Evaluation of the anaerobic digestion process for low and micro-scale biogas production: a review

Abstract

A theoretical analysis of biogas production technologies classified in two subgroups; low and micro scale, was carried out using the methodology of formal concept analysis (FCA) together with the VOSviewer and Conception Explorer tools for information processing, a series of attributes that each subsystem must comply with in terms of the sustainability of each technology were analyzed. The information selected for the development of the analysis required a quality study, based on the percentile of the journals in which the manuscript was published. The search for information was carried out in web sites such as: Scopus, Web Of Science, Dimensions and Lens among others. In total, 105 sources of academic information were analyzed, selecting 56 articles and 18 book chapters for the development of the work. In conclusion, it can be affirmed that low-scale biogas plants present more favorable characteristics than micro-scale plants; however, both technologies have a high potential for application worldwide in isolated or rural areas, supplying electric or thermal energy to less favored communities. Finally, it is important to point out that the methodology developed has proven to be a relevant tool for the classification of information and serves as a first step to group and relate search concepts by means of a deterministic set of attributes.