Next generation techniques for anaerobic bioprocess optimization

Abstract

Anaerobic bioprocess is a mature sustainable technology that is widely applied for waste and wastewater treatment and generates biogas that is used for energy purposes and significantly contributes to the reduction of fossil fuel. The waste or wastewater is biodegraded through the synergistic actions of various types of microorganisms to biogas under certain conditions. Frequently, anaerobic bioprocess outperforms; the digesters operated safely far from optimum conditions to avoid process failure. However, knowing optimum conditions and using techniques to monitor the system directly will lead to higher performance. This chapter describes the main techniques to determine the initial parameters at the beginning of the bioprocess. These techniques are multiresponse optimization, prediction of biochemical methane potential by using kinetic modelling and near-infrared spectroscopy, respectively. In addition, the chapter points out the novel tools that can be used to monitor anaerobic bioprocess such as the use of electrochemical sensors, biosensors, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, it points out how the microbial metagenome analysis can be correlated with the operational external parameters and the bioprocess performance, and therefore a better understanding of anaerobic bioprocess system can be obtained. Finally, the challenges and potentials of advanced monitoring in anaerobic processes are critically discussed.