IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v249y2019icp28-36.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimizing mixing strategy to improve the performance of an anaerobic digestion waste-to-energy system for energy recovery from food waste

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Jingxin
  • Mao, Liwei
  • Nithya, Karthikeyan
  • Loh, Kai-Chee
  • Dai, Yanjun
  • He, Yiliang
  • Wah Tong, Yen

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of different mixing strategies on anaerobic digestion of food waste in order to make the anaerobic digestion waste-to-energy process more energy efficient. Results showed that intermittent mixing is an alternative strategy to continuous mixing or unmixing for high efficient biogas production and energy saving. Through computational fluid dynamics modelling of fluid flow in anaerobic digesters, the mixing time was optimized to 2 mins/hr, at which point the reaction mixture is almost entirely homogeneous. The results of the model was validated with the experimental data. At an organic loading rate of 2.4 g VSFW/L/day, the semi-continuously mixed reactor maintains a higher specific methane yield of 437 mL CH4/g VSFW in comparison with the other controls. In addition, the semi-continuously mixed reactor has a larger proportion of Bacteroides and Methanocuelles. Based on the results of the bench scale experiment, the energy balance of the hybrid AD waste-to-energy system was simulated and evaluated. The calculated AD efficiency of the semi-continuously mixed reactor is 74.4%, which is higher than the AD efficiencies of the continuously mixed (66.9%) and unmixed reactors (14.9%). The energy balance investigated the electricity generated and the net heat output generated, in addition to self-sustaining and meeting the energy requirements of the various AD processes investigated. Based on the analysis, it was found the semi-continuous mixing is more energy efficient and sustainable to generate sufficient biogas output for the energy system to provide a net positive heat and electricity output.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Jingxin & Mao, Liwei & Nithya, Karthikeyan & Loh, Kai-Chee & Dai, Yanjun & He, Yiliang & Wah Tong, Yen, 2019. "Optimizing mixing strategy to improve the performance of an anaerobic digestion waste-to-energy system for energy recovery from food waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C), pages 28-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:249:y:2019:i:c:p:28-36
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.04.142
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261919307585
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.04.142?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Jingxin & Loh, Kai-Chee & Li, Wangliang & Lim, Jun Wei & Dai, Yanjun & Tong, Yen Wah, 2017. "Three-stage anaerobic digester for food waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 287-295.
    2. Tong, Huanhuan & Shen, Ye & Zhang, Jingxin & Wang, Chi-Hwa & Ge, Tian Shu & Tong, Yen Wah, 2018. "A comparative life cycle assessment on four waste-to-energy scenarios for food waste generated in eateries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 1143-1157.
    3. Kowalczyk, Alexandra & Harnisch, Eva & Schwede, Sebastian & Gerber, Mandy & Span, Roland, 2013. "Different mixing modes for biogas plants using energy crops," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 465-472.
    4. Lindmark, Johan & Thorin, Eva & Bel Fdhila, Rebei & Dahlquist, Erik, 2014. "Effects of mixing on the result of anaerobic digestion: Review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1030-1047.
    5. Di Maria, Francesco & Sisani, Federico & Contini, Stefano, 2018. "Are EU waste-to-energy technologies effective for exploiting the energy in bio-waste?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 1557-1572.
    6. Zhang, Jingxin & Kan, Xiang & Shen, Ye & Loh, Kai-Chee & Wang, Chi-Hwa & Dai, Yanjun & Tong, Yen Wah, 2018. "A hybrid biological and thermal waste-to-energy system with heat energy recovery and utilization for solid organic waste treatment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 214-222.
    7. Bacenetti, Jacopo & Sala, Cesare & Fusi, Alessandra & Fiala, Marco, 2016. "Agricultural anaerobic digestion plants: What LCA studies pointed out and what can be done to make them more environmentally sustainable," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 669-686.
    8. Li, Yue & Chen, Yinguang & Wu, Jiang, 2019. "Enhancement of methane production in anaerobic digestion process: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 120-137.
