Crop Characteristics of Aquatic Macrophytes for Use as a Substrate in Anaerobic Digestion Plants—A Study from Germany

Lucie Moeller, Aline Bauer, Harald Wedwitschka, Walter Stinner and Andreas Zehnsdorf
Additional contact information
Lucie Moeller: Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, UFZ—Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Aline Bauer: Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, UFZ—Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Harald Wedwitschka: German Biomass Research Centre—DBFZ, Torgauer Straße 116, 04347 Leipzig, Germany
Walter Stinner: German Biomass Research Centre—DBFZ, Torgauer Straße 116, 04347 Leipzig, Germany
Andreas Zehnsdorf: Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, UFZ—Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: Several thousand metric tonnes of aquatic biomass are removed from water bodies every year, so that these waters can continue to be used for ship and boat traffic and for leisure activities. The mowed material is generally disposed off without any further use. Therefore, the crop properties of samples from 39 weed control measures all over Germany were examined to assess the suitability of aquatic plant biomass as a substrate for anaerobic digestion systems. Analysis of the crop samples consisted of the identification of plant species and the evaluation of sediment contents and concentrations of macroelements. The methane yield was determined for selected aquatic plants. Analysis revealed a carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N) of between 10 and 20 in 74% of samples. The concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorous in the samples were comparable to grass silages. With regard to heavy metal concentrations, the threshold values for biowaste for nickel, zinc, and cadmium were exceeded in three samples. There were no significant seasonal differences in substrate characteristics and qualities. The specific methane yields of individual aquatic plants were between 142 and 372 L CH4 /kg volatile solids (VS). The results of this study showed that aquatic macrophytes can be used as substrates in anaerobic digestion plants without any restrictions.

Keywords: aquatic macrophytes; substrate; anaerobic digestion; crop characteristics; biogas; methane; aquatic biomass (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: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/11/3016/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/11/3016/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:11:p:3016-:d:180049

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().