A pilot project significantly boosted biogas yield by pretreating biosolids with steam, pressure and oxygen before anaerobic digestion.
The process converted 80-85% of the organic material to biogas, versus the typical 50% without pretreatment, says Birgitte Ahring, Ph.D., a professor and biofuels researcher in the Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at Washington State University – Tri Cities.“What is new in this study is that we took the biosolids and exposed it to high temperature and pressure,” Ahring says. “By doing that we made it far more available for digestion. This is a short process that happens
