Pecologix

Our critical synthesis demonstrates that biomass-to-energy production is a rapidly evolving research field focusing mainly on biomass-to-energy production technologies. However, very few studies address the critical supply chain management issues, and the ones that do that, focus mainly on (i) the assessment of the potential biomass and (ii) the allocation of biomass collection sites and [...]

The feasibility of adding crude glycerol from the biodiesel industry to the anaerobic digesters treating sewage sludge in wastewater treatment plants was studied in both batch and continuous experiments at 35 °C. Glycerol addition can boost biogas yields, if it does not exceed a limiting 1% (v/v) concentration in the feed. Any further increase of [...]

Thermal plasma treatment has been regarded as a viable alternative for the treatment of highly toxic wastes, such as incinerator residues, radioactive wastes, and medical wastes. Therefore, a gasification/vitrification unit for the direct treatment of municipal solid waste (MSW), with a capacity of 10 tons/day, was developed using an integrated furnace equipped with two nontransferred [...]

Waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles collected by source-segregation recycling schemes can be treated by mechanical and chemical means to remove any contaminants. The cleaned PET can then be melted and formed into pellets with the same physical properties as virgin PET. Full-scale trials have shown that this reprocessed material can be used with virgin PET [...]

Organic waste such as manure is an important resource for biogas production. The biodegradability of manures is however limited because of the recalcitrant nature of the biofibers it contains. To increase the biogas potential of the biofibers in digested manure, we investigated physical treatment (milling), chemical treatment (CaO), biological treatment (enzymatic and partial aerobic microbial [...]

The disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) can lead to significant environmental burdens. The implementation of effective waste management practices, however, requires the ability to benchmark alternative systems from an environmental sustainability perspective. Existing metrics—such as recycling and generation rates, or the emissions of individual pollutants—often are not goal-oriented, are not readily comparable, and may [...]

Municipal sewage sludge is gaining traction in the U.S. and around the world as a lipid feedstock for biodiesel production. It is plentiful and consists of significant concentrations of lipids that can make production of biodiesel from sludge profitable. However, there are challenges to be faced by biodiesel production from waste sludge. Determining how best [...]