Design Implications of Headspace Ratio VHS/Vtot on Pressure Stability, Gas Composition and Methane Productivity—A Systematic Review

Headspace (HS) in anaerobic batch biodigesters is a critical design parameter that modulates pressure stability, gas–liquid equilibrium, and methanogenic productivity. This systematic review, guided by PRISMA 2020, analyzed 84 studies published between 2015 and 2025, of which 64 were included in the qualitative and quantitative synthesis. The interplay between headspace volume fraction VHS/Vtot, operating pressure, and normalized methane yield was assessed, explicitly integrating safety and instrumentation requirements. In laboratory settings, maintaining a headspace volume fraction (HSVF) of 0.30–0.50 with continuous pressure monitoring P(t) and gas chromatography reduces volumetric uncertainty to below 5–8% and establishes reference yields of 300–430 NmL CH4 g−1 VS at 35 °C. At the pilot scale, operation at 3–4 bar absolute increases the CH4 fraction by 10–20 percentage points relative to ~1 bar, while maintaining yields of 0.28–0.35 L CH4 g COD−1 and production rates of 0.8–1.5 Nm3 CH4 m−3 d−1 under OLRs of 4–30 kg COD m−3 d−1, provided pH stabilizes at 7.2–7.6 and the free NH3 fraction remains below inhibitory thresholds. At full scale, gas domes sized to buffer pressure peaks and equipped with continuous pressure and flow monitoring feed predictive models (AUC > 0.85) that reduce the incidence of foaming and unplanned shutdowns, while the integration of desulfurization and condensate management keep corrosion at acceptable levels. Rational sizing of HS is essential to standardize BMP tests, correctly interpret the physicochemical effects of HS on CO2 solubility, and distinguish them from intrinsic methanogenesis. We recommend explicitly reporting standardized metrics (Nm3 CH4 m−3 d−1, NmL CH4 g−1 VS, L CH4 g COD−1), absolute or relative pressure, HSVF, and the analytical method as a basis for comparability and coupled thermodynamic modeling. While this review primarily focuses on batch (discontinuous) anaerobic digesters, insights from semi-continuous and continuous systems are cited for context where relevant to scale-up and headspace dynamics, without expanding the main scope beyond batch systems.