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Processes
Special Issues
Process Development, Monitoring, Modeling, and Control for Biogas Cleaning
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Process Development, Monitoring, Modeling, and Control for Biogas Cleaning

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Process Control and Monitoring".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2021) | Viewed by 3768

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Fernando Almenglo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering and Food Technology, University of Cadiz, 11510 Puerto Real, Spain
Interests: process modeling, simulation and control; biogas upgrading; hydrogen sulfide removal; carbon dioxide removal; kinetic modeling; bioreactors; biofilters; biotrickling filters
Dr. Antonio David Dorado

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mining Engineering and Natural Resources, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña, 08042 Manresa, Spain
Interests: modeling; biofiltration; biogas; desulfurization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global demand for energy is growing, and close to 50% growth is expected by 2050. At the same time, there is an increase in renewable sources demand, both by population exigence and promoted by administrations. Among these renewable sources, there is an increasing interest in biogas use to reduce greenhouse gases in terms of being a regular and predictable source. Biogas may need to be conditioned before its exploitation depending on the source. The presence of common pollutants and other compounds such as ammonia, water vapor, hydrogen sulfide, methyl siloxanes, nitrogen, oxygen, halogenated volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons can compromise its use as an energy resource. Tools such as mathematical modeling and simulation contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms and can identify which parameters are more influential in the performance. Similarly, the use of control strategies allows reducing costs (for example, reducing nitrate consumption in anoxic desulfurization) or optimizing the operation minimizing undesirable by-products (such as oxygen in carbon dioxide removal by microalgae).

This Special Issue on “Process Development, Monitoring, Modeling, and Control for Biogas Cleaning” will collect high-quality research that addresses challenges in the broad area of biogas cleaning, process modeling, and control strategies. Topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Biotrickling filters (aerobic and anoxic);
  • Suspended biomass bioreactors (aerobic and anoxic);
  • Chemical absorption;
  • Physical and chemical adsorption on solid adsorbents;
  • Solvent-gas scrubbing;
  • Membrane separation;
  • Cryogenic separation;
  • Process modeling, simulation, and control applications.
Dr. Fernando Almenglo
Dr. Antonio David Dorado
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Hydrogen sulfide
  • Methyl mercaptan
  • Siloxanes
  • Oxygen
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Dynamic modeling and simulation
  • Advanced process control
  • CFD modeling
  • PID controller
  • Biogas desulfurization

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2060 KiB  
Article
Influence of Leachate and Nitrifying Bacteria on Photosynthetic Biogas Upgrading in a Two-Stage System
by Luis Fernando Saldarriaga, Fernando Almenglo, Domingo Cantero and Martín Ramírez
Processes 2021, 9(9), 1503; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr9091503 - 26 Aug 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1601
Abstract
Photosynthetic biogas upgrading using two-stage systems allows the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) in an absorption unit and its subsequent assimilation by microalgae. The production of microalgae requires large amounts of nutrients, thus making scale-up difficult and reducing economic feasibility. The [...] Read more.
Photosynthetic biogas upgrading using two-stage systems allows the absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) in an absorption unit and its subsequent assimilation by microalgae. The production of microalgae requires large amounts of nutrients, thus making scale-up difficult and reducing economic feasibility. The photosynthetic process produces oxygen (O2) (1 mol per mol of CO2 consumed), which can be desorbed into purified biogas. Two-stage systems reduce its impact but do not eliminate it. In this study, we test the use of landfill leachate as a nutrient source and propose a viable and economical strategy for reducing the O2 concentration. First, the liquid/gas (L/G) ratio and flow mode of the absorber were optimized for 20% and 40% CO2 with COMBO medium, then landfill leachate was used as a nutrient source. Finally, the system was inoculated with nitrifying bacteria. Leachate was found to be suitable as a nutrient source and to result in a significant improvement in CO2 absorption, with outlet concentrations of 0.01% and 0.6% for 20% and 40% CO2, respectively, being obtained. The use of nitrifying bacteria allowed a reduction in dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, although it also resulted in a lower pH, thus making CO2 uptake slightly more difficult. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Process Development, Monitoring, Modeling, and Control for Biogas Cleaning)
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21 pages, 3535 KiB  
Article
Model-Based Analysis of Feedback Control Strategies in Aerobic Biotrickling Filters for Biogas Desulfurization
by Luis Rafael López, Mabel Mora, Caroline Van der Heyden, Juan Antonio Baeza, Eveline Volcke and David Gabriel
Processes 2021, 9(2), 208; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pr9020208 - 22 Jan 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1700
Abstract
Biotrickling filters are one of the most widely used biological technologies to perform biogas desulfurization. Their industrial application has been hampered due to the difficulty to achieve a robust and reliable operation of this bioreactor. Specifically, biotrickling filters process performance is affected mostly [...] Read more.
Biotrickling filters are one of the most widely used biological technologies to perform biogas desulfurization. Their industrial application has been hampered due to the difficulty to achieve a robust and reliable operation of this bioreactor. Specifically, biotrickling filters process performance is affected mostly by fluctuations in the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) loading rate due to changes in the gas inlet concentration or in the volumetric gas flowrate. The process can be controlled by means of the regulation of the air flowrate (AFR) to control the oxygen (O2) gas outlet concentration ([O2]out) and the trickling liquid velocity (TLV) to control the H2S gas outlet concentration ([H2S]out). In this work, efforts were placed towards the understanding and development of control strategies in biological H2S removal in a biotrickling filter under aerobic conditions. Classical proportional and proportional-integral feedback controllers were applied in a model of an aerobic biotrickling filter for biogas desulfurization. Two different control loops were studied: (i) AFR Closed-Loop based on AFR regulation to control the [O2]out, and (ii) TLV Closed-Loop based on TLV regulation to control the [H2S]out. AFR regulation span was limited to values so that corresponds to biogas dilution factors that would give a biogas mixture with a minimum methane content in air, far from those values required to obtain an explosive mixture. A minimum TLV of 5.9 m h−1 was applied to provide the nutrients and moisture to the packed bed and a maximum TLV of 28.3 m h−1 was set to prevent biotrickling filter (BTF) flooding. Control loops were evaluated with a stepwise increase from 2000 ppmv until 6000 ppmv and with changes in the biogas flowrate using stepwise increments from 61.5 L h−1 (EBRT = 118 s) to 184.5 L h−1 (EBRT = 48.4 s). Controller parameters were determined based on time-integral criteria and simple criteria such as stability and oscillatory controller response. Before implementing the control strategies, two different mass transfer correlations were evaluated to study the effect of the manipulable variables. Open-loop behavior was also studied to determine the impact of control strategies on process performance variables such as removal efficiency, sulfate and sulfur selectivity, and oxygen consumption. AFR regulation efficiently controlled [O2]out; however, the impact on process performance parameters was not as great as when TLV was regulated to control [H2S]out. This model-based analysis provided valuable information about the controllability limits of each strategy and the impact that each strategy can have on the process performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Process Development, Monitoring, Modeling, and Control for Biogas Cleaning)
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