Biogas Production E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 472

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Biogas Production covers the most cutting-edge pretreatment processes being used and studied today for the production of biogas. As an increasingly important piece of the "energy pie," biogas and other biofuels are being used more and more around the world in every conceivable area of industry and could be a partial answer to the energy problem and the elimination of global warming. This book will highlight the recent advances in the pretreatment and value addition of lignocellulosic wastes (LCW) with the main focus on domestic and agro-industrial residues. Mechanical, physical, and biological treatment systems are brought into perspective. The main value-added products from lignocellulosic wastes are summarized in a manner that pinpoints the most recent trends and the future directions. Physico-chemical and biological treatment systems seem to be the most favored options while biofuels, biodegradable composites, and biosorbents production paint a bright picture of the current and future bio-based products. Engineered microbes seem to tackle the problem of bioconversion of substrates that are otherwise nonconvertible by conventional wild strains. Although the main challenge facing LCW utilization is the high costs involved in treatment and production processes, some recent affordable processes with promising results have been proposed. Future trends are being directed to nanobiotechnology and genetic engineering for improved processes and products.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Half Title page

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgments

Special Contributor

Editor

List of Contributors

Chapter 1: Anaerobic Digestion: Pretreatments of Substrates

1.1 Pretreatments in Anaerobic Digestion Process

1.2 Physical Pretreatment

1.3 Chemical Pretreatment

1.4 Biological Pretreatment

1.5 Combined Pretreatment

1.6 Concluding Note

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter 2: Recalcitrance of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Anaerobic Digestion

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Plant Cell Wall Anatomy

2.3 Chemistry of Cell Wall Polymers

2.4 Molecular Interactions Between Cell Wall Polymers

2.5 Plant Cell Wall Molecular Architecture

2.6 Recalcitrance of Plant Cell Wall Cellulose

2.7 Reduction of Biomass Recalcitrance

2.8 Concluding Note

References

Chapter 3: The Effect of Physical, Chemical, and Biological Pretreatments of Biomass on its Anaerobic Digestibility and Biogas Production

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Pretreatment Methods for Lignocellulosic Biomass

3.3 Pretreatment Methods for Sewage Sludge

3.4 Concluding Note

References

Chapter 4: Application of Ultrasound Pretreatment for Sludge Digestion

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Anaerobic Digestion

4.3 Overview of Pretreatment Methods for Anaerobic Digestion

4.4 Fundamental of Ultrasound

4.5 Bubbles Dynamic

4.6 Effects of Ultrasound

4.7 Ultrasound Applications

4.8 Ultrasonication for Anaerobic Digesion

4.9 Evaluation on Sludge Disintegration

4.10 Conclusions

References

Chapter 5: Microwave Sludge Irradiation

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Microwave Theory

5.3 Microwave Irradiation for Waste Sludge Treatment

5.4 Industrial Microwave Applications

5.5 Microwave Absorbing Materials and Ionic Liquids

5.6 Sludge Pretreatment Similar to Microwave Irradiation

5.7 Concluding Notes

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter 6: Hydrolytic Enzymes Enhancing Anaerobic Digestion

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Where and How can Enzymes be Applied?

6.3 Impact of Enzyme Application

6.4 Economic Assessment

6.5 Concluding Note

Acknowledgements

References

Chapter 7: Oxidizing Agents and Organic Solvents as Pretreatment for Anaerobic Digestion

7.1 Oxidative Pretreatment Methods

7.2 Organic Solvents

7.3 Concluding Note

References

Chapter 8: Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Utilization in Greece: Current Status and Perspectives

8.1 Assessment of Existing Biogas Installations

8.2 Use of Waste Material for Biogas Production

8.3 Feedstock Availability and Agricultural Structures

8.4 Purification of Biogas for Insertion in the Natural Gas Grid

8.5 Biogas Utilization

8.6 Concluding Note

References

Chapter 9: Original Research: Investigating the Potential of Using Biogas in Cooking Stove in Rodrigues

9.1 Energy Crisis and Future Challenges

9.2 Case Study of Rodrigues

9.3 Rationale of Research Study

9.4 Research Methodology

9.5 Reactor Design Considerations

9.6 Results, Findings and Discussions

9.7 Conclusions

References

Chapter 10: Optimizing and Modeling the Anaerobic Digestion of Lignocellulosic Wastes by Rumen Cultures

