Effect of Ammonia–Autoclave Pretreatment on the Performance of Corn Straw and Cow Manure Batch Anaerobic Digestion

Biomass pretreatment is a critical method for improving the anaerobic digestion (AD) performance of lignocellulosic feedstocks. In this study, an effective combined ammonia–autoclave pretreatment method was selected for the pretreatment of corn straw at 90 °C using four ammonia concentrations (7%, 9...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yonghua Xu, Xinrui Xu, Xiaohong Su, Wei Liu, Jingbo Qu, Yong Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-02-01
Series:Fermentation
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5637/9/2/178
Description
Summary:Biomass pretreatment is a critical method for improving the anaerobic digestion (AD) performance of lignocellulosic feedstocks. In this study, an effective combined ammonia–autoclave pretreatment method was selected for the pretreatment of corn straw at 90 °C using four ammonia concentrations (7%, 9%, 11%, and 13%). The results showed that the combined pretreatment improved the substrate’s degradation efficiency and the system’s buffer capacity, and significantly improved the hydrolysis and biogas production performance of corn straw. After pretreatment, the lignin removal rate increased by 11.28–39.69%, and the hemicellulose degradation rate increased from 10.12% to 21.23%. Pretreatment of corn straw with 9% ammonia and an autoclave gave the highest methane yield of 257.11 mL/gVS, which was 2.32-fold higher than that of untreated corn straw, making it the optimal pretreatment condition for corn straw. Therefore, the combined ammonia–autoclave pretreatment technology can further improve the AD performance of corn straw.
ISSN:2311-5637