Evaluation of biomethane potential from by-products and agricultural residues co-digestion in southern Italy

Francesca Valenti; Simona M C Porto; Roberta Selvaggi; Biagio Pecorino

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.098

Evaluation of biomethane potential from by-products and agricultural residues co-digestion in southern Italy

J Environ Manage. 2018 Oct 1:223:834-840. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.098. Epub 2018 Jul 6.

Authors

Francesca Valenti¹, Simona M C Porto², Roberta Selvaggi³, Biagio Pecorino⁴

Affiliations

¹ Building and Land Engineering Section, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, 95123, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: francesca.valenti@unict.it.
² Building and Land Engineering Section, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, 95123, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: siporto@unict.it.
³ Agricultural and Food Economics Section, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, 95123, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: roberta.selvaggi@unict.it.
⁴ Agricultural and Food Economics Section, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Via S. Sofia 100, 95123, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: pecorino@unict.it.

PMID: 29986331
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.06.098

Abstract

The suitability of the co-digestion of feedstock-mixtures (by-products and agricultural residues) depends on their ability to produce biogas. In this study, the effects of mixing five feedstocks (citrus pulp, olive pomace, poultry manure, Italian sainfoin silage and opuntia fresh cladodes) on anaerobic digestion for biogas production have been investigated by carrying out biomethane potential (BMP) tests on six different mixing ratios of the selected five biomasses. The BMP test results demonstrated that all the six studied feedstock-mixtures could be potentially used for renewable energy generation by biogas plants. More in detail, two mixing ratios of the studied feedstock-mixtures showed the best biomethane potential of 249.9 and 260.1 Nm³CH₄/tVS, respectively. Since this research study made it possible to screen the suitability and technical feasibility of the feedstock-mixtures analysed, the results provide the basis for subsequent pilot scale evaluation of anaerobic digestion in Mediterranean area, where by-products and agricultural residues are profuse and necessary to produce advanced biofuels.

Keywords: Biogasdoneright(©); Biomethane potential (BMP); Citrus pulp; Italian sainfoin silage; Olive pomace; Opuntia fresh cladodes.

MeSH terms

Agriculture*
Anaerobiosis
Biofuels*
Italy
Manure
Methane
Silage
Waste Management*

Substances

Biofuels
Manure
Methane