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Materials and Methods

10.3 Optimizing the Anaerobic Digestion of Microwave-Pretreated Cattail by Rumen Cultures

10.4 Modeling the Anaerobic Digestion of Cattail by Rumen Cultures

10.5 Concluding Note

References

Chapter 11: Pretreatment of Biocatalyst as Viable Option for Sustained Production of Biohydrogen from Wastewater Treatment

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Pretreatment of Biocatalyst

11.3 Combined Pretreatment

11.4 Influence of Pretreatment on Wastewater Treatment

11.5 Microbial Diversity

11.6 Summary and Future Scope

Acknowledgements

References

Index

Biogas Production

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Illustration on front cover depicts interaction of stem cells into the nanobiomaterials for tissue engineering.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN 978-1-118-06285-2

For Yaana on her second birthday

Preface

“The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value. Conservation means development as much as it does protection.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)

Biomass as a natural resource contains varying amounts of cellulose, hemi-cellulose, and lignin. Currently, the second-generation bioproducts, such as bioethanol, biodiesel, methane, and biohydrogen from lignocellulosic biomass, are increasingly being produced from wastes rather than from energy crops, because the latter compete for land and water with food crops that are already in high demand. However, a major drawback to the production and maximum recovery of valuable materials from lignocellulosic biomass is the structure of lignocellulose, which has evolved to resist degradation, due to cross-linking between the polysaccharides and the lignin via ester and ether linkages.

In fact, with the standard anaerobic digestion technologies, only approximately 20–30% of the organic matter is mineralized. The main goal of any pretreatment to the anaerobic digestion processes would be to alter or remove the inherent structural and compositional impediments to hydrolysis, which is the rate-determining step, and subsequent degradation processes in order to enhance digestibility, improve the rate of enzyme hydrolysis, and increase yields of intended products. A substantial increase of biogas production can hence be obtained by applying a proper physical, chemical, thermal, mechanical, or biological pretreatment step, such as hydrothermal heating, microwave heating, ultrasonic treatment, use of (genetically-engineered) enzymes, and/or treatment (hydrolysis). The potential of the various pretreatment processes to augment the anaerobic biodegradation rate and produce more biogas is considerable. These methods cause mechanical, physical, chemical, or biological changes in the plant biomass in order to achieve the desired products.

This book highlights the recent advances in the pretreatment and value addition of lignocellulosic wastes and other biomass forms. Mechanical, physical, and biological treatment systems are brought into perspective. The main value-added products from lignocellulosic wastes are summarized in a manner that pinpoints the most recent trends and the future directions. Physicochemical and biological treatment systems seem to be the most favored options, while biofuels, biodegradable composites, and biosorbents production paint a bright picture of the current and future bio-based products. Engineered microbes seem to tackle the problem of bio-conversion of substrates better, a process which would otherwise not be optimized by conventional wild strains.

Ackmez Mudhoo

Acknowledgements

This undertaking has brought a unique opportunity to renew some old friendships and hopefully weave some new ones in the pursuit to gather and distill the expertise required for editing and compiling this book. Words of appreciation and thanks are entirely due to the contributors for the way they have graciously responded with characteristic good humor and patience to the deadlines. Their constructive criticisms and suggestions have enhanced the content of the present work. It is hoped that the final result does ample justice to their painstaking efforts deployed in preparing their respective chapter(s). Mr. Ackmez Mudhoo expresses his appreciation for the faith his parents, Mr. Azad A. Mudhoo and Mrs. Ruxana B. Mudhoo, his brother Assad, sister-in-law Teena, and lovely niece Yanna have placed in him throughout the writing and compilation of this handbook. A. Mudhoo is thankful to Prof. Konrad Morgan (Former Vice-Chancellor & Chairman of Senate of the University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius), Prof. Romeela Mohee (National Research Chair in Solid Waste Management, Mauritius), Dr. Vinod K. Garg (Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hisar, Haryana, India) and Professor Herbert H.P. Fang ([email protected]) of the Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory (http://web.hku.hk/~hrechef/) from the Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China for their presence, encouragement, and support.

