technology for sustainable solid waste management and bioenergy generation. This Special Issue (SI) delves into the latest advancements and innovations within this field, exploring emerging cutting-edge research and practical applications. From breakthroughs in microbial processes to novel reactor designs and optimization techniques, this SI aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of AD, showcasing its efficiency, scalability, and environmental benefits. By highlighting these advancements, this SI seeks to inspire further innovation and adoption of AD technologies, contributing to a greener and more sustainable future.

The key topics include novel reactor configuration for the AD process, the use of renewable feedstock, the co-digestion of different substrates to enhance AD performance, and the recovery of nutrients and other resources from anaerobic processes’ effluents. This SI also aims to explore biogas upgrading techniques and carbon capture technologies to remove CO2 and other gases, producing high-quality biomethane while mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, it aims to examine biogas valorization in bioproducts’ production, highlighting how biogas can be converted into valuable chemicals like polyhydroxyalkanoates. This exploration delves into the concept of biorefineries, extending biogas applications beyond energy and catalyzing a more competitive biogas market.

Additional topics of interest related to innovative AD technologies are also welcome in this SI, including advancements in AD system modeling and simulation, the integration of AD with renewable energy systems, exploring the energy–water nexus, and innovative approaches to monitoring and controlling AD systems.

Dr. Rebecca Serna-García
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • anaerobic digestion
  • biogas valorization
  • value-added product production
  • resource recovery
  • bioenergy
  • biorefineries

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 6487 KiB  
Article
Bioplastic’s Valorisation by Anaerobic Co-Digestion with WWTP Mixed Sludge
by María Lera, Juan Francisco Ferrer, Luis Borrás, Joaquín Serralta and Nuria Martí
Water 2024, 16(22), 3293; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16223293 - 16 Nov 2024
Viewed by 905
Abstract
Bioplastics are designed to degrade at the end of their lifecycle, but effective management of their end-of-life phase and integration into existing organic waste management systems remain significant challenges. Some bioplastics decompose under anaerobic conditions, with the anaerobic digestion (AD) process being a [...] Read more.
Bioplastics are designed to degrade at the end of their lifecycle, but effective management of their end-of-life phase and integration into existing organic waste management systems remain significant challenges. Some bioplastics decompose under anaerobic conditions, with the anaerobic digestion (AD) process being a potential solution for their disposal. AD is a promising technology for valorising organic wastes, enabling biomethane production, reducing carbon footprints, and promoting product circularity. This study focuses on evaluating the continuous co-digestion of bioplastics with mixed sludge from an urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) was the selected bioplastic, as various studies have reported its high and rapid degradation under anaerobic mesophilic conditions. PHB’s biodegradability under typical WWTP anaerobic digestion conditions (35 °C, 20-day retention time) was assessed in batch tests and the results indicate that PHB degradation ranged from 68 to 75%, depending on particle size. To further explore the potential of AD for PHB valorisation, the feasibility of anaerobic co-digestion of PHB with WWTP sludge was tested on a continuous laboratory scale using two digesters: a conventional digester (CSTR) and an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR). The results indicated complete degradation of PHB, which led to higher biomethanisation percentages in both digesters, rising from 58% to 70% in the AnMBR and from 44% to 72% in the CSTR. The notable increase observed in the CSTR was attributed to changes in microbial populations that improved sludge biodegradability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Anaerobic Digestion Technology)
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19 pages, 2355 KiB  
Article
Recovering Nitrogen from Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Permeate Using a Natural Zeolite Ion Exchange Column
by Jesús Godifredo, Laura Ruiz, Silvia Hernández, Joaquín Serralta and Ramón Barat
Water 2024, 16(19), 2820; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16192820 - 4 Oct 2024
Viewed by 994
Abstract
In the framework of a circular economy, wastewater treatment should be oriented toward processes that allow the recovery of the resources present in the wastewater while ensuring good effluent quality. Nitrogen recovery is usually carried out in streams concentrated in this nutrient because [...] Read more.
In the framework of a circular economy, wastewater treatment should be oriented toward processes that allow the recovery of the resources present in the wastewater while ensuring good effluent quality. Nitrogen recovery is usually carried out in streams concentrated in this nutrient because these high concentrations facilitate nitrogen valorization. On the other hand, the mainstream of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) has a high potential for nitrogen recovery, but it is not usually considered because it is hard to manage due to its low nitrogen concentration. To solve this problem and facilitate the recovery of nitrogen in the mainstream, this work proposes ion exchange with zeolites as a stage of ammonium concentration, to provide a nitrogen-concentrated stream that could be valorized by another technology, while obtaining a nitrogen-free effluent. The working stream, the permeate of an AnMBR process in the mainstream, has suitable characteristics to be treated in an ion exchange column (free of suspended solids and with very low organic matter content). To this end, the effect of the working flow rate (17.5 to 4.4 BV/h) and the ammonium concentration (54 to 17 mg NH4-N/L) on the adsorption capacity of the zeolite in the loading phase was evaluated. The adsorption curves were fitted to three mathematical models: Thomas, Bohart–Adams, and Yoon–Nelson. The effect of the regeneration flow rate (from 8.7 to 2.2 BV/h) and the regenerant concentration (NaOH at 0.2, 0.1, and 0.05 M) on regeneration capacity and efficiency were also studied. A novel control strategy based on effluent conductivity was used in both phases to control the duration of the adsorption and regeneration phases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Anaerobic Digestion Technology)
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