This volume covers the most cutting-edge pretreatment processes being used and studied today for the production of biogas during anaerobic digestion processes using different feedstocks, in the most efficient and economical methods possible.

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 1.2 Physical Pretreatment 6 1.3 Chemical Pretreatment 15 1.4 Biological Pretreatment 17 1.5 Combined Pretreatment 18 1.6 Concluding Note 19 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 2.4 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 2.8 Concluding Note 50 3. 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 3.3 Pretreatment Methods for Sewage Sludge 77 3.4 Concluding Note 84 4. 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 4.4 Fundamental of Ultrasound 100 4.5 Bubbles Dynamic 103 4.6 Effects of Ultrasound 106 4.7 Ultrasound Applications 109 4.8 Ultrasonication for Anaerobic Digesion 116 4.9 Evaluation on Sludge Disintegration 126 4.10 Conclusions 131 5. Microwave Sludge Irradiation 137 Cigdetn Esktctoglu and Giampiero Galvagno 5.1 Introduction 137 5.2 Microwave Theory 139 5.3 Microwave Irradiation for Waste Sludge Treatment 144 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 6. 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 6.2 Where and How can Enzymes be Applied? 170 6.3 Impact of Enzyme Application 178 6.4 Economic Assessment 191 6.5 Concluding Note 192 7. Oxidizing Agents and Organic Solvents as Pretreatment for Anaerobic Digestion 199 Lise Appels, Jan Van Impe, and Raf Dewil 7.1 Oxidative Pretreatment Methods 199 7.2 Organic Solvents 210 7.3 Concluding Note 212 8. 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 9. 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 9.3 Rationale of Research Study 233 9.4 Research Methodology 234 9.5 Reactor Design Considerations 241 9.6 Results, Findings and Discussions 247 9.7 Conclusions 257 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 10.3 Optimizing the Anaerobic Digestion of Microwave-Pretreated Cattail by Rumen Cultures 266 10.4 Modeling the Anaerobic Digestion of Cattail by Rumen Cultures 275 10.5 Concluding Note 287 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 11.3 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

Biogas Production covers the most cutting-edge pretreatment processes being used and studied today for the production of biogas. As an increasingly important piece of the "energy pie," biogas and other biofuels are being used more and more around the world in every conceivable area of industry and could be a partial answer to the energy problem and the elimination of global warming. This book will highlight the recent advances in the pretreatment and value addition of lignocellulosic wastes (LCW) with the main focus on domestic and agro-industrial residues. Mechanical, physical, and biological treatment systems are brought into perspective. The main value-added products from lignocellulosic wastes are summarized in a manner that pinpoints the most recent trends and the future directions. Physico-chemical and biological treatment systems seem to be the most favored options while biofuels, biodegradable composites, and biosorbents production paint a bright picture of the current and future bio-based products. Engineered microbes seem to tackle the problem of bioconversion of substrates that are otherwise nonconvertible by conventional wild strains. Although the main challenge facing LCW utilization is the high costs involved in treatment and production processes, some recent affordable processes with promising results have been proposed. Future trends are being directed to nanobiotechnology and genetic engineering for improved processes and products. This groundbreaking new volume: s a comprehensive compilation of anaerobic digestion methods, the treatment processes used for organic wastes and process residuesCovers hydrolysis, the rate-limiting step of anaerobic digestion of semi-solid wastes, in which both solubilization of particulate matter and biological decomposition of organic polymers to monomers or dimers take placeOffers an in-depth study of potential unconventional feedstocks for anaerobic digestion technology and their practical applicationsIs in line with the growing green chemistry and green engineering practices, covering research and development of unconventional pretreatment techniques to improve the kinetics of hydrolysis and hence enhance the biogas production rates and yields from lignocellulosic biomass during anaerobic digestion processes.