Assessment of biogas production in Argentina from co-digestion of sludge and municipal solid waste.

In Argentina, there is an important potential to utilize organic waste to generate bioenergy. This work analyzes the environmental impacts and the energetic and economic requirements of the biogas produced by digesting the sewage sludge (SS) produced in a wastewater treatment plant in a medium city in Argentina. The SS is co-digested with the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), and the basis of this study is the life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA is performed according to ISO 14040-44 using the SimaPro simulator. First, the transport of the raw materials to the biogas plant was defined. Then, the co-digestion and the biogas treatment for final use were evaluated. The co-digestion was improved with glycerol, and the generation of biogas was estimated using the GPS-X software. Two alternatives for the end use of biogas were considered: combined heat and power (CHP) and biomethane generation. For the first, H2S and water vapor were removed from the raw biogas stream, and for the second, also CO2 was removed. The H2S removal process was simulated in the SuperPro software by anaerobic biofiltration. The same software was used to simulate the removal of CO2 absorption-desorption with water as solvent. Finally, the environmental impacts related to the end use of biogas (CHP and biomethane) were evaluated. The environmental, energetic and economic analyses showed that the co-digestion of SS and OFMSW has great potential for reducing the environmental impacts and increasing the economic and energetic value of the substances via the production of biomethane, electricity and, potentially, fertilizer.

[1]  Sara González-García,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of electricity production in Italy from anaerobic co-digestion of pig slurry and energy crops , 2014 .

[2]  L. Hamelin,et al.  Comparing environmental consequences of anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of pig manure to produce bio-energy--a life cycle perspective. , 2012, Bioresource technology.

[3]  Sara González-García,et al.  Anaerobic digestion of different feedstocks: impact on energetic and environmental balances of biogas process. , 2013, The Science of the total environment.

[4]  A. Tillman,et al.  The hitch hiker's guide to LCA (Life Cycle Assessment): an orientation in Life Cycle Assessment methodology and application , 2004 .

[5]  Jacopo Bacenetti,et al.  Agricultural anaerobic digestion plants: What LCA studies pointed out and what can be done to make them more environmentally sustainable , 2016 .

[6]  M. Nelles,et al.  Life cycle assessment of the supply and use of bioenergy: impact of regional factors on biogas production , 2012, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[7]  Martina Poeschl,et al.  Environmental impacts of biogas deployment - Part I: Life cycle inventory for evaluation of production process emissions to air. , 2012 .

[8]  Enrico Benetto,et al.  Life Cycle Assessment of biogas production by monofermentation of energy crops and injection into the natural gas grid. , 2010 .

[9]  T. Nemecek,et al.  Overview and methodology: Data quality guideline for the ecoinvent database version 3 , 2013 .

[10]  Luis Isidoro Romero-García,et al.  Thermophilic anaerobic digestion of source-sorted organic fraction of municipal solid waste. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[11]  G. Soreanu,et al.  Investigation on the use of nitrified wastewater for the steady-state operation of a biotrickling filter for the removal of hydrogen sulphide in biogas , 2008 .

[12]  R. Frischknecht,et al.  Implementation of Life Cycle Impact Assessment Methods. ecoinvent report No. 3, v2.2 , 2010 .

[13]  Sara González-García,et al.  Assuring the sustainable production of biogas from anaerobic mono-digestion , 2014 .

[14]  G. Feijoo,et al.  Environmental assessment of farm-scaled anaerobic co-digestion for bioenergy production. , 2015, Waste management.

[15]  Betzabet Morero,et al.  Life cycle assessment of biomethane use in Argentina. , 2015, Bioresource technology.

[16]  Walter Klöpffer,et al.  Life cycle assessment , 1997, Environmental science and pollution research international.

[17]  R. Heijungs,et al.  Environmental life cycle assessment of products : guide and backgrounds (Part 1) , 1992 .

[18]  Pål Börjesson,et al.  Environmental systems analysis of biogas systems—Part I: Fuel-cycle emissions , 2006 .

[19]  Jens Lansche,et al.  Life cycle assessment of energy generation of biogas fed combined heat and power plants: Environmental impact of different agricultural substrates , 2012 .

[20]  Hans-Jürgen Dr. Klüppel,et al.  The Revision of ISO Standards 14040-3 - ISO 14040: Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework - ISO 14044: Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines , 2005 .

[21]  G. Y. P. A. D. Agricultura.  Manual para productores de eucaliptos de la mesopotamia Argentina , 1995 .

[22]  Wojciech M. Budzianowski,et al.  A review of potential innovations for production, conditioning and utilization of biogas with multiple criteria assessment , 2016 .

[23]  J M Lema,et al.  A methodology for optimising feed composition for anaerobic co-digestion of agro-industrial wastes. , 2010, Bioresource technology.

[24]  Betzabet Morero,et al.  Environmental impact assessment as a complement of life cycle assessment. Case study: Upgrading of biogas. , 2015, Bioresource technology.

[25]  Martina Poeschl,et al.  Environmental impacts of biogas deployment – Part II: life cycle assessment of multiple production and utilization pathways , 2012 .

[26]  Izrail S. Turovskiy,et al.  Wastewater Sludge Processing , 2006 .

[27]  Almudena Hospido,et al.  Assessing anaerobic co-digestion of pig manure with agroindustrial wastes: the link between environmental impacts and operational parameters. , 2014, The Science of the total environment.