Callegari Arianna, Tucci Matteo, Aulenta Federico, Cruz Viggi Carolina, Capodaglio Andrea G
DICAR University of Pavia, Pavia, 27100, Italy.
Water Research Institute (IRSA), National Research Council (CNR), Montelibretti, 00010, RM, Italy.
Chemosphere. 2025 Mar;372:144101. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2025.144101. Epub 2025 Jan 17.
Excess biological sludge processing and disposal have a significant impact on the energy balance and economics of wastewater treatment operations, and on receiving environments. Anaerobic digestion is probably the most widespread in-plant sludge processing method globally, since it stabilizes and converts biosolids organic matter into biogas, allowing partial recovery of their embedded chemical energy. A considerable number of studies concerning applicable techniques to improve biogas production, both in quantity and quality, include pre-treatment strategies to promote biosolids disintegration aimed at the release and solubilization of intracellular energy compounds, inorganic/biological amendments aimed at improving process performance, and sludge thermal pre-treatment. As for in-process amendments, iron, micro and macro-nutrients, ashes from waste incineration and nanoparticles addition have been studied for the improvement of enzymatic reactions. Recently, use of electrically conductive materials has been credited with the possibility to accelerate and stabilize the conversion of organic substrates to methane. The possibility of increasing both biogas generation and its relative biomethane content by interfacing anaerobic digestion with bioelectrochemical systems was also postulated. This review addresses the research gap surrounding the integration of anaerobic digestion with novel technologies, particularly bioelectrochemical systems, to enhance biogas production and methane enrichment. While existing studies focus on pre-treatment and in-process amendments, the feasibility, mechanisms, and benefits of such integration remain underexplored. By critically evaluating the current state of the art, this review identifies the potential of bioelectrochemical integration to improve energy recovery and process stability, while highlighting key challenges and research needs for advancing these technologies toward practical implementation.
过量生物污泥的处理与处置对废水处理运营的能量平衡和经济性以及受纳环境都有重大影响。厌氧消化可能是全球范围内应用最广泛的厂内污泥处理方法，因为它能使生物固体有机物稳定化并转化为沼气，从而实现其所含化学能量的部分回收。大量关于提高沼气产量（包括数量和质量）的适用技术的研究，涵盖了促进生物固体分解以释放和溶解细胞内能量化合物的预处理策略、旨在改善工艺性能的无机/生物添加剂，以及污泥热预处理。至于过程中的添加剂，人们研究了铁、微量和常量营养素、垃圾焚烧产生的灰烬以及添加纳米颗粒对改善酶促反应的作用。最近，使用导电材料被认为有可能加速并稳定有机底物向甲烷的转化。也有人推测通过将厌氧消化与生物电化学系统相结合来提高沼气产量及其相对生物甲烷含量的可能性。本综述探讨了围绕厌氧消化与新技术（特别是生物电化学系统）整合以提高沼气产量和甲烷富集的研究空白。虽然现有研究集中在预处理和过程中的添加剂，但这种整合的可行性、机制和益处仍未得到充分探索。通过批判性地评估当前的技术水平，本综述确定了生物电化学整合在提高能量回收和过程稳定性方面的潜力，同时突出了将这些技术推向实际应用所面临的关键挑战和研究需求。
