title: Assessment of biogas production in Argentina from co-digestion of sludge and municipal solid waste.
abstract: 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 CO2was removed. The H2S removal process was simulated in the SuperPro software by anaerobic biofiltration. The same software was used to simulate the removal of CO2absorption-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.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (INTEC), Universidad Nacional del Litoral-CONICET, Güemes 3450, 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina. Electronic address: bmorero@intec.unl.edu.ar.
authors.forename: Betzabet
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morero
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (INTEC), Universidad Nacional del Litoral-CONICET, Güemes 3450, 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina. Electronic address: rocio.vicentin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Rocio
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vicentin
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico para la Industria Química (INTEC), Universidad Nacional del Litoral-CONICET, Güemes 3450, 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina; Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Hídricas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Ruta Nacional N° 168 km 472.4, 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina. Electronic address: tquique@santafe-conicet.gov.ar.
authors.forename: Enrique A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Campanella
mesh_terms: D001118:Argentina; D056804:Biofuels; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005308:Fertilizers; D017745:Incineration; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D012722:Sewage; D062611:Solid Waste; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D005308:Fertilizers; D012722:Sewage; D062611:Solid Waste; D008697:Methane
keywords: Biomethane; CHP; Co-digestion; Digestate management; Waste treatment