Recent achievements in magnetic-field-assisted anaerobic digestion for bioenergy production

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a globally employed biotechnology that involves the conversion of organic wastes into bioenergy. Different pretreatment approaches like physical, chemical, biological and a combination of these methods have been proposed to enhance the degradation of organic matter for its prospective valorisation into value-added products like biogas. The production of methane-rich biogas by AD is one of the green strategies that help manage the organic wastes widely generated. However, there are challenges in AD that can hinder the decomposition of complex polymers like inhibition of bacterial activity by the build-up of toxic compounds and slow interspecies electron transfer. To address these issues, applying a magnetic field (MF) to an AD process emerges as a promising approach to improve microbial activity, promote metal ion interactions with enzymes and enhance organic matter biodegradation. Therefore, this work examines the utilization of the magnetic field as a potential strategy to enhance biogas production and methane enrichment. Moreover, efforts have been made to study the potential impacts of MF on microbes and their activity in anaerobic digesters, and thereby biogas production. It helps understand the volatile fatty acids dynamics and methanogenesis under magnetic field conditions. It further explores the recent technological innovations in magnetic field-assisted anaerobic digestion (MF-AD) and studies the role of conducive materials like magnetic nanoparticles in AD. An outlook has been provided on the critical areas that need to be focused on to make this approach a feasible option for enhancing biogas production through AD.