IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v258y2026ics0960148125025959.html

Optimization of recirculation ratio for biohythane production by two-phase anaerobic co-digestion of high-solid food waste and paper waste

Author

Listed:
  • Zeng, Qingkang
  • Ha, Juntong
  • Ren, Yuanyuan
  • Li, Yu-You
  • Qin, Yu

Abstract

The recirculated two-phase anaerobic digestion (R-TPAD) system has gradually replaced the conventional TPAD configuration, emerging as a stable and efficient strategy for biohythane production. However, inappropriate recirculation ratios (R) may cause either incomplete organic conversion or insufficient phase separation. In this study, a semi-continuous R-TPAD system comprising two continuously stirred reactors was established to digest food and paper waste (total solids ≈ 17 %). The influence of R on process performance, microbial structures, metabolic pathways, and energy recovery was systematically assessed. Results showed that the buffering effect of recycled methanogenic sludge maintained the pH of acidogenic phase at 5.2 and ensured complete phase separation at R0.8, achieving optimal yields of H2 (75 L/kg-VS) and CH4 (402 L/kg-VS) with 83 % COD removal. Stoichiometric and thermodynamic analyses confirmed that R0.8 strengthened metabolic coupling between the acidogenic and methanogenic phases, thereby promoting methane harvest. 16S rRNA analysis indicated that the appropriate ratio could push forward the cooperation between functional guilds by stimulating acidogens in acidogenic phase and enriching methanogens in methanogenic phase. Energy balance analysis indicated that R0.8 would deliver superior net energy recovery. These findings provide a practical operational basis for scaling up R-TPAD technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Zeng, Qingkang & Ha, Juntong & Ren, Yuanyuan & Li, Yu-You & Qin, Yu, 2026. "Optimization of recirculation ratio for biohythane production by two-phase anaerobic co-digestion of high-solid food waste and paper waste," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:258:y:2026:i:c:s0960148125025959
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.124931
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125025959
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.124931?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Charles A. S. Hall & Stephen Balogh & David J.R. Murphy, 2009. "What is the Minimum EROI that a Sustainable Society Must Have?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-23, January.
    2. Zamri, M.F.M.A. & Hasmady, Saiful & Akhiar, Afifi & Ideris, Fazril & Shamsuddin, A.H. & Mofijur, M. & Fattah, I. M. Rizwanul & Mahlia, T.M.I., 2021. "A comprehensive review on anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Algapani, Dalal E. & Qiao, Wei & Ricci, Marina & Bianchi, Davide & M. Wandera, Simon & Adani, Fabrizio & Dong, Renjie, 2019. "Bio-hydrogen and bio-methane production from food waste in a two-stage anaerobic digestion process with digestate recirculation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 1108-1115.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Hajizadeh, Abdollah & Mohamadi-Baghmolaei, Mohamad & Cata Saady, Noori M. & Zendehboudi, Sohrab, 2022. "Hydrogen production from biomass through integration of anaerobic digestion and biogas dry reforming," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    2. Carolinne Secco & Maria Eduarda Kounaris Fuziki & Angelo Marcelo Tusset & Giane Gonçalves Lenzi, 2023. "Reactive Processes for H 2 S Removal," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Roopnarain, Ashira & Rama, Haripriya & Ndaba, Busiswa & Bello-Akinosho, Maryam & Bamuza-Pemu, Emomotimi & Adeleke, Rasheed, 2021. "Unravelling the anaerobic digestion ‘black box’: Biotechnological approaches for process optimization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    4. Dunlap, J. & Schramski, J.R., 2024. "Energy-systems accounting in industrial-natural systems; An energy analysis of a managed forest ecosystem including food web biomass dynamics," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 488(C).
    5. Jonathan Dumas & Antoine Dubois & Paolo Thiran & Pierre Jacques & Francesco Contino & Bertrand Cornélusse & Gauthier Limpens, 2022. "The Energy Return on Investment of Whole-Energy Systems: Application to Belgium," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 1-34, December.
    6. Song, Yapeng & Hu, Wanrong & Qiao, Wei & Westerholm, Maria & Wandera, Simon M. & Dong, Renjie, 2022. "Upgrading the performance of high solids feeding anaerobic digestion of chicken manure under extremely high ammonia level," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 13-20.
    7. Florian Fizaine & Victor Court, 2016. "The energy-economic growth relationship: a new insight from the EROI perspective," Working Papers 1601, Chaire Economie du climat.
    8. Liu, Feng & van den Bergh, Jeroen & Wei, Yihang, 2024. "Testing mechanisms through which China's ETS promotes a low-carbon transition," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    9. Charles Guay-Boutet, 2023. "Estimating the Disaggregated Standard EROI of Canadian Oil Sands Extracted via Open-pit Mining, 1997–2016," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, March.
    10. Enrica Leccisi & Marco Raugei & Vasilis Fthenakis, 2016. "The Energy and Environmental Performance of Ground-Mounted Photovoltaic Systems—A Timely Update," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-13, August.
    11. Nick King & Aled Jones, 2021. "An Analysis of the Potential for the Formation of ‘Nodes of Persisting Complexity’," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-32, July.
    12. Holmatov, B. & Hoekstra, A.Y. & Krol, M.S., 2019. "Land, water and carbon footprints of circular bioenergy production systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 224-235.
    13. Burak Atakan, 2019. "Compression–Expansion Processes for Chemical Energy Storage: Thermodynamic Optimization for Methane, Ethane and Hydrogen," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-21, August.
    14. Murphy, David J. & Hall, Charles A.S., 2011. "Adjusting the economy to the new energy realities of the second half of the age of oil," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 223(1), pages 67-71.
    15. Mediavilla, Margarita & de Castro, Carlos & Capellán, Iñigo & Javier Miguel, Luis & Arto, Iñaki & Frechoso, Fernando, 2013. "The transition towards renewable energies: Physical limits and temporal conditions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 297-311.
    16. Lee, Ilgyu & Kim, Jiyoung & Lee, Jisun & Lee, Kwang-Woo & Seo, Dongjune, 2025. "Assessment of anaerobic digestibility of amorphous polyhydroxyalkanoates (a-PHA) using the biochemical methane potential test," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    17. Carey W. King, 2016. "Information Theory to Assess Relations Between Energy and Structure of the U.S. Economy Over Time," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 1-33, December.
    18. Zhaoyang Kong & Xiucheng Dong & Bo Xu & Rui Li & Qiang Yin & Cuifang Song, 2015. "EROI Analysis for Direct Coal Liquefaction without and with CCS: The Case of the Shenhua DCL Project in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-22, January.
    19. Hossain, Md. Sanowar & Emon, Abir Shahorior & Mhamud, Rifat & Robin, Hasan Muhommod & Mourshed, Monjur & Rahman, Md. Al Amin, 2025. "Anaerobic co-digestion of cow dung and poultry litter for sustainable biogas production: A green energy solution for Bangladesh's garment industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    20. Liam Wagner & Ian Ross & John Foster & Ben Hankamer, 2016. "Trading Off Global Fuel Supply, CO 2 Emissions and Sustainable Development," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:renene:v:258:y:2026:i:c:s0960148125025959. 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.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    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.