Hydrogen sulphide management in anaerobic digestion: A critical review on input control, process regulation, and post-treatment.

Hydrogen sulphide (HS) in biogas is a problematic impurity that can inhibit methanogenesis and cause equipment corrosion. This review discusses technologies to remove HS during anaerobic digestion (AD) via: input control, process regulation, and post-treatment. Post-treatment technologies (e.g. biotrickling filters and scrubbers) are mature with >95% removal efficiency but they do not mitigate HS toxicity to methanogens within the AD. Input control (i.e. substrate pretreatment via chemical addition) reduces sulphur input into AD via sulphur precipitation. However, available results showed <75% of HS removal efficiency. Microaeration to regulate AD condition is a promising alternative for controlling HS formation. Microaeration, or the use of oxygen to regulate the redox potential at around -250 mV, has been demonstrated at pilot and full scale with >95% HS reduction, stable methane production, and low operational cost. Further adaptation of microaeration relies on a comprehensive design framework and exchange operational experience for eliminating the risk of over-aeration.