Sciuto, L.; Licciardello, F.; Barbera, A.C.; Scavera, V.; Musumeci, S.; Severino, M.; Cirelli, G.L. Is Biomethane Production from Common Reed Biomass Influenced by the Hydraulic Parameters of Treatment Wetlands? Sustainability2024, 16, 2751.
Sciuto, L.; Licciardello, F.; Barbera, A.C.; Scavera, V.; Musumeci, S.; Severino, M.; Cirelli, G.L. Is Biomethane Production from Common Reed Biomass Influenced by the Hydraulic Parameters of Treatment Wetlands? Sustainability 2024, 16, 2751.
Sciuto, L.; Licciardello, F.; Barbera, A.C.; Scavera, V.; Musumeci, S.; Severino, M.; Cirelli, G.L. Is Biomethane Production from Common Reed Biomass Influenced by the Hydraulic Parameters of Treatment Wetlands? Sustainability2024, 16, 2751.
Sciuto, L.; Licciardello, F.; Barbera, A.C.; Scavera, V.; Musumeci, S.; Severino, M.; Cirelli, G.L. Is Biomethane Production from Common Reed Biomass Influenced by the Hydraulic Parameters of Treatment Wetlands? Sustainability 2024, 16, 2751.
Abstract
Treatment wetlands (TWs) are Nature-Based Solutions increasingly used worldwide for wastewater (WW) treatment able to remove mineral and organic pollutants through both physical and biochemical process. Besides the reusable effluent, the TWs produce as main output plant biomass that need to be harvested and disposed at least once a year with significant management costs and TW temporary out of service. This study aims (i) to evaluate the potential of TWs biomass for local energy production and (ii) to understand TW hydraulic conductivity (Ks) effects on the biomass biomethane yield. Specifically, it was addressed by determining the Biochemical Methane Potential of common reed (CR) (Phragmites australis) samples collected at three harvest times from the 10-years-old horizontal subsurface treatment wetland (HSTW) used as a secondary WW treatment system for the IKEA® store located in Catania (Eastern Sicily, Italy). Furthermore, the falling head test was conducted to assess the hydraulic conductivity (Ks) variation in the HSTW, in order to understand the influence on the CR biomethane production. Average methane content values were 130.57 Nm3CH4/tVS (±24.29), 212.70 Nm3CH4/tVS (±50.62) and 72.83 Nm3CH4/tVS (±23.19) in August, September, October 2022, respectively. Ks was correlated with both dry matter (R2 = 0.58) and fiber content (R2 = 0.74) and, consequently, affected the biomethane yield that increased at the Ks increases (R2 = 0.30 in August, R2 = 0.57 in September). In the framework of a circular economy, results showed the successfully possibility of integrating the bioenergy production into TWs. The research could contribute (i) to encourage plant operators to reuse biomass from TWs for local energy production and (ii) to help plant operators to understand Ks effects on the biomass biomethane yield, in order to increase the sustainability of the system and to reduce the maintenance costs.
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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