Biogas Production

Biogas
• Biogas produced from the digestion of feedstocks under anaerobic conditions majorly
constitutes methane (CH4)(40-65%), Carbon dioxide (CO2)(35-55%) with minute
amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S)(0.13% v/v), moisture, and other trace
contaminants
• The anaerobic digestion (AD) process involves four different stages and are regulated
by microbial community
• hydrolysis
• acidogenesis
• acetogenesis
• Methanogenesis
• Factors such as biomass composition, pretreatment, the addition of microbes or
enzymes, operating conditions, and digester designs are known to augment the
production of biogas
 • Complex substances are hydrolyzed by hydrolytic enzyme
Hydrolysis secreting microorganisms

• The hydrolysed products are then utilized by acidogenic

Acidogenesis bacteria from Lactobacillus, Streptococcus and Clostridium
sp. to produce volatile fatty acids (VFA)

• Acetogenic bacteria convert the VFAs into acetate, CO2 and

H2
Acetogenesis • eg. Acetobacterium, Acetoanaerobium, Acetogenium,
Butyribacterium, Clostridium, Eubacterium, and Pelobacter.

CO2 and H2 are then utilized by methanogenic bacteria to form

Methanogenesis CH4 and CO2
Eg. Methanobrevibacter, Methanococcus, Methanogenium
 Wastes that can be utilized for biogas production
• Feedstocks utilized for biogas production mainly comprise a mixture of biomasses like
• forest residues
• agricultural wastes, municipal solid wastes (MSW)
• livestock and cattle dung
• energy crops
• conventional crops
• other lignocellulosic feedstocks
• Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, cellulose, and hemicelluloses are the major components for biogas
prodction.
• However, the biogas composition and CH4 yield are highly dependent on the feedstock type, the
digestion system, and the retention time, and therefore need to be optimized
• Cosubstrates commonly include harvest residues, agricultural waste, food waste, and household
waste.
• Also, fats provide the highest biogas yields, but their retention times are high as well as having
poor bioavailability.
• On the other hand, carbohydrates and proteins get rapidly converted into biogas, but provide
relatively low gas yields
 Steps involved in Biogas Production
• Pretreatment of Wastes
• Seeding of microbes
• Codigestion of wastes
• Digester designs and process optimization
 Pretreatment
• Types of pretreatment methods include physical, chemical, physico-chemical, and biological
methods.
• Depending on the different characteristics of different feedstocks, the effects of various
pretreatment methods differ.
Technique Uses
Particle Size reduction CH4 yields improve by reducing the size of particles to 2 mm
Liquid hot water treatment Helps in solubilizing hemicellulose and lignin well, thereby reducing
the possibility of the production of inhibitors such as furfural
Microwave treatment Microwave treatment of feedstocks is found to produce 4%-7% more
biogas compared to untreated feedstocks
Acid pretreatment Acid pretreatment of feedstocks helps in solubilizing hemicelluloses.
However, the disadvantages of acid pretreatment include high costs,
risk of forming inhibitory compounds, and corrosion
Alkali pretreatment Adding alkali to the feedstock in a controlled manner enhances the
biogas yield and reduces cellulose production. However, a problem
associated with alkali pretreatment is that alkalis frequently lead to
saponification reactions
 Technique
Thermal/ Thermochemical treatment
Ultrasonic pretreatment
Enzymatic pretreatment
Uses
• Preheating of the substrate before AD has been found to reduce
the volatile solids content and improve methane production.
• Also, thermochemical pretreatment involving the preheating of
the substrate treated with chemical additives such as sodium
hydroxide further increases the CH4 production
• Increases in both biomethane production as well as the
biodegradation of the feedstock through pretreatment using
preheated sodium hydroxide at 100°C was observed
Introduction of ultrasonic waves, which builds up mechanical shear
forces helping in the disintegration of the feedstock and thereby
improving biogas production by AD
The addition of enzymes exogenously during AD is reported to
enhance the hydrolytic step of complex substrates.
Eg: Hydrolytic enzymes from thermophilic bacteria, lipase,
protease for food wastes
 Seeding of Microbes
• Seeding involves the addition of a material rich in microorganisms such as
animal manure or municipal sludge to reduce the biogas plant start-up time
• Conventionally, materials such as cow dung and poultry droppings, and
others have been used widely for enhancing biogas production as these are
rich sources of microorganisms
• Compost is another material that is rich in microbes capable of producing
hydrolytic enzymes and helping in the effective solubilization of organic
matter that is difficult to biodegrade
• The inoculum size is an important parameter as it controls total organic
matter degradation of the feedstock.
• A concentration of 50% rumen fluid leads to better degradation of
lignocellulosic feedstocks for biogas production
 Codigestion of wastes
• A common problem faced in biogas production is low biogas yields due to the use of a single
feedstock that may be either recalcitrant to digestion or rich in protein or other inhibitory
compounds.
• These limitations can be resolved by the codigestion of different substrates with an optimum
mixing ratio, while considering the C/N ratio, inhibitors, feedstock biodegradability, and total
solid content.
• This also helps in reducing ammonia production during AD, thus reducing the chances of
inhibition caused by ammonia along with enhancing the biogas production from the feedstock
• Synergetic effects were observed by the authors due to the mixing of substrates, leading to a
staggering 43% increase in CH4 yields in comparison to the CH4 yields of individual feedstocks.
• Codigestion has the potential to augment biogas production from 25% to 400% compared to
monodigestion using the same feedstocks
• More research and development is required for understanding the optimum mixing ratios of
different substrates and how they interact to affect biogas yields.
 Digester designs and Process Optimization

• Research has proven that it is difficult to enhance biogas production in a

single-stage digester due to the differences in the metabolic properties,
nutritional requirements, growth rates, and optimum operational factors in
the various steps of AD
• Recent studies report that two-stage digestion processes, having the
hydrolytic and acidogenic steps separated from the acetogenic and
methanogenic steps, can increase CH4 yields along with reducing the
retention time
• 18.5% higher energy yield was achieved through two-stage systems
 Challenges
Barriers Reason

Economic High-investment cost for biogas plant installation along

with the lack of enough financial support from
governments.
Market Market competition from other low-priced energy
sources such as coal and natural gas
Social Lack of social acceptance for biogas from substrates like
human excreta
Regulatory • Lack of coordination between national and state
governments.
• For the diffusion of any technology in the initial stages
various incentives are necessary
• A lack of appropriate political framework and business
models to support its dissemination can be observed
Technical Lack of proper technologies for the segregation,
collection, and transportation of wastes
Information A lack of awareness is another barrier in biogas
technology dissemination
Process of Biogas Production