Nanobubble technology to enhance energy recovery from anaerobic digestion of organic solid wastes: Potential mechanisms and recent advancements.

Nanobubble (NB) technology has gained popularity in the environmental field owing to its distinctive characteristics and ecological safety. More recently, the application of NB technology in anaerobic digestion (AD) systems has been proven to promote substrate degradation and boost the production of biogas (H2 and/or CH4). This review presents the recent advancements in the application of NB technology in AD systems. Meanwhile, it also sheds light on the underlying mechanisms of NB technology that contribute to the enhanced biogas production from AD of organic solid wastes. Specifically, the working principles of the NB generator are first summarized, and then the structure of the NB generator is optimized to accommodate the demand for NB characteristics in the AD system. Subsequently, it delves into a detailed discussion of how the addition of nanobubble water (NBW) affects AD performance and the different factors that NB can potentially contribute. As a simple and environmentally friendly additive, NBW was commonly used in the AD process to enhance the fluidity and mass transfer characteristics of digestate. Additionally, NB has the potential to enhance the functionality of different types of microbial enzymes that play crucial roles in the AD process. This includes boosting extracellular hydrolase activities, optimizing coenzyme F420, and improving cellulase function. Finally, it is proposed that NBW has development potential for the pretreatment of substrate and inoculum, with future development being directed towards this aim.

Simultaneous addition of CO2-nanobubble water and iron nanoparticles to enhance methane production from anaerobic digestion of corn straw.

In this research, CO2-nanobubble water (CO2-NBW) and iron nanoparticles (Fe0NPs) were added simultaneously to exploit individual advantages to enhance the methanogenesis process from both the stability of anaerobic digestion (AD) system and the activity of anaerobic microorganism aspects. Results showed that the AD performance was enhanced by supplementing with CO2-NBW or Fe0NPs individually, and could be further improved by simultaneous addition of the two additives. The maximum methane yield was achieved in the CO2-NBW + Fe0NPs reactor (141.99 mL/g-VSadded), which increased by 26.16% compared to the control group. Similarly, the activities of the electron transfer system (ETS) and enzyme were improved. The results of microbial community structure revealed that the addition of CO2-NBW and Fe0NPs could improve the abundance of dominant bacteria (Anaerolineaceae, Bacteroidales, and Prolixibacteraceae) and archaea (Methanotrichaceae and Methanospirillaceae). Additionally, the functional metabolic prediction heatmap indicated that metabolic functional genes favorable for AD of corn straw were enhanced.