Anaerobic Digestion

Vast amounts of agricultural residues produced in the United States have the potential to be converted into economic gain if the proper processing technology is employed. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is such a technology. It not only can provide pollution prevention, but also converts the residues into profitable bioenergy and chemcial products, namely, methane biogas, fiber, and digestate, each which can be used, respectively, as fuel, soil amendment, and liquid fertilizer. AD is an established technology but low growth rates of anaerobic bacteria and difficulties with biodegradation of lignocellulosic materials are stifling wide adoption of AD in waste management. The project is to develop an innovative AD system with enhanced cellulosic degradation related microbial community for agricultural residues. The specific objectives are: (1) identifying the current available hemicellulose/lignin related microorganisms in the anaerobic digestion system using advanced genetic technologies, (2) investigating the effects of hemicellulose and lignin degradation on biogas production, (3) developing and optimizing the design of an novel plug flow anaerobic digestor with enhanced microbial community for cellulose degradation.

Related Publications:

1. Francesca, V., Liao, W., Simona, P. 2020. Life cycle assessment of agro-industrial by-products reuse: a comparison between anaerobic digestion and conventional disposal treatments. Green Chemistry 22(20) 7729-7139.

2. Wang, L., Long, F., Liao, W., Hong, L. 2020. Prediction of anaerobic digestion performance and identification of critical operational parameters using machine learning algorithms. Bioresource Technology 298, 122495.

3. Zhong, Y., Chen, R., Rojas-Sossa, J., Isaguirre, C., Mashburn, A., Marsh, T., Liu, Y., Liao, W. 2020. Anaerobic co-digestion of energy crop and agricultural wastes to prepare uniform-format cellulosic feedstock for biorefining. Renewable Energy 147, 1358-1370.

4. Valenti, F., Porto, S.M.C., Dale, B.E., Liao, W. 2018. Spatial analysis of feedstock supply and logistics to establish regional biogas power generation: A case study in Sicilian region. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 97, 50-63.

5. Zhong, Y., Bustamante-Roman, M., Zhong, Y., Archer, S., Chen, R., Deitz, L., Hochhalter, D., Balaze, K., Sperry M., Werner, E., Kirk, D., Liao, W. 2015. Using anaerobic digestion of organic wastes to biochemically store solar thermal energy. Journal of Energy 83, 638-646