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Pretreatment of wheat straw for fermentation to methane
Author(s) -
Hashimoto Andrew G.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.260281213
Subject(s) - hemicellulose , chemistry , sodium hydroxide , fermentation , cellulose , straw , methane , ammonium hydroxide , yield (engineering) , ammonium , nuclear chemistry , agronomy , food science , inorganic chemistry , biochemistry , organic chemistry , materials science , metallurgy , biology
Abstract The effects of pretreating wheat straw with gamma‐ray irradiation, ammonium hydroxide, and sodium hydroxide on methane yield, fermentation rate constant, and loss of feedstock constituents were evaluated using laboratory‐scale batch fermentors. Results showed that methane yield increased as pretreatment alkali concentration increased, with the highest yield being 37% over untreated straw for the pretreatment consisting of sodium hydroxide dosage of 34 g OH − /kg volatile solids, at 90°C for 1 h. Gamma‐ray irradiation had no significant effect on methane yield. Alkaline pretreatment temperatures above 100°C caused a decrease in methane yield. After more than 100 days of fermentation, all of the hemi‐cellulose and more than 80% of the cellulose were degraded. The loss in cellulose and hemicellulose accounted for 100% of the volatile solids lost. No consistent effect of pretreatments on batch fermentation rates was noted. Semicontinuous fermentations of straw‐manure mixtures confirmed the relative effectiveness of sodium and ammonium‐hydroxide pretreatments.