Biogas Production

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Biogas Production

Pretreatment Methods in Anaerobic Digestion

Edited by

Ackmez Mudhoo Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Environmental

Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius

Scrivener

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN 978-1-118-06285-2

Printed in the United States of America

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For Yaana on her second birthday

Contents

Preface xv Acknowledgements xvii Special Contributor xviii Editor xix List of Contributors xxi

1. Anaerobic Digestion: Pretreatments of Substrates 1 Tanta Forster-Carnetro, Ricardo Isaac, Montserrat Pérez, and Ciarita Schvartz 1.1 Pretreatments in Anaerobic Digestion Process 2

1.1.1 Anaerobic Digestion Pretreatments of Substrates 3 1.2 Physical Pretreatment 6

1.2.1 Mechanical Pretreatment 7 1.2.2 Thermal Pretreatment 8 1.2.3 Ultrasound-assisted Pretreatment 10

1.3 Chemical Pretreatment 15 1.4 Biological Pretreatment 17 1.5 Combined Pretreatment 18 1.6 Concluding Note 19 Acknowledgements 20 References 20

2. Recalcitrance of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Anaerobic Digestion 27 Mohammad J. Taherzadeh and Azam Jeihanipour 2.1 Introduction 27 2.2 Plant Cell Wall Anatomy 28 2.3 Chemistry of Cell Wall Polymers 30

2.3.1 Chemistry of Cell Wall Polysaccharides 30 2.3.1.1 Cellulose 31 2.3.1.2 (l->3, l->4)-ß-D-Glucans 32

Vil

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2.3.1.3 Heteroglucans (Xyloglucans) 33 2.3.1.4 Heteroxylans 34 2.3.1.5 Heteromannans 35 2.3.1.6 Pectic Polysaccharides (Pectins) 36

2.3.2 Cell Wall Proteins 37 2.3.3 Lignin in Plant Cell Walls 38

2.4 Molecular Interactions Between Cell Wall Polymers 39 2.5 Plant Cell Wall Molecular Architecture 40 2.6 Recalcitrance of Plant Cell Wall Cellulose 42 2.7 Reduction of Biomass Recalcitrance 46

2.7.1 Physical and Chemical Pretreatments 48 2.7.2 Bacterial Hydrolysis 49

2.8 Concluding Note 50 References 50

The Effect of Physical, Chemical, and Biological Pretreatments of Biomass on its Anaerobic Digestibility and Biogas Production 55 Katerina Stamatelatou, Georgia Antonopoulou, loanna Ntaikou, and Gerasimos Lyberatos 3.1 Introduction 56 3.2 Pretreatment Methods for Lignocellulosic Biomass 57

3.2.1 Lignocellulosic Biomass 57 3.2.1.1 Structure of Lignocellulosic Biomass 58 3.2.1.2 Lignocellulosic Feedstocks 60

3.2.2 Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass 62 3.3 Pretreatment Methods for Sewage Sludge 77

3.3.1 Sludge Pretreatment 78 3.4 Concluding Note 84 References 85

Application of Ultrasound Pretreatment for Sludge Digestion 91 Show Kuan Yeow and Wong Lai Peng 4.1 Introduction 91 4.2 Anaerobic Digestion 93 4.3 Overview of Pretreatment Methods for

Anaerobic Digestion 95 4.3.1 Thermal Pretreatment 96 4.3.2 Mechanical Pretreatment 96

CONTENTS ix

4.3.3 Chemical Pretreatment 97 4.3.4 Enzyme Pretreatment 99 4.3.5 Irradiation Pretreatment 99 4.3.6 Ultrasound Pretreatment 100

4.4 Fundamental of Ultrasound 100 4.4.1 Introduction 100 4.4.2 Basic Theory of Cavitation and Acoustic

Cavitation 101 4.4.3 Acoustic Cavitation Conditions 102

4.5 Bubbles Dynamic 103 4.5.1 Formation of Bubbles 103 4.5.2 Behaviour of Acoustic Cavitation Bubbles 105 4.5.3 Sonoluminescence v / s

