Chapter 3
A Comprehensive Review on Microbial
Technology for Biogas Production
S. Sivamani, B. Saikat, B. S. Naveen Prasad, Asraar Ahmed Salim Baalawy,
and Said Mohammed Alabd Al-Mashali
Abstract Biogas, an alternative to fossil fuels, is a blend which consists predominantly of CH4 and CO2 used for transportation and collective heat as well as power
(CHP) generation. The factors affecting biogas manufacture are characteristics of
substrate (especially C/N and VSS/TSS ratios), concentration of substrate in feed,
process temperature, retention time, working pressure, and pH of feed. Biogas is
produced by anaerobic digestion, in which biopolymers are transformed to biogas in
the nonappearance of O2. This digestion process is essentially anaerobic which
contains four major steps. These are hydrolysis of polymer, acidogenesis,
acetogenesis, as well as methanogenesis. Hydrolysis involves the breakdown of
biopolymers to its monomers with the help of water. Acidogenesis involves the
formation of acids, which are essentially volatile, from the monomers. Acetogenesis
produces acetates and acetic acid from various volatile acids. Finally, acetates and
acetic acid are converted to methane and carbon dioxide during methanogenesis.
Anaerobic digestion takes place in the presence of co-culture containing hydrolytic,
acidogenic, acetogenic, and methanogenic organisms. In this chapter, a comprehensive review on the development of hydrolytic, acidogenic, acetogenic, and
methanogenic organisms for biogas production is presented.
Keywords Biogas · Anaerobic digestion · Hydrolytic organisms · Acidogenic
organisms · Acetogenic organisms · Methanogenic organisms
3.1 Introduction
The demand of energy increases because of urbanization and industrialization. An
alternate source of producing energy is required to come across the demand as well
as reduce the necessity of the fossil fuels (York 2012). Biogas, a combination of
S. Sivamani (*) · B. Saikat · B. S. Naveen Prasad · A. A. S. Baalawy · S. M. A. Al-Mashali
Chemical Engineering Section, Engineering Department, Salalah College of Technology,
Salalah, Oman
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Srivastava et al. (eds.), Bioenergy Research: Revisiting Latest Development,
Clean Energy Production Technologies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4615-4_3
53
A Comprehensive Review on Microbial
Technology for Biogas Production
S. Sivamani, B. Saikat, B. S. Naveen Prasad, Asraar Ahmed Salim Baalawy,
and Said Mohammed Alabd Al-Mashali
Abstract Biogas, an alternative to fossil fuels, is a blend which consists predominantly of CH4 and CO2 used for transportation and collective heat as well as power
(CHP) generation. The factors affecting biogas manufacture are characteristics of
substrate (especially C/N and VSS/TSS ratios), concentration of substrate in feed,
process temperature, retention time, working pressure, and pH of feed. Biogas is
produced by anaerobic digestion, in which biopolymers are transformed to biogas in
the nonappearance of O2. This digestion process is essentially anaerobic which
contains four major steps. These are hydrolysis of polymer, acidogenesis,
acetogenesis, as well as methanogenesis. Hydrolysis involves the breakdown of
biopolymers to its monomers with the help of water. Acidogenesis involves the
formation of acids, which are essentially volatile, from the monomers. Acetogenesis
produces acetates and acetic acid from various volatile acids. Finally, acetates and
acetic acid are converted to methane and carbon dioxide during methanogenesis.
Anaerobic digestion takes place in the presence of co-culture containing hydrolytic,
acidogenic, acetogenic, and methanogenic organisms. In this chapter, a comprehensive review on the development of hydrolytic, acidogenic, acetogenic, and
methanogenic organisms for biogas production is presented.
Keywords Biogas · Anaerobic digestion · Hydrolytic organisms · Acidogenic
organisms · Acetogenic organisms · Methanogenic organisms
3.1 Introduction
The demand of energy increases because of urbanization and industrialization. An
alternate source of producing energy is required to come across the demand as well
as reduce the necessity of the fossil fuels (York 2012). Biogas, a combination of
S. Sivamani (*) · B. Saikat · B. S. Naveen Prasad · A. A. S. Baalawy · S. M. A. Al-Mashali
Chemical Engineering Section, Engineering Department, Salalah College of Technology,
Salalah, Oman
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
M. Srivastava et al. (eds.), Bioenergy Research: Revisiting Latest Development,
Clean Energy Production Technologies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4615-4_3
53