A comprehensive review on biological methanation processes: from gaseous feedstocks to biomethane
Hulya Civelek Yörüklü, Donya Kamravamanesh, Emre Oğuz Köroğlu, Gulam Husain Patel, Jouni Havukainen, Hannu Karjunen, Jani Sillman, Marika Kokko
Abstract
Biological methanation is a process that utilizes methanogenic archaea as catalysts to convert carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and hydrogen (H 2 ) to methane (CH 4 ). The process can be carried out in various ways: in-situ , i.e. within a biogas digestor fed with organic feedstocks and H 2 , ex-situ , i.e. in a reactor fed with CO 2 -rich gas and H 2 , or in a microbial electrosynthesis reactor, where the reducing equivalents for CO 2 reduction are provided with cathode electrode. This review shortly presents the key metabolic pathways involved in biological methanation and the different process options, including microbial electrosynthesis, and examines in detail the significance of the CO 2 and H 2 sources and the availability and composition of these gas streams, and presents results from life cycle assessment (LCA) of biological methanation processes. The focus of the review is on biogenic CO 2 . When planning biological methanation, it is crucial to carefully evaluate the options of transferring CO 2 and/or H 2 or producing H 2 where CO 2 is produced in terms of cost and feasibility. The continuous versus intermittent availability of CO 2 and H 2 as well as the potential presence of impurities in the CO 2 -rich gases can impact the efficiency of the biological methanation process. Specifically, impurities such as nitrogen and sulfur oxides, hydrogen sulfide and heavy metals can negatively impact the biological methanation process. Several LCA studies have demonstrated that biological methanation significantly reduces the greenhouse gas emissions and improves climate impacts, when renewable energy is used for H 2 generation and natural gas replacement is considered.