Waste Biomass Pretreatments for Biogas Yield Optimization and for the Extraction of Valuable High-Added-Value Products: Possible Combinations of the Two Processes toward a Biorefinery Purpose
Second- and third-generation biorefineries enable the sustainable management of biomasses within the framework of circular economy principles. This approach aims to minimize waste biomass while generating high-value molecules and bio-energy, such as biogas. Biogas production is achieved via anaerobi...
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2024-08-01
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| author | Jessica Di Mario Nicolò Montegiove Alberto Maria Gambelli Monica Brienza Claudia Zadra Giovanni Gigliotti |
| author_facet | Jessica Di Mario Nicolò Montegiove Alberto Maria Gambelli Monica Brienza Claudia Zadra Giovanni Gigliotti |
| author_sort | Jessica Di Mario |
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| description | Second- and third-generation biorefineries enable the sustainable management of biomasses within the framework of circular economy principles. This approach aims to minimize waste biomass while generating high-value molecules and bio-energy, such as biogas. Biogas production is achieved via anaerobic digestion, a process where microorganisms metabolize organic compounds in the absence of oxygen to primarily produce CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub>. The efficiency of this process is closely linked to the composition of the biomass and, sometimes, characteristics of the initial matrix can impede the process. To address these challenges, various pretreatments are employed to enhance digestion efficiency and mitigate issues associated with biomass complexity. However, the implementation of pretreatments can be energy-intensive and costly. The extraction of valuable molecules from biomass for various applications can represent a form of pretreatment. This extraction process selectively removes recalcitrant molecules such as lignin and cellulose, which can hinder biodegradation, thereby adding new value to the biomass. These extracted molecules not only contribute to improved anaerobic digestion efficiency but also offer potential economic benefits by serving as valuable inputs across diverse industrial sectors. This article presents a detailed state of the art of the most widespread biomass pretreatments and specifies when biomass is pretreated to improve the biogas yield and, in contrast, when it is treated to extract high-added-value products. Finally, in order to define if the same treatment can be simultaneously applied for both goals, an experimental section was dedicated to the production of biogas from untreated olive mill wastewater and the same biomass after being freeze-dried and after the extraction of polyphenols and flavonoids. The use of pretreated biomass effectively improved the biogas production yield: the untreated olive mill wastewater led to the production of 147 mL of biogas, while after freeze-drying and after polyphenols/flavonoids extraction, the production was, respectively, equal to 169 mL and 268 mL of biogas. |
| format | Article |
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| issn | 2673-8783 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-08-01 |
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| series | Biomass |
| spelling | doaj-art-16970efea59c467aa72d5d0adecc20a82025-08-20T01:56:10ZengMDPI AGBiomass2673-87832024-08-014386588510.3390/biomass4030048Waste Biomass Pretreatments for Biogas Yield Optimization and for the Extraction of Valuable High-Added-Value Products: Possible Combinations of the Two Processes toward a Biorefinery PurposeJessica Di Mario0Nicolò Montegiove1Alberto Maria Gambelli2Monica Brienza3Claudia Zadra4Giovanni Gigliotti5Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Sciences, University of Basilicata, Via dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, ItalyDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Via del Liceo 1, 06123 Perugia, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Perugia, Via G. Duranti 93, 06125 Perugia, ItalySecond- and third-generation biorefineries enable the sustainable management of biomasses within the framework of circular economy principles. This approach aims to minimize waste biomass while generating high-value molecules and bio-energy, such as biogas. Biogas production is achieved via anaerobic digestion, a process where microorganisms metabolize organic compounds in the absence of oxygen to primarily produce CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub>. The efficiency of this process is closely linked to the composition of the biomass and, sometimes, characteristics of the initial matrix can impede the process. To address these challenges, various pretreatments are employed to enhance digestion efficiency and mitigate issues associated with biomass complexity. However, the implementation of pretreatments can be energy-intensive and costly. The extraction of valuable molecules from biomass for various applications can represent a form of pretreatment. This extraction process selectively removes recalcitrant molecules such as lignin and cellulose, which can hinder biodegradation, thereby adding new value to the biomass. These extracted molecules not only contribute to improved anaerobic digestion efficiency but also offer potential economic benefits by serving as valuable inputs across diverse industrial sectors. This article presents a detailed state of the art of the most widespread biomass pretreatments and specifies when biomass is pretreated to improve the biogas yield and, in contrast, when it is treated to extract high-added-value products. Finally, in order to define if the same treatment can be simultaneously applied for both goals, an experimental section was dedicated to the production of biogas from untreated olive mill wastewater and the same biomass after being freeze-dried and after the extraction of polyphenols and flavonoids. The use of pretreated biomass effectively improved the biogas production yield: the untreated olive mill wastewater led to the production of 147 mL of biogas, while after freeze-drying and after polyphenols/flavonoids extraction, the production was, respectively, equal to 169 mL and 268 mL of biogas.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8783/4/3/48biomass pretreatmentsbiogasbiomethanebiorefinery |
| spellingShingle | Jessica Di Mario Nicolò Montegiove Alberto Maria Gambelli Monica Brienza Claudia Zadra Giovanni Gigliotti Waste Biomass Pretreatments for Biogas Yield Optimization and for the Extraction of Valuable High-Added-Value Products: Possible Combinations of the Two Processes toward a Biorefinery Purpose Biomass biomass pretreatments biogas biomethane biorefinery |
| title | Waste Biomass Pretreatments for Biogas Yield Optimization and for the Extraction of Valuable High-Added-Value Products: Possible Combinations of the Two Processes toward a Biorefinery Purpose |
| title_full | Waste Biomass Pretreatments for Biogas Yield Optimization and for the Extraction of Valuable High-Added-Value Products: Possible Combinations of the Two Processes toward a Biorefinery Purpose |
| title_fullStr | Waste Biomass Pretreatments for Biogas Yield Optimization and for the Extraction of Valuable High-Added-Value Products: Possible Combinations of the Two Processes toward a Biorefinery Purpose |
| title_full_unstemmed | Waste Biomass Pretreatments for Biogas Yield Optimization and for the Extraction of Valuable High-Added-Value Products: Possible Combinations of the Two Processes toward a Biorefinery Purpose |
| title_short | Waste Biomass Pretreatments for Biogas Yield Optimization and for the Extraction of Valuable High-Added-Value Products: Possible Combinations of the Two Processes toward a Biorefinery Purpose |
| title_sort | waste biomass pretreatments for biogas yield optimization and for the extraction of valuable high added value products possible combinations of the two processes toward a biorefinery purpose |
| topic | biomass pretreatments biogas biomethane biorefinery |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8783/4/3/48 |
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