Pre-treatment of organic biomass in the context of stand-alone and integrated anaerobic digestion–pyrolysis for enhanced product recovery: A critical review of challenges and opportunities

IF 5.8 2区生物学 Q1 AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

Biomass & Bioenergy Pub Date : 2025-09-19 DOI:10.1016/j.biombioe.2025.108386

Habiba Sarwar , Arun Vuppaladadiyam , Adithya Venkatachalapati , Nimesha Ratnayake , Kamrun Nahar , Manoj Kumar Jena , Ramandeep Kaur , Hari Vuthaluru , Kalpit Shah

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Organic biomass is a widely available renewable resource with significant potential to reduce dependence on fossil-based energy and support large-scale sustainable biorefineries. Nonetheless, to enhance the suitability of organic wastes for conversion into valuable chemicals and fuels, identifying effective pre-treatment strategies that can reduce the inherent structural complexity and resistance to degradation is critical. This review critically examines various pre-treatment techniques, including mechanical, thermal, chemical, and biological methods, and their influence on biomass structure, inhibitor generation, and conversion performance in stand-alone and integrated anaerobic digestion (AD) and pyrolysis (Py) systems. The review explores how pre-treatment facilitates improved biodegradability in AD and alters thermal decomposition behaviour in Py, thereby enhancing the yield and quality of resulting products such as methane, bio-oil, and biochar. Furthermore, with growing interest in integrated AD–Py configurations to maximise resource recovery and process efficiency, this study discusses the role of pre-treatment in bridging these two technologies. In addition, the techno-economic and environmental implications of pre-treatment are also evaluated, highlighting trade-offs such as increased energy input or chemical usage versus improved energy recovery and product quality. The review identifies critical challenges, including inhibitor management, process scalability, and sustainability barriers. It also outlines future research directions to develop robust, low-impact, cost-effective pre-treatment strategies tailored for individual and integrated AD–Py pathways. This work aims to support the design of next-generation biorefineries capable of achieving high-efficiency, circular bioresource utilisation.

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有机生物质在独立和一体化厌氧消化-热解环境下的预处理，以提高产品回收率：挑战和机遇的重要回顾

有机生物质是一种广泛可用的可再生资源，在减少对化石能源的依赖和支持大规模可持续生物炼制方面具有巨大潜力。尽管如此，为了提高有机废物转化为有价值的化学品和燃料的适宜性，确定有效的预处理策略，可以减少固有的结构复杂性和抗降解性是至关重要的。本文综述了各种预处理技术，包括机械、热、化学和生物方法，以及它们对独立和集成厌氧消化（AD）和热解（Py）系统中生物质结构、抑制剂生成和转化性能的影响。这篇综述探讨了预处理如何促进AD中的生物降解性和改变Py中的热分解行为，从而提高甲烷、生物油和生物炭等产物的产量和质量。此外，随着人们对集成AD-Py配置的兴趣日益浓厚，以最大限度地提高资源回收率和工艺效率，本研究讨论了预处理在连接这两种技术方面的作用。此外，还对预处理的技术经济和环境影响进行了评估，强调了诸如增加能源投入或化学品使用与改善能源回收和产品质量之间的权衡。该综述确定了关键挑战，包括抑制剂管理、工艺可扩展性和可持续性障碍。它还概述了未来的研究方向，以开发针对单个和集成AD-Py途径量身定制的强大，低影响，具有成本效益的预处理策略。这项工作旨在支持能够实现高效、循环利用生物资源的下一代生物精炼厂的设计。

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来源期刊

Biomass & Bioenergy 工程技术-能源与燃料

CiteScore

11.50

自引率

3.30%

发文量

258

审稿时长

60 days

期刊介绍： Biomass & Bioenergy is an international journal publishing original research papers and short communications, review articles and case studies on biological resources, chemical and biological processes, and biomass products for new renewable sources of energy and materials. The scope of the journal extends to the environmental, management and economic aspects of biomass and bioenergy. Key areas covered by the journal: • Biomass: sources, energy crop production processes, genetic improvements, composition. Please note that research on these biomass subjects must be linked directly to bioenergy generation. • Biological Residues: residues/rests from agricultural production, forestry and plantations (palm, sugar etc), processing industries, and municipal sources (MSW). Papers on the use of biomass residues through innovative processes/technological novelty and/or consideration of feedstock/system sustainability (or unsustainability) are welcomed. However waste treatment processes and pollution control or mitigation which are only tangentially related to bioenergy are not in the scope of the journal, as they are more suited to publications in the environmental arena. Papers that describe conventional waste streams (ie well described in existing literature) that do not empirically address ''new'' added value from the process are not suitable for submission to the journal. • Bioenergy Processes: fermentations, thermochemical conversions, liquid and gaseous fuels, and petrochemical substitutes • Bioenergy Utilization: direct combustion, gasification, electricity production, chemical processes, and by-product remediation • Biomass and the Environment: carbon cycle, the net energy efficiency of bioenergy systems, assessment of sustainability, and biodiversity issues.