Valorizing Waste through Thermal and Biological Processes for Sustainable Energy Production

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wastes are produced by most essential activities necessitated by modern society, and their adequate disposal or valorization poses a significant sustainable development challenge. Waste-to-energy systems may contribute to waste valorization due to their diverse nature as well as their capacity to process large amounts of materials. Innovations in catalysts, reactor design, the genetic engineering of microorganisms, and downstream processing techniques have driven technological progress in waste conversion. This Topic invites original research papers to address new applications of thermochemical, biological, or integrated technologies for the conversion of organic, lignocellulosic, or polymeric wastes into energy or fuels. Additionally, authors are encouraged to submit papers addressing the state of the art and recent advancements in these areas in order to provide useful guidelines for future research. Biorefinery approaches combining material and energy valorization may be used to achieve waste valorization solutions that are both economically viable and environmentally friendly. Finally, emerging technologies for carbon dioxide capture, storage, and conversion into gas or liquid fuels exhibit great potential in lowering greenhouse gas emissions and valorizing these gaseous wastes. Efficient waste-to-energy solutions are necessary for reducing our consumption of essential raw materials as well as preserving the quality of air, water, and soils that constitute ecosystems. Thermochemical processes, such as combustion, carbonization, pyrolysis, and gasification, have been mainly applied to lignocellulosic or polymeric wastes, while biological processes such as anaerobic digestion or fermentation have been used to convert organic and lignocellulosic materials.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Waste-to-energy technologies;
• Conversion of wastes into solid biofuels;
• Production of liquid biofuels from lipidic wastes, lignocellulosic wastes, or polymeric wastes;
• Production of gaseous biofuels through thermochemical or biological processes;
• Production of alcohols from organic or lignocellulosic wastes;
• Production of hydrogen from wastes;
• Catalytic upgrading of waste-derived fuels;
• Waste biorefineries; Microalgae-based biorefineries;
• Carbon dioxide capture, storage, and conversion into gas or liquid fuels;
• Life cycle analysis of waste-to-energy systems.

Prof. Dr. Margarida Gonçalves
Prof. Dr. Cândida Vilarinho
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Energies energies	3.2	5.5	2008	15.7 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Catalysts catalysts	3.9	6.3	2011	13.5 Days	CHF 2700	Submit
Fermentation fermentation	3.7	3.7	2015	12.9 Days	CHF 2600	Submit
Processes processes	3.5	4.7	2013	13.9 Days	CHF 2400	Submit
Waste waste	-	-	2023	15.0 days *	CHF 1000	Submit

* Median value for all MDPI journals in the first half of 2023.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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All Energies Catalysts Fermentation Processes Waste

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Open AccessArticle

Applicability of Rice Husk Residue Generated by the Silica Extraction Process to Anaerobic Digestion for Methane Production

by

Seon Young Park

,

Byoung Seung Jeon

,

Yang Mo Gu

,

Ji Yeon Park

,

Hyunook Kim

,

Byoung-In Sang

,

Eunsung Kan

,

Okkyoung Choi

and

Jin Hyung Lee

Energies 2023, 16(14), 5415; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16145415 - 17 Jul 2023

Viewed by 485

Abstract

Rice husks are a feedstock of biogenic silica because of their high silica content. After silica extraction, a solid residue comprising mostly carbohydrates is present. Solid residue valorization is important for closed-loop systems using rice husk and has minimal negative environmental impacts. In [...] Read more.