Sonochemiluminescence 106 4.6 Effects of Ultrasound 106

4.6.1 Chemical Effects 107 4.6.2 Physical and Mechanical Effects 107 4.6.3 Biological Effects 108

4.7 Ultrasound Applications 109 4.7.1 Ultrasound in Medicine and Therapy 109 4.7.2 Ultrasound in Science and Technology 110 4.7.3 Ultrasound in Environmental Applications 111

4.7.3.1 Air Cleaning 111 4.7.3.2 Land Remediation 113 4.7.3.3 Water Remediation 113 4.7.3.4 Wastewater Treatment 113

4.8 Ultrasonication for Anaerobic Digesion 116 4.8.1 Mechanisms of Ultrasound Pretreatment 117 4.8.2 Influencing Factors 118

4.8.2.1 Sonication Parameters 118 4.8.2.2 Sludge Characteristics 122 4.8.2.3 Configuration of Sonicator 123

4.8.3 Effects of Ultrasound on Sludge 123 4.9 Evaluation on Sludge Disintegration 126

4.9.1 Physical Evaluation 126 4.9.2 Chemical Evaluation 127 4.9.3 Biological Evaluation 129 4.9.4 Methods to Enhance Ultrasound Efficiency 130

4.10 Conclusions 131 References 132

CONTENTS

Microwave Sludge Irradiation 137 Cigdetn Esktctoglu and Giampiero Galvagno 5.1 Introduction 137 5.2 Microwave Theory 139

5.2.1 Interaction between Electromagnetic Field and Sample 140

5.2.2 Microwave Equipment 142 5.3 Microwave Irradiation for Waste Sludge Treatment 144

5.3.1 Low Temperature (<100°C) Sludge Pretreatment 144

5.3.2 High Temperature (>100°C) Sludge Pretreatment 145

5.4 Industrial Microwave Applications 147 5.5 Microwave Absorbing Materials and Ionic Liquids 148 5.6 Sludge Pretreatment Similar to Microwave

Irradiation 151 5.7 Concluding Notes 151 Acknowledgements 152 References 152

Hydrolytic Enzymes Enhancing Anaerobic Digestion 157 Teresa Suárez Quiñones, Matthias Plöchl, Katrin Päzolt, Jörn Budde, Robert Kausmann, Edith Nettmann, and Monika Heiermann 6.1 Introduction 158

6.1.1 Enzymes 158 6.1.1.1 Kind of Enzymes 160 6.1.1.2 Impact of Enzymes 160 6.1.1.3 Origin of Enzymes 164

6.1.2 Process of Anaerobic Digestion 166 6.1.2.1 Biological Process 166 6.1.2.2 Technical Process 169

6.2 Where and How can Enzymes be Applied? 170 6.2.1 Site of Enzyme Application 170

6.2.1.1 Pre-hydrolytic Phase 170 6.2.1.2 Pre-digestion Phase 171 6.2.1.2 Digester 172 6.2.1.3 Digestate 174

6.2.2 Anaerobic and Aerobic Conditions of Enzyme Application 175

CONTENTS xi

6.2.3 Optimum Parameters of Enzyme Application 175 6.3 Impact of Enzyme Application 178

6.3.1 Enhancement of Biogas Production 178 6.3.2 Secondary Effects 182

6.3.2.1 Effects on the Availability of the Digester Contents 182

6.3.2.2 Effects on the Viscosity of the Digester Contents 186

6.3.2.3 Single Enzyme vs. Mixture of Enzymes 186 6.3.3 Inhibition of Enzyme Activity 186 6.3.4 Interaction of Pretreatment and Enzyme

Application 190 6.3.5 Interaction of Trace Elements and Enzymes 190

6.4 Economic Assessment 191 6.4.1 Benefits 191 6.4.2 Cost-benefit Analysis 191

6.5 Concluding Note 192 Acknowledgements 193 References 193

Oxidizing Agents and Organic Solvents as Pretreatment for Anaerobic Digestion 199 Lise Appels, Jan Van Impe, and RafDewtl 7.1 Oxidative Pretreatment Methods 199

7.1.1 Generalities 199 7.1.2 Wet Air Oxidation 200

7.1.2.1 Process Description and Generalities 200 7.1.2.2 Wet Air Oxidation of Lignocellulosic

Biomass 202 7.1.2.3 Wet Air Oxidation of Waste Sludge 203 7.1.2.4 Commercial WAO Processes 204

