ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the advantages and difficulties of biomethane production using an anaerobic digestion process. It explains the anaerobic biodegradation steps involved in the digestion process and anaerobic microbial relationships during biomethane production. Several groups of facultative and anaerobic microorganisms take part in the stages of the anaerobic digestion process to degrade organic material. Various parameters affect the performance of anaerobic digestion, such as temperature, hydraulic retention time (HRT), solid retention time (SRT), organic loading rate (OLR), pH, alkalinity, and micro- and macronutrients. The anaerobic digestion is usually processed under mesophilic conditions, mostly between 35°C and 42°C for lower stability and higher susceptibility to changes in environmental and operational conditions of thermophilic conditions. Although the initial applications of anaerobic digesters were for the stabilization and treatment of waste sludge, anaerobic digestion systems are also a source of renewable energy and the most substantial part of the production of biogas.
