Ability for generating electricity at the La Totora wastewater treatment plant
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62428/rcvp2026512150Keywords:
Energy potential, biogas, COD, BOD5, volatile solids, greenhouse gasesAbstract
The aim was to determine the potential for generating electricity from biogas produced at the La Totora wastewater treatment plant in Ayacucho, 2024–2026. The study focused on urban wastewater generated in the city of Huamanga; to determine this potential, four quantification methods were used: the amount of volatile solids, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), the population served, and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5). These values were averaged to determine the potential for electricity generation, and the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that could be avoided was also quantified. The result was that the average biogas produced by the plant was 3,554.42 m³/day; the electricity generation potential of the biogas produced by the plant was 23,034.42 kWh/day, and the total reduction in greenhouse gases at the plant was 20,778.23 tCO2eq/year (92.73%). A procedure was developed to determine the potential for electricity generation from the biogas produced at the La Totora wastewater treatment plant, as well as the resulting reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It is recommended that, for wastewater treatment facilities to be implemented in Huamanga and other locations in the country, the use of biogas should be an initial consideration, with the aim of diversifying the energy mix.
Downloads
References
 Ramírez, T., Medrano, O., & Escobedo, L. (2020). Generación de energía en plantas de tratamiento de aguas residuales (PTAR).: El caso de la PTAR zona noreste, Villahermosa, México. ENERLAC, Revista De energía De Latinoamérica Y El Caribe, 4(1), 12–30. https://enerlac.olade.org/index.php/ENERLAC/article/view/128
Aguirre, S. (2022). Evaluación del potencial de energía eléctrica que se puede generar a partir de aguas residuales domésticas (ARD) en el departamento del Tolima [Tesis de Titulación, Universidad de Ibagué]. Repositorio Institucional Unibagué. https://repositorio.unibague.edu.co/server/api/core/bitstreams/23a568f1-1347-41e7-9070-246cb9066090/content
Angelidaki, I., Kougias, P. G., Lemmer, A., Luo, G., Muñoz, R., Oechsner, H., Xie, L., & Zhang, Y. (2019). Biogas upgrading: Current and emerging technologies. En S. C. Ricke (Ed.), Biofuels: Alternative feedstocks and conversion processes for the production of liquid and gaseous biofuels (2.ª ed., pp. 817–843). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816856-1.00033-6
Cañote, S., Mambeli, R., Silva, E., Almazan, O., Silva, I., Velásquez, J., et al. (2021). Energy and Economic Evaluation of the Production of Biogas from Anaerobic and Aerobic Sludge in Brazil. Waste and Biomass Valorization, 12, 947-969. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-020-01046-w
Cordero, J. (2017). Evaluación del potencial energético de las aguas residuales urbanas generadas en ciudades de altura [Tesis de magister. Universidad de Cuenca]. DSpace Ucuenca. .https://rest-dspace.ucuenca.edu.ec/server/api/core/bitstreams/af942e9b-6700-4feb-8c80-bb29665c0d94/content
Chen, B., Appels, L., Dewil, R., & Azman, S. (2024). Alkaline in-situ treatment: influence on the microbial activity and biomethane yield of anaerobic digestion. Ku Leuven. https://kuleuven.limo.libis.be/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=lirias4160036&context=SearchWebhook&vid=32KUL_KUL:Lirias&search_scope=lirias_profile&adaptor=SearchWebhook&tab=LIRIAS&query=any,contains,LIRIAS4160036&offset=0
Cheng, H., Li, Y., & Li, W. (2021). Estimation of biogas production and the emission reduction potential from municipal wastewater treatment plants in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 318, 128517. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2025.116017
Díaz-Trujillo, L., Tovar, J., Nápoles, F., Ponce, J., (2019). Effective Use of Carbon Pricing on Climate Change Mitigation Projects: Analysis of the Biogas Supply Chain to Substitute Liquefied-Petroleum Gas in Mexico. Processes, 7(10), 668; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr7100668
Hoo, P. Y., et al. (2022). A review on the conversion of biogas to electricity and thermal energy: Engine and fuel cell-based systems. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 161, 112383. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8776554/
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC]. (2021). Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/
Li, Y., Zhao, J., Krooneman, J., Willem, G. (2021). Strategies to boost anaerobic digestion performance of cow manure: Laboratory achievements and their full-scale application potential. Science of The Total Environment, 755(Part 1), 142940.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142940
Mendoza, L., et al. (2023). Challenges and opportunities for biogas implementation in small and medium wastewater treatment plants in Latin America. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 53, 103685. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S3050475925007183
Nolasco, D. (2010). Desarrollo de proyectos MDL en plantas de tratamiento de aguas residuales. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo [BID]. https://doi.org/10.18235/0009926
Rufí, M., Petit, A., Leipold, S., Villalba, G. et al. (2022). Increasing resource circularity in wastewater treatment: Environmental implications of technological upgrades. Science of The Total Environment, 838, 156422. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156422
Tchobanoglous, G., et al. (2014). Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Reuse (3era edición). McGraw-Hill.
Yasar, A., Rasheed, R., Tabinda, A., Tahir, A., Sarwar, F. (2017). Life cycle assessment of a medium commercial scale biogas plant and nutritional assessment of effluent slurry. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 67, 364-371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.09.026
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Aníbal Pablo García Bendezú
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Usted es libre de:
- Compartir: copiar y redistribuir el material en cualquier medio o formato.
- Adaptar: remezclar, transformar y desarrollar el material.
- El licenciante no puede revocar estas libertades siempre y cuando usted cumpla con los términos de la licencia.
Bajo los siguientes términos:
- Atribución: Debe otorgar el crédito correspondiente , proporcionar un enlace a la licencia e indicar si se realizaron cambios. Puede hacerlo de cualquier manera razonable, pero no de forma que sugiera que el licenciante lo respalda a usted o su uso.
- No comercial: No está permitido utilizar este material con fines comerciales.
- Compartir Igual: si remezcla, transforma o crea obras derivadas del material, debe distribuir sus contribuciones bajo la misma licencia que el original.
- Sin restricciones adicionales: no podrá aplicar términos legales ni medidas tecnológicas que restrinjan legalmente a otros para que no hagan nada de lo que permite la licencia.
