Pulsed electric field as an alternative technology to thermal hygienization of animal by-products in biogas plant: Modelling of inactivation performances of two indicator bacteria and energy consumption
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion requires hygienization of animal by-products effluents, today performed by thermal hygienization (>70 • C, >1 h residence time). This process consumes energy from 28 to 70 kWh-th.t -1 (100 to 252 kJ.kg -1 ). Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) hygienization is a potential alternative, since inactivation above 5 log 10 can be reached in seconds for pathogenic microbial strains. This study models the inactivation performances and energy consumption of the thermal and PEF treatment, based on experimental data from batch and continuous studies reported in the literature. The model provides computational values of the energy need of hygienization of anaerobic digestion effluent. Effluent temperature above 45 • C reduces the treatment time to reach 5 log 10 inactivation by a factor 35 to 619. However, energy consumption remains too high (≈10 3 kWh-e.t -1 or kJ-e. kg -1 ) to be economically viable. The model has limitations which requires further studies to increase precision of computational results with experimental industrial data.
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BibTeX
@article{vonk2026pulsed,
title = {{Pulsed electric field as an alternative technology to thermal hygienization of animal by-products in biogas plant: Modelling of inactivation performances of two indicator bacteria and energy consumption}},
author = {Gwendal Vonk and Xiaojun Liu and Thomas Lendormi},
journal = {Bioresource Technology Reports},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.biteb.2026.103061},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05753513v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Pulsed electric field as an alternative technology to thermal hygienization of animal by-products in biogas plant: Modelling of inactivation performances of two indicator bacteria and energy consumption
AU - Gwendal Vonk
AU - Xiaojun Liu
AU - Thomas Lendormi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
JO - Bioresource Technology Reports
DO - 10.1016/j.biteb.2026.103061
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05753513v1
AB - Anaerobic digestion requires hygienization of animal by-products effluents, today performed by thermal hygienization (>70 • C, >1 h residence time). This process consumes energy from 28 to 70 kWh-th.t -1 (100 to 252 kJ.kg -1 ). Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) hygienization is a potential alternative, since inactivation above 5 log 10 can be reached in seconds for pathogenic microbial strains. This study models the inactivation performances and energy consumption of the thermal and PEF treatment, based on experimental data from batch and continuous studies reported in the literature. The model provides computational values of the energy need of hygienization of anaerobic digestion effluent. Effluent temperature above 45 • C reduces the treatment time to reach 5 log 10 inactivation by a factor 35 to 619. However, energy consumption remains too high (≈10 3 kWh-e.t -1 or kJ-e. kg -1 ) to be economically viable. The model has limitations which requires further studies to increase precision of computational results with experimental industrial data.
SN - 2589-014X
ER -