Co-Ensiling of Wheat Straw as an Alternative Pre-Treatment to Chemical, Hydrothermal and Mechanical Methods for Methane Production

Mads Ujarak Sieborg, Brian Dahl Jønson, Søren Ugilt Larsen, Ali Heidarzadeh Vazifehkhoran and Jin Mi Triolo
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Mads Ujarak Sieborg: Department of Chemical, Biotechnology, and Environmental Technology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark
Brian Dahl Jønson: Department of Chemical, Biotechnology, and Environmental Technology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark
Søren Ugilt Larsen: Danish Technological Institute—AgroTech, Agro Food Park 15, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Ali Heidarzadeh Vazifehkhoran: Department of Chemical, Biotechnology, and Environmental Technology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark
Jin Mi Triolo: Department of Chemical, Biotechnology, and Environmental Technology, University of Southern Denmark, DK-5230 Odense, Denmark

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-19

Abstract: Wheat straw without pre-treatment is only converted to methane to a low degree during anaerobic digestion for fuel production due to its low hydrolysis. Current pre-treatment technologies are challenged by high expenses to energy or chemical agents. We examined the low-tech co-ensiling pre-treatment as an alternative pre-treatment of wheat straw, and compared the results with hydrothermal, chemical and mechanical pre-treatment methods. The effects of co-ensiling duration and the mixing ratio between straw and sugar beet root on the methane yields, surface morphology and chemical composition were examined. It was found that co-ensiling could improve production of methane by 34.7%, while a combined hydrothermal and chemical pre-treatment could increase the production of methane by 25.4%. The study demonstrated that the effect of co-ensiling could overlap with hydrothermal and chemical pre-treatment by having similar effects to increase lignocellulosic hydrolysis and improve methane production.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; biofuels; sustainability; silage; lignocellulose; biogas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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