3.

History of anaerobic biodigestion

Sparse evidence suggests that biogas was known to the Assyrians and Persians centuries before Jesus
Christ was born. Further evidence is traceable to count Alessandro olta who in !""# concluded that
there was a direct link between the a$ount of decaying organic $atter and the a$ount of fla$$able gas
produced. Sir Hu$phrey %avy deter$ined in !&'& that $ethane was present in the gasses produced
during the anaerobic deco$position of cattle $anure. Hel$ont recorded the e$anation of an
infla$$able gas fro$ decaying organic $atter in the !"th century ()rakel* !+&',. -t was not until
towards the end of the !+th century that $ethanogenesis was found to be connected to $icrobial
activity. -n !&#&* )echa$p na$ed the organis$ responsible for $ethane production fro$ ethanol. .his
organis$ could $ore accurately be described as a $i/ed population. )echa$p was able to show that*
depending on the substrate different fer$entation products were for$ed. 0ehnder et al (!+&1, stated that
it was in !&"# when Herter reported that acetate in sewage was converted to e2ual a$ounts of $ethane
and carbon dio/ide. 3eynell (!+"#, noted that the first anaerobic digestion plant was built in )o$bay*
-ndia in !&4+. .he first notable use of biog5s in 6ngland occurred in !&4+ when gas derived fro$ a
sewage treat$ent facility was used to fuel street la$ps in 6/eter (3cCabe and 6ckenfelder* !+4",. .hen
in !+'7* .ravis put into operation a new two8stage process in which the suspended $aterial was
separated fro$ the wastewater and allowed to pass into a separate 9hydroly:ing; cha$ber (Carcelon and
Clark* 1''1,. )uswell and Hatfield (!+3#, and so$e other researchers in the !+3's identified anaerobic
bacteria and the conditions that pro$ote the production of $ethane. .heir worksalso e/plained such
issues as the fate of nitrogen in the anaerobic digestion process* stoichio$etry of the reactions* as well as
the production of energy fro$ far$ and industrial wastes through the anaerobic digestion process.
<egarding anaerobic technology* far$ based facilities are the $ost co$$on. -n conte$porary ti$es
low=technology biogas digesters have been $ost e/tensively used in China and -ndia. )ui8>uan (1''7,
pointed out that low cost biogas technology has been well received by s$all holder far$s in $any
developing countries for producing a clean fuel to replace firewood* within the recent ten years. Stating
that $ore than twenty thousand digesters have been installed in ietna$* $ainly paid for by the far$ers?
however biodigesters are still not fully integrated into the far$ing syste$ as there is only li$ited use of
by8products (effluent, as fertili:er for vegetables* fruit trees* fish pond and water plants. .he paper
further stated that the use of effluent fro$ digester can be studied as a resource for s$all scale far$ers.
-nterest in the technology is increasing in several other parts of the world.
3 Hist@ria da biodigestAo anaer@bia
As escassas provas sugere 2ue o biog5s era conhecido pelos assBrios e persas sCculos antes de Jesus
Cristo nascer. Dutra evidEncia C rastre5vel para contar Alessandro olta* 2ue e$ !""# concluiu 2ue nAo
havia u$a ligaFAo direta entre a 2uantidade de $atCria orgGnica e$ deco$posiFAo e da 2uantidade de
g5s infla$5vel produ:ido. Sir Hu$phrey %avy* e$ !&'&* deter$inou 2ue o $etano estava presente nos
gases produ:idos durante a deco$posiFAo anaer@bia de esterco bovino. Hel$ont registrou a e$anaFAo
de u$ g5s infla$5vel de $atCria orgGnica e$ deco$posiFAo no sCculo !" ()rakel* !+&',. HAo foi atC
perto do fi$ do sCculo !+ 2ue a $etanogCnese foi encontrado para ser conectado a actividade
$icrobiana. 6$ !&#&* )echa$p no$eado o organis$o respons5vel pela produFAo de $etano a partir do
etanol. 6ste organis$o pode ser $ais precisa$ente descrito co$o u$a populaFAo $ista. )Ccha$p foi
capa: de $ostrar 2ue* dependendo dos produtos de fer$entaFAo de substratos diferentes fora$
for$ados. 0ehnder et al (!+&1, afir$ou 2ue era e$ !&"#* 2uando Herter infor$ou 2ue o acetato de
esgoto foi convertido e$ 2uantidades iguais de $etano e di@/ido de carbono. 3eynell (!+"#, observou
2ue a pri$eira planta de digestAo anaer@bia foi construBdo e$ )o$bai$* India* e$ !&4+ D pri$eiro uso
not5vel de biog5s na -nglaterra ocorreu e$ !&4+* 2uando o g5s derivado de u$a instalaFAo de
trata$ento de esgoto foi usado para ali$entar lG$padas de rua e$ 6/eter (3cCabe e 6ckenfelder*
!+4",. 6$ seguida* e$ !+'7* .ravis colocar e$ funciona$ento u$ novo processo de duas fases e$ 2ue
o $aterial suspenso foi separada das 5guas residuais e dei/ada passar para u$ JhidrolisarJ cG$ara
separada (Carcelon e Clark* 1''1,. )uswell e Hatfield (!+3#, e alguns outros pes2uisadores na dCcada
de !+3' bactCrias anaer@bias identificados e as condiFKes 2ue pro$ove$ a produFAo de $etano. Sua
worksalso e/plicou 2uestKes co$o o destino do nitrogEnio no processo de digestAo anaer@bia*
este2uio$etria das reaFKes* be$ co$o a produFAo de energia a partir de resBduos agrBcolas e industriais
atravCs do processo de digestAo anaer@bia. Luanto M tecnologia anaer@bia* instalaFKes agrBcolas co$
base sAo os $ais co$uns. Hos te$pos atuais de bai/a tecnologia digestores de biog5s fora$ $ais
a$pla$ente utili:ado na China e na India. )ui >uan8(1''7, apontou 2ue a tecnologia de biog5s de
bai/o custo te$ sido be$ recebido por pe2uenos agricultores titular e$ $uitos paBses e$
desenvolvi$ento para a produFAo de u$ co$bustBvel li$po para substituir a lenha* nos Nlti$os de:
anos. Afir$ando 2ue $ais de vinte $il biodigestores fora$ instalados no ietnA* pagos principal$ente
para pelos agricultores? no entanto biodigestores ainda nAo estAo total$ente integrados no siste$a de
agricultura 2ue haOa u$ uso li$itado de subprodutos (efluente, co$o adubo para hortaliFas* 5rvores
frutBferas* lago de pei/es e plantas a2u5ticas. D Oornal afir$ou ainda 2ue o uso de efluente de biodigestor
pode ser estudada co$o u$ recurso para os pe2uenos agricultores. D interesse na tecnologia est5 a
au$entar e$ inN$eras outras partes do $undo.