    9. Takuro Kobayashi & Ya-Peng Wu & Kai-Qin Xu & Yu-You Li, 2013. "Effect of Mixing Driven by Siphon Flow: Parallel Experiments Using the Anaerobic Reactors with Different Mixing Modes," Energies, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-16, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Jingxin & Hu, Qiang & Qu, Yiyuan & Dai, Yanjun & He, Yiliang & Wang, Chi-Hwa & Tong, Yen Wah, 2020. "Integrating food waste sorting system with anaerobic digestion and gasification for hydrogen and methane co-production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    2. Zarei, Sasan & Mousavi, Seyyed Mohammad & Amani, Teimour & Khamforoush, Mehrdad & Jafari, Arezou, 2021. "Three-dimensional CFD simulation of anaerobic reactions in a continuous packed-bed bioreactor," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 461-472.
    3. Elena Rossi & Isabella Pecorini & Giovanni Ferrara & Renato Iannelli, 2022. "Dry Anaerobic Digestion of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste: Biogas Production Optimization by Reducing Ammonia Inhibition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Afrouz Rahmandoust & Ashkan Hafezalkotob & Bijan Rahmani Parchikolaei & Amir azizi, 2023. "Government intervention in municipal waste collection with a sustainable approach: a robust bi-level problem," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 3323-3351, April.
    5. Elena Rossi & Isabella Pecorini & Renato Iannelli, 2022. "Multilinear Regression Model for Biogas Production Prediction from Dry Anaerobic Digestion of OFMSW," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Liu, Yang & He, Pinjing & Duan, Haowen & Shao, Liming & Lü, Fan, 2021. "Low calcium dosage favors methanation of long-chain fatty acids," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    7. Hu, Chenlian & Liu, Xiao & Lu, Jie & Wang, Chi-Hwa, 2020. "Distributionally robust optimization for power trading of waste-to-energy plants under uncertainty," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    8. De Sanctis, M. & Chimienti, S. & Pastore, C. & Piergrossi, V. & Di Iaconi, C., 2019. "Energy efficiency improvement of thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion of Posidonia oceanica residues," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Zhao, Ning & You, Fengqi, 2021. "Food-energy-water-waste nexus systems optimization for New York State under the COVID-19 pandemic to alleviate health and environmental concerns," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    10. El Ibrahimi, Mohammed & Khay, Ismail & El Maakoul, Anas & Bakhouya, Mohamed, 2022. "Effects of the temperature range on the energy performance of mixed and unmixed digesters with submerged waste: An experimental and CFD simulation study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 1092-1104.
    11. Sun, Peng & Yun, Teng & Chen, Zhe, 2021. "Multi-objective robust optimization of multi-energy microgrid with waste treatment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1198-1210.
    12. Francisco M. Baena-Moreno & Isabel Malico & Isabel Paula Marques, 2021. "Promoting Sustainability: Wastewater Treatment Plants as a Source of Biomethane in Regions Far from a High-Pressure Grid. A Real Portuguese Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-17, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Trad, Zaineb & Fontaine, Jean-Pierre & Larroche, Christian & Vial, Christophe, 2016. "Multiscale mixing analysis and modeling of biohydrogen production by dark fermentation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 264-282.
    2. Tong, Huanhuan & Yao, Zhiyi & Lim, Jun Wei & Mao, Liwei & Zhang, Jingxing & Ge, Tian Shu & Peng, Ying Hong & Wang, Chi-Hwa & Tong, Yen Wah, 2018. "Harvest green energy through energy recovery from waste: A technology review and an assessment of Singapore," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 163-178.
    3. Dong, Jun & Jeswani, Harish Kumar & Nzihou, Ange & Azapagic, Adisa, 2020. "The environmental cost of recovering energy from municipal solid waste," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    4. Buta Singh & Narinder Singh & Zsolt Čonka & Michal Kolcun & Zoltán Siménfalvi & Zsolt Péter & Zoltán Szamosi, 2021. "Critical Analysis of Methods Adopted for Evaluation of Mixing Efficiency in an Anaerobic Digester," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-27, June.
    5. Abdullah Nsair & Senem Onen Cinar & Ayah Alassali & Hani Abu Qdais & Kerstin Kuchta, 2020. "Operational Parameters of Biogas Plants: A Review and Evaluation Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-27, July.
