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Effect of structural carbohydrates and lignin content on the anaerobic digestion of paper and paper board materials by anaerobic granular sludge
Author(s) -
GonzalezEstrella Jorge,
Asato Caitlin M.,
Jerke Amber C.,
Stone James J.,
Gilcrease Patrick C.
Publication year - 2017
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.26228
Subject(s) - lignin , hemicellulose , cellulose , chemistry , anaerobic digestion , methane , hydrolysis , pulp and paper industry , organic chemistry , engineering
Anaerobic digestion (AD) of lignocellulosic materials is commonly limited by the hydrolysis step. Unlike unprocessed lignocellulosic materials, paper and paper board (PPB) are processed for their fabrication. Such modifications may affect their methane yields and methane production rates. Previous studies have investigated the correlation between lignin and biomethane yields of unprocessed lignocellulosic materials; nevertheless, there is limited knowledge regarding the relationship between the AD kinetic parameters and composition of PPB. This study evaluated correlations of methane yields and Monod and Gompertz kinetic parameters with structural carbohydrates, lignin, and ash concentration of five types of PPBs. All components were used as single and combined independent variables in linear regressions to predict methane yield, maximum specific methanogenic activity ( SMA max ), saturation constant ( K s ), and lag phase ( λ ). Additionally, microbial community profiles were obtained for each PPB assay. Results showed methane yields ranging from 69.2 ± 8.61 to 97.2 ± 2.29% of PPB substrates provided. The highest correlation coefficients were obtained for SMA max as function of hemicellulose/(lignin + ash) ( R 2 = 0.86) and for λ as a function of lignin + cellulose ( R 2 = 0.85). All other parameters exhibited weaker correlations ( R 2 ≤ 0.77). Relative abundance analyses revealed no major changes in the community profile for each of the substrates evaluated. The overall findings of this study are: (i) combinations of structural carbohydrates, lignin, and ash used as ratios of degradable to either non‐degradable or slowly degradable fractions predict AD kinetic parameters of PPB materials better than single independent variables; and (ii) other components added during their fabrication may also influence both methane yield and kinetic parameters. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 951–960. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.