Mesothermal pretreatment using FeCl3 enhances methane production from rice straw

Jianzheng Li, Wenbin Liu, Jia Meng, Lei Zhao, Jiuling Li and Min Zheng

Renewable Energy, 2022, vol. 188, issue C, 670-677

Abstract: Recovery of bioenergy (CH4) from agricultural waste is often limited by low hydrolysis rate due to its inherent recalcitrance structure. This study reports and demonstrates a new pretreatment strategy to enhance methane production from rice straw (RS). This is achieved by adding a commonly-used chemical, ferric chloride (FeCl3), into RS, followed with 24 h of mixing under mesothermal condition (32 °C). The results showed that the addition of FeCl3 ranging from 1.5 to 12.3 mmol/L effectively destroyed the inherent recalcitrance structure of RS and released more reducing sugar by shaping the chemical composition of the RS and reducing crystallinity index of cellulose. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests demonstrated that the pretreated RS at 3.1 mmol FeCl3/L increased the methane production from 10.3 ± 0.2 (i.e. control) to 18.3 ± 0.3 mol CH4/kg VS, indicating a relative increase by 78%. Comprehensive mechanism analyses suggested that the FeCl3 pretreatment improved carbohydrates hydrolysis and stimulated the activity of methanogens during anaerobic digestion. Consequently, the methane yield was significantly increased with decreased lag-phase time in BMP tests, as revealed by the Modified Gompertz model. This study illustrated a cost-effective method of mesothermal FeCl3-based pretreatment to improve methane production from RS.

Keywords: Rice straw; Pretreatment; Ferric chloride; Anaerobic fermentation; Methane yield (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:188:y:2022:i:c:p:670-677

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.02.028

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