    6. Oluwafunmilayo Abiola Aworanti & Oluseye Omotoso Agbede & Samuel Enahoro Agarry & Ayobami Olu Ajani & Oyetola Ogunkunle & Opeyeolu Timothy Laseinde & S. M. Ashrafur Rahman & Islam Md Rizwanul Fattah, 2023. "Decoding Anaerobic Digestion: A Holistic Analysis of Biomass Waste Technology, Process Kinetics, and Operational Variables," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-36, April.
    7. De Sanctis, M. & Chimienti, S. & Pastore, C. & Piergrossi, V. & Di Iaconi, C., 2019. "Energy efficiency improvement of thermal hydrolysis and anaerobic digestion of Posidonia oceanica residues," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Schneider, Nico & Gerber, Mandy, 2020. "Rheological properties of digestate from agricultural biogas plants: An overview of measurement techniques and influencing factors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    9. Susanne Theuerl & Johanna Klang & Annette Prochnow, 2019. "Process Disturbances in Agricultural Biogas Production—Causes, Mechanisms and Effects on the Biogas Microbiome: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-20, January.
    10. Zhao, Ning & You, Fengqi, 2021. "Food-energy-water-waste nexus systems optimization for New York State under the COVID-19 pandemic to alleviate health and environmental concerns," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    11. Singh, Buta & Szamosi, Zoltán & Siménfalvi, Zoltán, 2019. "State of the art on mixing in an anaerobic digester: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 922-936.
    12. Quek, Augustine & Ee, Alvin & Ng, Adam & Wah, Tong Yen, 2018. "Challenges in Environmental Sustainability of renewable energy options in Singapore," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 388-394.
    13. Iris Kral & Gerhard Piringer & Molly K. Saylor & Javier Lizasoain & Andreas Gronauer & Alexander Bauer, 2020. "Life Cycle Assessment of Biogas Production from Unused Grassland Biomass Pretreated by Steam Explosion Using a System Expansion Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, November.
    14. Tian, Wenjing & Li, Jianhao & Zhu, Lirong & Li, Wen & He, Linyan & Gu, Li & Deng, Rui & Shi, Dezhi & Chai, Hongxiang & Gao, Meng, 2021. "Insights of enhancing methane production under high-solid anaerobic digestion of wheat straw by calcium peroxide pretreatment and zero valent iron addition," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 1321-1332.
    15. Jones, R.E. & Speight, R.E. & Blinco, J.L. & O'Hara, I.M., 2022. "Biorefining within food loss and waste frameworks: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    16. Bangxi Zhang & Tianhong Fu & Chung-Yu Guan & Shihao Cui & Beibei Fan & Yi Tan & Wenhai Luo & Quanquan Wei & Guoxue Li & Yutao Peng, 2022. "Environmental Life Cycle Assessments of Chicken Manure Compost Using Tobacco Residue, Mushroom Bran, and Biochar as Additives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-10, April.
    17. Robert Czubaszek & Agnieszka Wysocka-Czubaszek & Wendelin Wichtmann & Grzegorz Zając & Piotr Banaszuk, 2023. "Common Reed and Maize Silage Co-Digestion as a Pathway towards Sustainable Biogas Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-25, January.
    18. Sharvini, Siva Raman & Noor, Zainura Zainon & Chong, Chun Shiong & Stringer, Lindsay C & Glew, David, 2020. "Energy generation from palm oil mill effluent: A life cycle assessment of two biogas technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    19. Zhao, Xinyue & Chen, Heng & Zheng, Qiwei & Liu, Jun & Pan, Peiyuan & Xu, Gang & Zhao, Qinxin & Jiang, Xue, 2023. "Thermo-economic analysis of a novel hydrogen production system using medical waste and biogas with zero carbon emission," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    20. Sohoo, Ihsanullah & Ritzkowski, Marco & Heerenklage, Jörn & Kuchta, Kerstin, 2021. "Biochemical methane potential assessment of municipal solid waste generated in Asian cities: A case study of Karachi, Pakistan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:249:y:2019:i:c:p:28-36. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.