Ackmez Mudhoo

Special Contributor

Romeela Mohee is Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering. She was formerly an Academic Staff in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Mauritius (Mauritius) for more than fifteen years, and recently serviced for three years as Dean of Faculty of Engineering in the same university. With over twenty years of active research and consultancy work in solid waste management, the research of Prof Mohee is focused on waste containment, solid waste management and treatment technologies, beneficial reuse of waste materials, heat and mass transfer modeling, and environmental performance analysis through carbon footprint assessment. She earned a PhD at the University of Mauritius under the supervision of eminent professors from the University of Leeds (United Kingdom) and Clemson University (USA), and was a Fulbright Scholar. Prof Mohee delivered a pivotal role in the writing of this book. With her sense of good humour, experience and discernment, critical thinking and astuteness, she has provided a number of valuable suggestions during the peer review of the chapters. These suggestions were welcomed by the respective chapter contributors and ultimately helped in bringing the book to its present shape and size. Prof Mohee is presently the National Research Chair in Solid Waste Management in Mauritius.

Editor

Mr. Ackmez Mudhoo obtained his Bachelor’s degree (B.Eng. (Hons.)) in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the University of Mauritius in 2004. He then read and earned a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mauritius in 2011. His research interests encompass the bioremediation of solid wastes and wastewaters by composting, anaerobic digestion and biosorption. Ackmez has 53 international journal publications, 4 conference papers, and 6 co-edited books to his credit. Ackmez serves as peer reviewer for Waste Management, International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, and Journal of Hazardous Materials, and as Handling Editor for International Journal of Environment and Waste Management and International Journal of Environmental Engineering. He is presently a Lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Mauritius. Ackmez is also the co-editor/co-author of Green Chemistry for Environmental Sustainability (Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, Florida, Boca Raton, USA, CRC Press, 454 pages, ISBN: 978-1-4398-2473-3), Adsorption of Reactive Red 158 dye by chemically treated Cocos nucifera L. shell powder (SpringerBriefs in Molecular Science-Green Chemistry for Sustainability Series, Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, ISBN: 978-94-007-1985-9), A Handbook of Applied Biopolymer Technology: Synthesis, Degradation & Applications (Royal Society of Chemistry, ISBN:978-1-8497-3151-5), and Handbook on Applications of Ultrasound: Sonochemistry for Sustainability (Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, ISBN: 978-1-4398-4206-5).

List of Contributors

Mohammad J. Taherzadeh is the research leader of a strategic profile at University of Borås named Resource Recovery, in which the knowledge and technology for converting wastes and residuals to different value-added materials and energy are developed. Mohammad is chemical engineer in background who got PhD in bioscience. Since 1995, he has worked on lignocelluloses and process development for their conversion to ethanol, biogas, fish feed and superabsorbents. He has more than 100 publications in scientific journals, and several book chapters, patents and contribution in scientific conferences. He is also the initiator of Waste Recovery organization for knowledge and technology transfer on solid waste management from Sweden to other countries.

Dr. Azam Jeihanipour received her BSc and MSc in Chemical Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology, and PhD in biotechnology from Chalmers University of Technology and University of Borås in Sweden (2007–2011). In her PhD thesis “Bioprocessing of waste textiles to biogas and bioethanol”, she was mainly challenging with recalcitrant structure of cellulose and succeeded to publish more than 10 articles. She has recently moved back home to Iran and work as assistant professor on bioenergy from biomass at University of Isfahan.

Dr. Katerina Stamatelatou is an assistant professor in the Democritus University of Thrace (Department of Environmental Engineering). She is a chemical engineer and obtained her diploma and PhD in the Department of Chemical Engineering of University of Patras. Her field of research includes the study and development of anaerobic digestion processes, design and operation of bioreactors and bioprocess modeling. She is the coauthor of 32 research papers in peer reviewed journals, 2 chapter books and over 40 publications in proceedings of international and national conferences.

Georgia Antonopoulou is a Chemical engineer and has completed her PhD and M.Sc in the department of Chemical Engineering, in Patras University, in October 2006. From October 2006 and until now, she is a post doctoral researcher in Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering and Environmental Technology of Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes. Her research interest include the development of environmental biotechnological method for the treatment of municipal, agricultural and industrial wastes, biofuels (hydrogen and methane) and electricity production through biological processes, montelling of microbial processes and management of natural ecosystems. She has 13 publications in International refereed Journals, 3 chapter books and 28 publications in Conference Proceedings (International and national).

