We optimized and tested a postbioprocessing step with a single-culture archaeon to upgrade biogas (i.e., increase methane content) from anaerobic digesters via conversion of CO(2) into CH(4) by feeding H(2) gas. We optimized a culture of the thermophilic methanogen Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus using: (1) a synthetic H(2)/CO(2) mixture; (2) the same mixture with pressurization; (3) a s...

In presented work, long-term operation of a laboratory anaerobic reactor processing food waste is discussed. Food waste is potentially well available municipal bio waste with light biodegradability and with year-long production mostly in big cities. About 200 days of laboratory work were focused on characterization of tested food waste quality as well as on feasibility of biogas production from...

Different mixtures were digested in a single-stage, batch, mixed, laboratory scale mesophilic anaerobic digester at the Biomass Research Centre Laboratory (University of Perugia). The yield and the composition of biogas from the different substrates were evaluated and the cumulative curves were estimated. Two experimental campaigns were carried out, the first on three mixtures (chicken, pig and...

It is generally accepted as a fact in the biogas technology that protein-rich biomass substrates should be avoided due to inevitable process inhibition. Substrate compositions with a low C/N ratio are considered difficult to handle and may lead to process failure, though protein-rich industrial waste products have outstanding biogas generation potential. This common belief has been challenged b...

BACKGROUND Integration of first- and second-generation ethanol production can facilitate the introduction of second-generation lignocellulosic ethanol production. Consolidation of the second-generation with the first-generation process can potentially reduce the downstream processing cost for the second-generation process as well as providing the first-generation process with energy. This study...

Errors that are commonly made in the quantification of biogas from anaerobic digestion experiments were investigated. For liquid displacement gasometers where a barrier solution separates the biogas and the atmosphere, inaccuracy due to gas diffusion was examined experimentally. Acidified saturated saline solution was the most suitable barrier solution, as biogas characteristics changed least w...

Biogas upgrading is an expanding field dealing with the increase in methane content of the biogas to produce biomethane. Biomethane has a high calorific content and can be used as a vehicle fuel or directly injected into the gas grid. Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) could become an alternative for biogas upgrading, by which the yield of the process in terms of carbon utilisation could be incre...

The FibreEtOH concept was developed to tackle major challenges in the production of ethanol from lignocellulosics. The two feedstocks, waste fibre fractionated from solid recovered fuel, and pulp and paper mill fibre sludge, provide all-year-round supply of biomass with high hexose content (44e56%) and acceptable ash content (13e14%). They can be liquefied and hydrolysed by enzymes rapidly with...

In a time of limited reserves of fossil fuels, the problem of biogas utilization becomes a fundamental question. For example, the city of Prague in central Europe with 1.25 million inhabitants requires 35 million liters of diesel per year for its 1180 buses. Diesel is expensive and significantly increases air pollution, mainly with aromatic hydrocarbons (including naphthalenes and alkyl benzene...