Advances, trends and challenges in the use of biochar as an improvement strategy in the anaerobic digestion of organic waste: a systematic analysis

Figures & data

Figure 1. Selection process of articles on the use of BC in the AD of organic waste published between 2011 and 2022.

Figure 2. Global panorama of the application of BC in the AD of organic waste (n=136 studies).

Figure 3. a) Thematic map and b) MCA related to the use of BC in the AD of organic waste.

Figure 4. Evolution of BC application trends in areas associated with AD of organic waste between 2011 and 2022 (n=136).

Figure 5. Hierarchical cluster analysis dendrogram associated with the connection between keywords.

Table 1. Operational and environmental factors identified in the use of BC in the AD of organic waste.

BS	Substrate	Inoculum	Reactor type	Experiment scale	T (^oC)	BMP (mLgVS ^−1)	% CH4	BD	Kinetic studies	Variable of interest	Reference
Rice straw	Bovine manure	Manure	Batch	Laboratory	41	48925*	55		No	Microbial diversity	[63]
Wheat straw	Pig manure	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35	322	-		No	Microbial diversity	[75]
Fermented mud and wheat straw	Food waste	Digester sludge	Batch/Semi-continuous	Laboratory	37	618	-		No	Microbial diversity, Ethanol, COD, TS, and VFA	[76]
Haystack corn, pine, white oak, WWTP sludge, Coconut husk, and Douglas fir	WWTP sludge	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35–37/53–55	200	-	-	Yes	BC and mud properties	[43]
Wood waste, rice hulls, and bamboo	Chicken manure	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	-	404	61.6	2.5–10%**	Yes	pH, TS, VFA, ammonia nitrogen and digestate	[21]
Bagasse	Food waste	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35/55	166		1-10 g/L	Yes	Microbial diversity, COD and VFA	[77]
Eucalyptus	Food waste	-	Batch	Laboratory	-	-	-		Yes	Microbial diversity	[78]
Wheat straw	Food waste	Manure	Batch	Laboratory	35	900*	-	2.5–7.5%**	No	Microbial diversity, pH, VFA and ammonia nitrogen,	[79]
Corn stalks, switchgrass, lumber, and Miscanthus	Chicken manure	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	37	186.5	-	10 g/L	Yes	Electron transfer, COD, and microbial diversity	[42]
Rice husk and palm trees	Food waste/Activated sludge	Digester sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35	455.8	65.4	5-10 g/L	Yes	pH, electrical conductivity, and ammonia nitrogen	[80]
Algal biomass	Glucose	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35	197.8	-	10 g/L	No	Transfer of electrons, COD and VFA	[81]
Digest of leaves, branches, and grass	Garden pruning waste	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	37	495.7	57.5	-	No	Physical properties of BC	[82]
Corn straw	Corn straw	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35	140*	-	2%	No	Microbial diversity	[11]
-	Primary and secondary sludge	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	55	400	-	-	Yes	Microbial diversity, COD, pH, alkalinity and VFA	[31]
Nutshell	Corn straw, wheat straw, rice straw and cattle manure	Digester Sludge	Batch	Laboratory	37	6301	-	1-8 g/L	No	Microbial diversity, pH and VFA	[34]
Bagasse	Food waste	Industrial WWTP sludge	Continuous	Laboratory	35	-	-	10 g/L	No	Microbial diversity, ammonia nitrogen, and COD	[83]
Sycamore	Rice straw	Pig manure	Batch	Laboratory	37	218	70–80	-	No	pH and VFA	[84]
horticultural waste	Food waste	Industrial WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35	126.7		3-50 g/L	No	pH and VFA	[85]
Pine wood, cattle bone, eggshell, banana, pumpkin	Food waste	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	55	167.3	-	10 g/L	Yes	Microbial diversity, pH and VFA	[86]
Wood waste	Food waste	Industrial WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35	251	-	3-50 g/L	Yes	Microbial diversity, VFA and enzymatic activity	[87]
Wheat and corn straw	Pig manure	pig sludge	Continuous	Laboratory	38	3000*	-	150 g	No	OLR, electrical conductivity, VFA and ammonia nitrogen	[88]
Apple waste	Potato pulp waste	Manure	Batch	Laboratory	37	390	-	2%**	No	VFA and microbial diversity	[89]
Wood chips	Food waste	WWTP sludge	Semicontinuous	Laboratory	55	500	-	5-10 g/L	No	Thermal analysis, VFA and microbial diversity	[90]
Digestate	Food waste digestate	Food reactor sludge	Batch	Laboratory	37	335	-	-	-	Biochar production	[91]
WWTP sludge	Cooked rice, cooked egg white and cooked lard	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35	343	-	5 g/L	No	pH, VFA, and microbial diversity	[92]
Wood pellets	Food waste	Industrial WWTP sludge	Batch/Semi-continuous	Laboratory/Pilot	55	786/543	61.9	6-30 g	Yes	Microbial diversity	[93]
Algal biomass	Food waste and algal biomass	WWTP sludge	Batch/Semi-continuous	Laboratory	35/55	536/460	-	15 g/L	No	OLR, VFA, pH and microbial diversity	[94]
WWTP sludge	Activated sludge and food waste	Digester sludge	Batch	Laboratory	37	249.3	-	0.5-2 g	Yes	pH, VFA and kinetics	[95]
Wood pellets, wheat straw and sheep manure	Chicken manure	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	37	87	-	5–20%**	No	Microbial diversity, pH, VFA and ammonia nitrogen,	[96]
Wood pellets	Chicken manure	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	37	120	-	5–20%**	Yes	Microbial diversity, pH, VFA and ammonia nitrogen	[97]
Pine sawdust (PS), Manuka wood chips and chicken manure	Municipal biowaste	WWTP sludge	Batch	Laboratory	35	500	-	10-30 g/L	Yes	pH, COD, and ammonia nitrogen	[98]

^{BS: Biochar source; BD: Biochar dose; T: Temperature of the experiment; *Biogas (mL); ** Dose in terms of total solid percentage (TS%)}.

Figure 6. Effect of BC type and substrate used during AD studies of organic residues: a) duration of lag-phase, b) percentage change of lag-phase, c) methane production by type of substrate, and d) percent change in methane production. The number of observations on each BC or substrate is shown in parentheses. Error bars indicate the confidence range of 95%.

Figure 7. Effect of BC type on AD monitoring variables of organic waste: a) behavior of pH, b) behavior of VFAs, c) methane production, and d) behavior of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN).

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