7.1.3 Oxidation with Peroxides 205 7.1.3.1 Hydrogen Peroxide 205 7.1.3.2 Peracetic Acid 207 7.1.3.3 Alternative (Novel) Peroxidants 208

7.1.4 Ozonation 209 7.2 Organic Solvents 210

7.2.1 Generalities and Working Mechanism 210 7.2.2 Solvents & Process Conditions 211 7.2.3 Application as Pretreatment

for Anaerobic Digestion 212

CONTENTS

7.3 Concluding Note 212 References 212

Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Utilization in Greece: Current Status and Perspectives 215 Avraam Karagiannidis, George Perkoultdts, and Apostólos Malamakts 8.1 Assessment of Existing Biogas Installations 215 8.2 Use of Waste Material for Biogas Production 217 8.3 Feedstock Availability and Agricultural Structures 219 8.4 Purification of Biogas for Insertion in the Natural

Gas Grid 224 8.5 Biogas Utilization 226 8.6 Concluding Note 227 References 228

Original Research: Investigating the Potential of Using Biogas in Cooking Stove in Rodrigues 229 Dinesh Surroop and Osman Dina Bégué 9.1 Energy Crisis and Future Challenges 230 9.2 Case Study of Rodrigues 231

9.2.1 The Economy of Rodrigues 231 9.2.2 Energy Sector of Rodrigues 232 9.2.3 Bio-energy in Rodrigues 233

9.3 Rationale of Research Study 233 9.4 Research Methodology 234

9.4.1 Experimental Set-up 235 9.4.2 Substrates for Pilot Anaerobic Digester 237 9.4.3 Pre-Treatment of Substrates 237 9.4.4 Start-up of Anaerobic Digester 238 9.4.5 Analytical Methods 238

9.5 Reactor Design Considerations 241 9.5.1 Operation of Digester System 241 9.5.2 Materials of Construction 244

9.6 Results, Findings and Discussions 247 9.6.1 Substrate Characteristics 247 9.6.2 Characteristics of Biogas 249 9.6.3 Characteristics of Sludge 252 9.6.4 Preliminary Economics of Pilot AD System 255 9.6.5 Economics of the Upscaled Reactor 256

CONTENTS xiii

9.7 Conclusions 257 References 258

10. Optimizing and Modeling the Anaerobic Digestion of Lignocellulosic Wastes by Rumen Cultures 259 Zhen-Hu Hu and Han-Qing Yu 10.1 Introduction 260 10.2 Materials and Methods 262

10.2.1 Substrate 262 10.2.2 Microwave Pretreatment 262 10.2.3 Seed Microorganisms and Batch Anaerobic

Digestion 263 10.2.4 Experimental Design 264 10.2.5 Analysis and Calculation 264

10.3 Optimizing the Anaerobic Digestion of Microwave-Pretreated Cattail by Rumen Cultures 266 10.3.1 Anaerobic Digestion of Raw Cattail

by Rumen Cultures 266 10.3.2 Pretreatment of Cattail by Microwave

Irradiation 267 10.3.3 AFM Image Analysis of the Pretreated

Cattail 268 10.3.4 X-Ray Diffraction Analysis of the

Pretreated Cattail 269 10.3.5 Anaerobic Digestion of the Pretreated Cattail 271 10.3.6 Optimization of Anaerobic Digestion for

Microwave Pretreatment Conditions 272 10.3.7 Response Surface Profiles of Microwave

Pretreatment Conditions 274 10.4 Modeling the Anaerobic Digestion of Cattail

by Rumen Cultures 275 10.4.1 Performance of Continuous-flow Stirred

Tank Reactor 275 10.4.2 Model Development and Simulation 276 10.4.3 Fractionation of Cattail for Biodegradation 282 10.4.4 Sensitivity Analysis 283 10.4.5 Model Calibration 284 10.4.6 Model Validation 285

10.5 Concluding Note 287 References 287

xiv CONTENTS

11. Pretreatment of Biocatalyst as Viable Option for Sustained Production of Biohydrogen from Wastewater Treatment 291 S. Venkata Mohan and R. Kannatah Goud 11.1 Introduction 292 11.2 Pretreatment of Biocatalyst 294

