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Methanogenic fermentation of scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris ) sawdust: Enhancement by physicochemical pretreatment
Author(s) -
AbdulHalim Kanaan K.,
Balba M. Talaat M.,
Senior Eric
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.280430206
Subject(s) - hemicellulose , scots pine , sawdust , chemistry , hydrolysate , lignin , fermentation , cellulose , hydrolysis , food science , chromatography , botany , pinus <genus> , biochemistry , organic chemistry , biology
The three major polymeric components of Scots Pine sawdust–lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose–represent potential substrates for methanogenic fermentation although, in the absence of physicochemical pretreatment, low digestibility was demonstrated even after protracted incubation (18 months). Acid (H 2 SO 4 ) and alkali (NaOH) pretreatments mediated different effects although, in general, the rates and percent solubilisations increased with concentration, temperature, pressure and time, either singly or in combination. Individual methanogenic fermentations with the hydrolysates and residual solids showed that although 3.3% more methane resulted from the H 2 SO 4 hydrolysate than the corresponding NaOH hydrolysate, in total, 7% more methane was generated from the two alkali fractions than from the corresponding acid fractions. The results thus exemplified that choice of a specific physicochemical strategy must be made in conjunction with the expected yield from the selected fraction(s).