Rice husks are a feedstock of biogenic silica because of their high silica content. After silica extraction, a solid residue comprising mostly carbohydrates is present. Solid residue valorization is important for closed-loop systems using rice husk and has minimal negative environmental impacts. In this study, we used solid rice husk that was generated by silica extractionto anaerobic digestion for producing biomethane. The rice husk residue was characterized in terms of total solids, volatile solids, pH, composition, and particle size. Changing the characteristics increased biogas production by 2.48-fold compared to that of raw rice husk. The residue produced 166.4 mL-biogas g⁻¹ vs. and 100.4 mL CH 4 g⁻¹ VS, much more than previously reported. Microbial community analysis, which was conducted to investigate the biological reasons for increased biogas and methane, found increased Bacteroidetes levels in the rice husk samples. Among archaeal communities, Bathyarchaeota was more abundant in all rice husk samples than in the inoculum. The rice husk residue contained more operational taxonomic units than other samples. These changes in the microbial community significantly influenced the anaerobic digestion of the rice husk residue and improved methane production. Our findings provide a basis for the cleaner utilization of rice husk residue to produce renewable energy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Valorizing Waste through Thermal and Biological Processes for Sustainable Energy Production)

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Open AccessArticle

Screening of Ultraviolet-Induced Thermotolerant Yeast Mutants and Their Performance

by

Xiaodi Li

,

Yan Lin

,

Hainan Kong

and

Zhiquan Wang

Fermentation 2023, 9(7), 608; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation9070608 - 28 Jun 2023

Viewed by 431

Abstract

The simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) technique holds promise for the conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol. However, the optimal fermentation temperature of yeast is lower than the enzymatic hydrolysis temperature of the saccharification process, which leads to the temperature of the actual production [...] Read more.

The simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) technique holds promise for the conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol. However, the optimal fermentation temperature of yeast is lower than the enzymatic hydrolysis temperature of the saccharification process, which leads to the temperature of the actual production process of SSF usually being lower than 38 °C. In this work, two ultraviolet (UV)-induced mutations were performed step by step using Saccharomyces cerevisiae BY4742 as the original strain to enable the yeast to perform well at higher temperatures. Thermotolerant strains obtained through mutagenesis and screening, YUV1-1 and YUV2-2, were utilized for fermentation and SSF at a targeted temperature of 40 °C. They obtained ethanol yields comparable to those at 38 °C in SSF, whereas the ethanol yields of the original strain at 40 °C decreased by about 10% compared to those at 38 °C. This study proves that thermotolerant strains adapted to elevated fermentation and SSF temperatures can be obtained through UV mutagenesis and screening, thereby increasing the stability of the fermentation and SSF processes and lowering the subsequent distillation costs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Valorizing Waste through Thermal and Biological Processes for Sustainable Energy Production)

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Open AccessArticle

Study of Ash Sintering Temperature and Ash Deposition Behavior during Co-Firing of Polish Bituminous Coal with Barley Straw Using Non-Standard Tests

by

Karol Król

,

Dorota Nowak-Woźny

and

Wojciech Moroń

Energies 2023, 16(11), 4424; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16114424 - 30 May 2023

Viewed by 426

Abstract

The need to reduce CO₂ emissions forces the use of biomass as a fuel in the conventional energy conversion process implemented by combustion. Burning biomass alone can be problematic because of the high potential for slugging and fouling on boiler heating surfaces. [...] Read more.

The need to reduce CO₂ emissions forces the use of biomass as a fuel in the conventional energy conversion process implemented by combustion. Burning biomass alone can be problematic because of the high potential for slugging and fouling on boiler heating surfaces. Therefore, co-firing of biomass with coal is used. This article presents the results of a study of biomass blends of barley, straw, and hard coal biomass from the Polish Makoszowy mine. The sintering of ash from biomass-coal blends was studied by experimental non-standard methods, such as the fracture stress and the pressure drop test. The results were confirmed with the result of thermodynamic modeling using FactSage 8.0 software. Additionally, ash deposition tests were performed in a 3.5 m boiler. The tests conducted showed a significant effect of the addition of biomass to hard coal on the formation of ash deposits on the heating surfaces of the boiler. In addition, the usefulness of non-standard methods in the assessment of the degree of fouling and slugging hazard was confirmed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Valorizing Waste through Thermal and Biological Processes for Sustainable Energy Production)

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