Dr. Ioanna G. Ntaikou received her B.Sc. in Biology and her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece. She has joined FORTH/ICE-HT in 2006 as a postdoctoral researcher. Her research interests are in the field of on biochemical engineering and microbial biotechnology, with main focus on microbial fermentations for biofuels and bioplastics production, as well as modeling of microbial metabolism. She has 11 publications in International referred Journals, and 23 publications in International Conference Proceedings.

Prof. Gerasimos Lyberatos is currently professor in the School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical university of Athens (since July 2011) and a collaborating faculty member of the Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes (Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas). He obtained his B.S. at M.I.T. and his M.S. and PhD at CALTECH (USA) and served as Assistant, and Associate Professor at the University of Florida. In 1990 he joined the University of Patras as an Associate Professor and in 1993 became a Full Professor. His research interests are in Biochemical Engineering and Environmental Technologies. He has over 140 publications in International refereed Journals, and over 200 participations in International Conferences, 9 Chapters in books and two books. He has supervised 25 PhD theses and 15 M.S. theses. He has organized two International Conferences. Prof. Lyberatos is Editor of the Journal of Hazardous Materials (Elsevier), Associate Editor of Waste and Biomass Valorization (Springer) and is also heading a graduate programme on “Waste Management” in the Hellenic Open University.

Dr. Kuan-Yeow Show is currently serving as Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia. He is also serving as Chair, SP Setia Professor of Environmental Engineering & Green Technology and as a consultant in Singapore, Taiwan, China, Vietnam and Malaysia. He has received several professional awards including the prestigious National Technology Award in Singapore, US Patent 6793822 and International Patent WO 2003/070649. He has published over 140 technical papers in refereed journals and conferences, 70 technical reports and short-courses, 2 journal/book editorships, 1 book and 18 book chapters.

Lai-Peng Wong is currently serving as a lecturer while pursuing her PhD study in Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Malaysia. She graduated from Universiti Teknology Malaysia, Malaysia in Chemistry and obtained her Master degree from National University Singapore, Singapore in Environmental Engineering. Before joining UTAR, she was a head of department in analytical laboratory and waste water treatment plant in a textile factory. Her main research interest is on ultrasonication technology for wastewater treatment.

Dr. Cigdem Eskicioglu is a registered Professional Engineer and a faculty member of the School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. She was previously a PhD student and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Eskicioglu’s research focuses on advanced biological treatment processes for bio-energy production and organic waste utilization. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including University of Ottawa’s National Excellence Scholarships, Air & Waste Management Association Doctoral and City of Kelowna 2011 Mayor’s Environmental Awards. She is a member of the Water Environment Federation, Canadian Association of Water Quality, and International Water Association.

Teresa Suárez Quiñones obtained her Master of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Agrarian University of Havanna, Cuba. She received her PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany in Agricultural Engineering with special emphasis on prebiotic properties of mushrooms. Since 2007 she is research scientist at Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim focusing on pretreatment methods for biomass conversion processes. Teresa Suárez Quiñones has a strong background in the field of hydrolytic enzymes and improved techniques of analyzing phytocellular components.

Matthias Plöchl is the managing director of the Bioenergie Beratung Bornim GmbH (Bioenergy Consulting Service). He received his PhD from Frankfurt University in Natural Sciences with a focus in ecosystem theory. After several years at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research he went to the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim where he developed models and algorithms for the technology assessment of animal husbandry, irrigation and biogas production. He contributed to many national and international projects and published his results in many acknowledged journals.

Katrin Päzolt obtained a diploma in Geoecology from the University of Potsdam. During her work at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, she focussed on microbial interactions and microbial processes in water-unsaturated systems. Since the beginning of the year 2011 she is working within the national joint research project “BiogasEnzyme” at the Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim with special emphasis on enzyme application to ligno-cellulose-rich feedstock for bio-methanation process.

Jörn Budde is research scientist at Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim. He holds a Diploma in mechanical engineering with special emphasis on renewable energies from Berlin University of Applied Sciences. His interests include farm-based biogas technology and automation to optimize the biogas production chain. Jörn Budde has a strong background in process design and process evaluation on anaerobic digestion in lab-, pilot- and full-scale. Currently, he finalizes his PhD thesis regarding thermobarical hydrolysis as pretreatment for less digestible biomass.

