IJCEA 2025 Vol.16(1): 16-21
doi: 10.18178/ijcea.2025.16.1.833
Purification of Biogas from Anaerobic Digestion of Food Processing Waste
António A. C. Barros1,2,*, Estevão J. Nzinga2, André B. Leite3, Luciano da S. Lima3, and Vinicyus R. Wiggers4
1. Center for Research and Development (CpD) of Sonangol, Rua Rainha Ginga Nº29/31, Luanda, Angola
2. Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering, Higher Polytechnic Institute of Technologies and Sciences (ISPTEC), Luanda, Angola
3. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia da Bahia (IFBA), Porto Seguro, Brazil
4. Chemical Engineering Department, University of Blumenau, Blumenau, Brazil
Email: chivanga@gmail.com (A.A.C.B.); westjacinto@gmail.com (E.J.N.); andreburigo@ifba.edu.br (A.B.L.);
lucianolima@ifba.edu.br (L.S.L.); vwiggers@furb.br (V.R.W.)
*Corresponding author
Manuscript received September 15, 2024; revised October 10, 2024; accepted October 17, 2024; published February 21, 2025
Abstract—Biogas is generated through the anaerobic digestion of organic biodegradable materials, such as food processing waste. However, its utilization is constrained by the presence of impurities, primarily carbon dioxide (CO
2), hydrogen sulphide (H
2S), and other gases found in tracer amounts. Physical and chemical absorption techniques can be employed to enhance the methane content of the gas above 97%. In this study, sodium hydroxide was used for biogas purification at concentrations of 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10% in water. The paper investigated the effect of solvent concentration, solvent flow and gas flowrate on absorption and CO
2 and H
2S absorption. It was found that sodium hydroxide concentrations ranging from 2.5% to 5% exhibited favorable absorption rates and high removal efficiencies, greater than 95%, and depends on the fraction of the reagent used. The Process Provision II commercial simulator was employed for this study. The results were correlated with the mass transfer capacity during the absorption process, highlighting its potential application in industrial processes for purifying biogas derived from anaerobic digestion of organic material, particularly waste products.
Keywords—absorption, mass transference, solubility, recovery
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Cite: António A. C. Barros, Estevão J. Nzinga, André B. Leite, Luciano da S. Lima, and Vinicyus R. Wiggers, "Purification of Biogas from Anaerobic Digestion of Food Processing Waste," International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 16-21, 2025.