11.2.1 Heat-shock 294 11.2.2 Acid and Alkaline Shock 297 11.2.3 Chemical Treatment 298 11.2.4 Load-shock 299 11.2.5 Oxygen-shock 300 11.2.6 Other Treatment Methods 300

11.3 Combined Pretreatment 300 11.4 Influence of Pretreatment on Wastewater Treatment 302 11.5 Microbial Diversity 303 11.6 Summary and Future Scope 304 Acknowledgements 305 References 305

Index 313

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 cellu-lose, hemi-cellulose, and lignin. Currently, the second-generation bioproducts, such as bioethanol, biodiesel, methane, and biohydro-gen from lignocellulosic biomass, are increasingly being produced from wastes rather than from energy crops, because the latter com-pete for land and water with food crops that are already in high demand. However, a major drawback to the production and maxi-mum recovery of valuable materials from lignocellulosic biomass is the structure of lignocellulose, which has evolved to resist deg-radation, 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 compo-sitional 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 pro-duction can hence be obtained by applying a proper physical, chemical, thermal, mechanical, or biological pretreatment step, such as hydrothermal heating, microwave heating, ultrasonic treat-ment, 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

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xvi PREFACE

biogas is considerable. These methods cause mechanical, physi-cal, 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 lignocellu-losic wastes are summarized in a manner that pinpoints the most recent trends and the future directions. Physicochemical and bio-logical treatment systems seem to be the most favored options, while biofuels, biodegradable composites, and biosorbents pro-duction 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 compil-ing 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 con-structive criticisms and suggestions have enhanced the content of the present work. It is hoped that the final result does ample jus-tice to their painstaking efforts deployed in preparing their respec-tive 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. Roméela 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 (hrechef® hkucc.hku.hk) 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

xvii

Special Contributor

Roméela 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 ser-viced for three years as Dean of Faculty of Engineering in the same university With over twenty years of active research and consul-tancy work in solid waste management, the research of Prof Mohee is focused on waste containment, solid waste management and treat-ment 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, expe-rience and discernment, critical thinking and astuteness, she has pro-vided 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.

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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 pres-ently 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

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xx EDITOR

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 Boras named Resource Recovery, in which the knowledge and technology for converting wastes and residu-als 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 pro-cess development for their conversion to ethanol, biogas, fish feed and superabsorbents. He has more than 100 publications in scien-tific 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 Boras 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 suc-ceeded 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 bioreac-tors and bioprocess modeling. She is the coauthor of 32 research papers in peer reviewed journals, 2 chapter books and over 40 pub-lications in proceedings of international and national conferences.

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xxii LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

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 produc-tion 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 fermen-tations 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.

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS xxiii

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 pursu-ing 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 ultrasoni-cation 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 recipi-ent 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 empha-sis 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

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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 interac-tions 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 pro-cess design and process evaluation on anaerobic digestion in lab-, pilot- and full-scale. Currently, he finalizes his PhD thesis regard-ing 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 bal-ance 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 ,/.

LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS XXV

His primary research interests are the assessment of enzyme appli-cation 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 pre-treatment 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

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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 knowl-edge 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 interna-tional journals and about 50 presentations at international con-ferences. He is an associate editor with Journal of Environmental Management and a member of the editorial board of various inter-national 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, allo-cation 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 interna-tional journals and as scientific committee member for interna-tional 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

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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 facil-ities, 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 proj-ects 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. Apostólos 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 man-agement (d) aerobic composting technologies (c) anaerobic fermen-tation of organic substrates. He has participated in several national and international research projects in the field of solid waste man-agement; 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 munic-ipal 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 manage-ment, 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 Hef ei University of Technology. He received his PhD

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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 lignocellu-losic 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 treat-ment. 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 nega-tive 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 Trosper.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

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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 waste-water 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 signifi-cantly contributed for the development of methodologies to study the characterization of microbial community structure in bioreac-tors for understanding role of microorganisms in the fermentation process along with their isolation and characterization. His areas of research comprise environmental microbiology and biotechnol-ogy, advanced biological wastewater treatment technologies and renewable energy generation from waste.