Pulsed electric field: An emerging pretreatment technology in a biogas production Ðurdica Kovac ˇic ´ a,⇑ , Slavko Rupc ˇic ´ b , Davor Kralik a , Daria Jovic ˇic ´ a , Robert Spajic ´ a , Marina Tišma c a J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Agrobiotechnical Sciences Osijek, Vladimira Preloga 1, HR - 31000 Osijek, Croatia b J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology Osijek, Kneza Trpimira 2B, HR - 31000 Osijek, Croatia c J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Food Technology Osijek, F. Kuhac ˇa 18, HR - 31000 Osijek, Croatia article info Article history: Received 16 April 2020 Revised 1 October 2020 Accepted 6 October 2020 Available online xxxx Keywords: Anaerobic digestion Biogas Lignocellulose Pretreatment Pulsed electric field Sludge abstract This review focuses on current status of pulsed electric field (PEF) technology and its implementation in biogas production. First, basic principles of PEF and a schematic overview of typical PEF processing sys- tem were provided. Thereafter, lab- and pilot-scale PEF pretreatments of sludge with subsequent anaer- obic digestion (AD) were provided. Furthermore, PEF technology, as an emerging technology for the lignocellulose (LC) pretreatment in biogas production which is still predominantly used at lab-scale, was outlined. Eventually, conclusion together with future perspectives and challenges were outlined. Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 00 2. Basic aspects of electroporation induced by pulsed electric field ................................................................ 00 3. Pulsed electric field (PEF) system design ................................................................................... 00 3.1. PEF processing parameters ......................................................................................... 00 4. PEF in biogas production ................................................................................................ 00 4.1. PEF pretreatment of sludge for biogas production ...................................................................... 00 4.2. PEF pretreatment of LC for biogas production.......................................................................... 00 5. Future perspectives .................................................................................................... 00 6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 00 Formatting of funding sources ............................................................................................. 00 Submission declaration and verification ..................................................................................... 00 Declaration of Competing Interest ........................................................................................ 00 References ........................................................................................................... 00 1. Introduction The concept of green chemistry has gained increasing interest as a possible approach to the challenge of developing environmen- tally friendly technologies that use raw materials more efficiently, eliminates wastes and avoids the use of toxic and hazardous mate- rials. Recent studies report that AD is an efficient technology which combines biofuel production and sustainable waste management along with food industry technologies (like microwaves, ultra- sound, gamma ray, electron beam, pulsed electric field, high hydro- static pressure, and high pressure homogenization) to enhance production and quality of biogas as a green chemistry concept (Hassan et al., 2018). As one of such technologies, pulsed electric https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.10.009 0956-053X/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: djkovacic@fazos.hr (Ð. Kovac ˇic ´). Waste Management xxx (xxxx) xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Waste Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman Please cite this article as: Ð. Kovac ˇic ´, S. Rupc ˇic ´ , D. Kralik et al., Pulsed electric field: An emerging pretreatment technology in a biogas production, Waste Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.10.009