Process simulation and experimental investigation of biofuel production in a high rate anaerobic digestion process

<p>"The non-hazardous waste management hierarchy of the US EPA calls for “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” (or the three R’s) of wastes. The anaerobic digestion process is one of the most important methods that used to treat the wastes and at the same time generate energy out of it. The anaerobic digestion process generates a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide gases which is known as biogas.</p> <p>The biogas composition is about 50-70% methane and 10-30% of carbon dioxide and trace amount of other gases like hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide. This biogas can be used in power generation, heating systems and in combined heating and powering systems. Also, it could be upgraded to improve its quality and make is utilized in all equipment used for natural gas with a minimal adjustment due to the lower BTU contents for methane gas.</p> <p>Three papers were written and submitted regarding the biogas production and the liquid waste water treatment. The first paper focuses on developing a process modeling simulation by aspen plus for the anaerobic digestion process and on conducting a sensitivity analysis to investigate the parameters that could upgrade the biogas quality. The second paper focuses on the effect of hydraulic retention time of the substrate on the biogas production. This investigation conducted in a two-stage high rate expanded granular sludge bed reactor under different variables like substrate concentration, organic loading rate, and operating temperature. The third paper focuses on upgrading the biogas quality and quantity in a two-stage expanded granular sludge bed reactor by investigating the effect of injecting the pre-acidification gas (the first stage), which is mainly produced a gas mixture consist of hydrogen and carbon dioxide) into the second stage (the expanded granular sludge bed reactor)--Abstract, page iv.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering

Grantor

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Author dc:creator

• Al-Rubaye, Haider

• Biogas Production
• Upgrading The Biogas Quality
• Wastewater Treatment
• Chemical Engineering

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/doctoral_dissertations/2664

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsmine.mst.edu:doctoral_dissertations-3669