Anaerobic co-digestion: Current status and perspectives

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 330; p. 125001
• Main Authors: Karki, Renisha, Chuenchart, Wachiranon, Surendra, K.C., Shrestha, Shilva, Raskin, Lutgarde, Sung, Shihwu, Hashimoto, Andrew, Kumar Khanal, Samir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.06.2021
• Subjects: Anaerobic co-digestion; anaerobic digestion; Anaerobiosis; Biofuels; Bioreactors; biorefining; Co-digestate management; digestibility; Digestion; feedstocks; gas production (biological); Kinetic modeling; Methane; Microbial community; Microbiota; nutritive value; prediction; research and development; synergism; Synergistic effect; Anaerobic co-digestion; Synergistic effect; Kinetic modeling; Co-digestate management; Microbial community
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125001

[Display omitted] •Anaerobic co-digestion can overcome the drawbacks of mono-digestion.•Usage of diverse feedstocks have different effects on co-digestion stability.•Feedstock characterization is crucial for process efficiency.•In-depth microbial analyses need to be conducted.•Kinetic models for co-digestion need to be improved. Anaerobic digestion is a long-established technology for the valorization of diverse organic wastes with concomitant generation of valuable resources. However, mono-digestion (i.e., anaerobic digestion using one feedstock) suffers from challenges associated with feedstock characteristics. Co-digestion using multiple feedstocks provides the potential to overcome these limitations. Significant research and development efforts have highlighted several inherent merits of co-digestion, including enhanced digestibility due to synergistic effects of co-substrates, better process stability, and higher nutrient value of the produced co-digestate. However, studies focused on the underlying effects of diverse co-feedstocks on digester performance and stability have not been synthesized so far. This review fills this gap by highlighting the limitations of mono-digestion and critically examining the benefits of co-digestion. Furthermore, this review discusses synergistic effect of co-substrates, characterization of microbial communities, the prediction of biogas production via different kinetic models, and highlights future research directions for the development of a sustainable biorefinery.