In 2010 Robert Kausmann finished his study Environmental and Energy-Process Engineering at the Otto-von-Guericke-University in Magdeburg. The topic of his diploma thesis was to develop a balance model for different methods for decentralized conditioning of biomass for energy recovery. Currently, he is working at the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim as a PhD student within the national joint research project “BiogasEnzyme”. His primary research interests are the assessment of enzyme application at large-scale biogas plants.

Edith Nettmann received her PhD from the Technical University Berlin in 2009. The subject of the PhD thesis was the molecular genetic analysis of methanogens from full-scale biogas reactors. Currently, she is responsible for the sub-project microbiology in the junior research group APECS (Anaerobic Pathways to Renewable Energies and Carbon Sinks) at the Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering in Potsdam-Bornim. Edith Nettmann published the results of her PhD thesis in three journal articles and was involved in the preparation of further journal articles on this subject. The publications reflect her research interests in microbial communities involved in the anaerobic digestion process.

Monika Heiermann received her PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin. Since 2000 she is a research scientist at Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering Potsdam-Bornim with a strong background in process evaluation and experimental studies on anaerobic digestion in lab-scale, pilot plants and full-scale biogas plants. She participated in the European project “EU-Agro-Biogas”, an initiative to improve the efficiency of the biogas production chain. Currently, she is coordinator of the national joint research project “BiogasEnzyme”, financed by the Agency for Renewable Resources. Monika Heiermann is the author/co-author of several research papers and reports.

Dr. Lise Appels (1983) holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Antwerp and a PhD in Chemical Engineering of the KU Leuven (University of Leuven). She is currently doing research on anaerobic digestion as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Chemical Engineering Department of KU Leuven. Her work mainly focuses on the enhancement of anaerobic digestion by pretreatment methods and its mathematical modeling. She has (co-) authored 15 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and has presented more than 20 contributions at international conferences.

Prof. Jan Van Impe (1965) obtained a M.Sc. in Electrical and Mechanical engineering (1988, University of Gent) and a PhD in Applied Sciences (1993, KU Leuven). In that year, he started the BioTeC research team which develops a systemic approach to design, optimization and control of chemical and biochemical processes (www.cit.kuleuven.be/biotec). He supervised about 40 PhD students, and (co-)authored more than 250 WoS-indexed international publications. He co-ordinates the Center of Excellence OPTEC-Optimization in Engineering (www.kuleuven.be/optec). Technology transfer to industry is facilitated via three knowledge platforms (www.scores4chem.be — Chemical Industry & Life Sciences, www.AOPtimise.be — (Waste)Water Treatment, www.cpmf2.be — Flemish Cluster Predictive Modeling in Foods). Since 2009 he holds the essenscia chair of the Belgian federation for the chemical and life science industries.

Prof. Raf Dewil (1979) studied Chemical Engineering at the KU Leuven (University of Leuven) and holds a PhD in Bioscience Engineering of the University of Antwerp. He is currently working as an assistant professor at the Chemical Engineering Department of the KU Leuven. His research mainly focuses on conversion methods for the valorization of biomass and organic wastes. He has (co-)authored over 40 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and about 50 presentations at international conferences. He is an associate editor with Journal of Environmental Management and a member of the editorial board of various international journals.

Dr. Avraam Karagiannidis is Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He works mainly on: (a) treatment and integrated management of solid wastes, (b) location of noxious and obnoxious facilities, allocation of flows and impact assessment, (c) energy conservation and utilization of waste heat, and (d) multi-criteria decision support on energetic and environmental applications. He is the head of the Solid Waste Management group at the Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering since 1994 and has participated in over 50 national and international research projects since 1991. He is the author and co-author of over 50 scientific publications in peer reviewed journals and member of the Hellenic Solid Waste Management Association. He has served as reviewer for international journals and as scientific committee member for international conferences being also a book editor on the field of solid waste management.

Dr. George Perkoulidis is Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering at the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Since 1994, he works mainly on: (a) design and implementation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Decision Support Systems (DSS) for solid waste management in local and regional level, (b) creation and development of bank with information and data concerning waste management in Greece, (c) location of noxious and obnoxious facilities, allocation of flows and impact assessment, (d) multi-criteria decision support on energetic and environmental applications and (e) risk assessment in semi-controlled and uncontrolled landfills. He has participated in 10 national and international research projects since 1994. He is the author and co-author of over 40 scientific publications and member of the Hellenic Technical Chamber and the Hellenic Solid Waste Management Association.

