Pulsed electric field: An emerging pretreatment technology in a biogas production

• Published in: Waste management (Elmsford) Vol. 120; pp. 467 - 483
• Main Authors: Kovačić, Đurđica, Rupčić, Slavko, Kralik, Davor, Jovičić, Daria, Spajić, Robert, Tišma, Marina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2021
• Subjects: Anaerobic digestion; Anaerobiosis; Biofuels; Biogas; Lignocellulose; Pretreatment; Pulsed electric field; Sewage; Sludge; Technology; Biogas; Pretreatment; Pulsed electric field; Lignocellulose; Sludge; Anaerobic digestion
• ISSN: 0956-053X; 1879-2456
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2020.10.009

•PEF is predominantly used in medicine and in food industry.•Up to now PEF is efficiently applied to sludge pretreatment for biogas production.•Application of PEF in lignocellulose pretreatment demonstrated its high potential.•Transfer of PEF from batch to continuous industrial-scale is in its R&D phase. This review focuses on current status of pulsed electric field (PEF) technology and its implementation in biogas production. First, basic principles of PEF and a schematic overview of typical PEF processing system were provided. Thereafter, lab- and pilot-scale PEF pretreatments of sludge with subsequent anaerobic digestion (AD) were provided. Furthermore, PEF technology, as an emerging technology for the lignocellulose (LC) pretreatment in biogas production which is still predominantly used at lab-scale, was outlined. Eventually, conclusion together with future perspectives and challenges were outlined.