Bioconversion of water hyacinth-Coastal Bermuda grass-MSW-sludge blends to methane
Continuous operation of a biomethanation plant could be acheved more readily if mixtures of biomass and organic wastes could be utilized as feedstock. The research reported in this paper was directed to a laboratory evaluation of a blend of terrestrial and aquatic biomass with organic wastes as an anaerobic digester feed. Specifically, a blend of water hyacinth, Coastal Bermuda grass, the combustible fraction of municipal solid waste, and a small quantity of sludge was digested under standard, high-rate mesophilic conditions. Good methane production was achieved without the addition of external nutrients. As expected, biodegradabilities in decreasing order were hemicellulose, cellulose, crude protein, and lignin. The digester effluent was easily dewatered by filtration without chemical conditioning. Pretreatment of the feed slurry with 3 wt % sodium hydroxide solution under ambient conditions improved methane yield about 20% over that of the fresh untreated feed. A kinetic analysis of the experimental data indicated that hydrolysis or acidification was the rate limiting step of digestion of the biomass-waste blend. It was concluded from this work that biomass-waste blends of the type studied in this work can sustain anaerobic digestion under conventional conditions for long periods with little difficulty. Substantial improvements in methane yield should be possible, however, by use of advanced digestion techniques because methane recovery efficiencies in this work ranged up to about 46%.
- OSTI ID:
- 5691094
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-791072-1
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. symposium on biotechnology in energy production and conservation, Gatlinburg, TN, USA, 3 Oct 1979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GRASS
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
METHANE
BIOSYNTHESIS
MUNICIPAL WASTES
SLUDGES
WATER HYACINTHS
BIOMASS
EFFICIENCY
MESOPHILIC CONDITIONS
SODIUM HYDROXIDES
SOLID WASTES
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALKANES
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOCONVERSION
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DIGESTION
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
MANAGEMENT
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
PROCESSING
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SODIUM COMPOUNDS
SYNTHESIS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
090122* - Hydrocarbon Fuels- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass- (1976-1989)
140504 - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)