Dr. Apostolos Malamakis is a Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, AUT, since 2005. He is a Mechanical Engineer with the following fields of expertise: (a) waste collection systems, (b) Pay-As-You-Throw systems, (c) organic waste management (d) aerobic composting technologies (c) anaerobic fermentation of organic substrates. He has participated in several national and international research projects in the field of solid waste management; he is a member of the Hellenic Technical Chamber.

Dr. Dinesh Surroop is Lecturer at the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Enginerring, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius. He has conducted a study on municipal solid waste management in Mauritius for his PhD. His field of expertise is coversion of waste into energy. He works mainly of solid waste management waste to energy, renewable energy and energy management. He has several publications on waste to energy, anaerobic digestion of solid waste, soild waste management, use of biofuels for transportations among others.

Mr. Osman Dina Bégué was a student in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Mauritius. He did his bachelor in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering. He graduated in 2011. He is originally from the Rodrigues island.

Dr. Zhen-Hu Hu is a professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at Hefei University of Technology. He received his PhD in 2005 in environmental engineering from University of Science & Technology of China. After then, he worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Biological System Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He also spent two years as Marie Curie researcher at the Department of Civil Engineering at National University of Ireland, Galway. Dr. Hu’s research interests include bioenergy production from lignocellulosic wastes and sewage sludge, agricultural wastes treatment, and emergent contamination in solid wastes and wastewater.

Dr. Han-Qing Yu is a professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China (USTC), China. He received PhD degree from Tongji University, China, in 1994. Later, he had spent seven years as a postdoc or research fellow abroad in UK, Singapore, the Netherlands and HK. In early 2001 he came to USTC to establish a laboratory of environmental engineering. Since then his group has focused on biological wastewater treatment. Dr. Yu has over 200 papers published in international peer-reviewed journals since 2001. Currently, he is an associate editor of Water Research, and the member of editorial board of several international journals.

Dr. S. Venkata Mohan is Senior Scientist in the Bioengineering and Environmental Centre, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. For past 15years Dr. Mohan is working in core area of advanced wastewater treatment methods. Since 2002, he reoriented his research towards the development of sustainable treatment methodologies giving prime emphasis on the recovery of renewable and alternative energy in the form of biohydrogen and bioelectricity (through microbial fuel cells) from waste through fermentation. His main contribution is effective utilization of negative valued wastewater/waste for generation of bio-energy using mixed culture as biocatalyst for the development of industrially feasible and economically viable processes. Dr. Mohan published his work in more than 150 articles and has 5 patents. He is recipient of Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship. He was Visiting Professor at Kyoto University, Japan. He was recipient of ‘Prosper.net-Scopus Young Researcher Award in Sustainable Development under Energy Category for the year 2010’ by United Nations University and Elsevier, The Nawab Zain Yar Jung Bahadur Memorial Prize for the year 1994–95 by The Institution of Engineers and Best Performance award for year 2009 by CSIR-IICT. He is fellow of Biotech Research Society (BRSI) and Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences (APAS). He is on the Editorial Board of the Open Waste Management and Open Biotechnology journals and member of the Board of Governors of BRSI (2011–2013).

Mr. R. Kannaiah Goud is currently working as Senior Research Fellow at Bioengineering and Environmental Centre (BEEC), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. His research mainly focused in the areas of biohydrogen from wastewater specifically on understanding the biocatalyst behaviour with the function of various pretreatment methods in long term operation. Bioelectricity production by fermentation of food waste through microbial fuel cell (MFC) was studied as a function of pre-fermentation strategy to enhance process efficiency. He significantly contributed for the development of methodologies to study the characterization of microbial community structure in bioreactors for understanding role of microorganisms in the fermentation process along with their isolation and characterization. His areas of research comprise environmental microbiology and biotechnology, advanced biological wastewater treatment technologies and renewable energy generation from waste.

Chapter 1

Anaerobic Digestion

Pretreatments of Substrates

Tania Forster-Carneiro1*, Ricardo Isaac1, Montserrat Pérez2, and Clarita Schvartz1

1 Department of Environment and Sanitation, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Campinas- UNICAMP.

2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Food Technology and Environmental Technologies. Faculty of Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Cádiz.

* Corresponding Author ([email protected])