Anaerobic digestion of Macrocystis pyrifera under mesophilic conditions

Conference · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:7215663

Klass, D L; Ghosh, S

The results of work done to study the anaerobic digestion of the giant brown kelp--Macrocystis pyrifera--in laboratory digesters at mesophilic temperatures are described. The primary objective of this work was to determine whether kelp could be digested over long periods of time under conventional conditions without the addition of external nutrients. It was concluded that kelp alone will sustain an enriched anaerobic culture under mesophilic conditions over extended periods without adding any external nutrients. The nutrients contained within the kelp are sufficient to promote the digestion process. A linear relationship was found to exist between volatile solids destruction in the feed and energy recovery as methane in the product gas up to about 50% volatile solids destruction levels. It is expected that at higher destruction levels, energy recovery in the gas will begin to plateau since at about 80% destruction levels, the experimental data indicate maximum energy recoveries. Kelp digestion is estimated from thermodynamic analysis to be slightly exothermic at mesophilic temperatures. The heat of reaction was projected to be about 249 Btu/lb of kelp reacted.

• Research Organization: Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago, IL (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7215663
• Report Number(s): CONF-770142-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
090122 -- Hydrocarbon Fuels-- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass-- (1976-1989)
140504* -- Solar Energy Conversion-- Biomass Production & Conversion-- (-1989)
ALKANES
ANAEROBIC DIGESTION
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
BIOCONVERSION
BIOSYNTHESIS
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DIGESTION
ENTHALPY
FLUIDS
HYDROCARBONS
MANAGEMENT
METHANE
NUTRIENTS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PROCESSING
REACTION HEAT
SEAWEEDS
SYNTHESIS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
THERMODYNAMICS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING