%0 Journal Article
%T Enhancing anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass by mechanical cotreatment.
%A Bharadwaj A
%A Holwerda EK
%A Regan JM
%A Lynd LR
%A Richard TL
%J Biotechnol Biofuels Bioprod
%V 17
%N 1
%D 2024 Jun 3
%M 38831375
暂无%R 10.1186/s13068-024-02521-5
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>The aim of this study was to increase the accessibility and accelerate the breakdown of lignocellulosic biomass to methane in an anaerobic fermentation system by mechanical cotreatment: milling during fermentation, as an alternative to conventional pretreatment prior to biological deconstruction. Effluent from a mesophilic anaerobic digester running with unpretreated senescent switchgrass as the predominant carbon source was collected and subjected to ball milling for 0.5, 2, 5 and 10 min. Following this, a batch fermentation test was conducted with this material in triplicate for an additional 18 days with unmilled effluent as the 'status quo' control.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>The results indicate 0.5 - 10 min of cotreatment increased sugar solubilization by 5- 13% when compared to the unmilled control, with greater solubilization correlated with increased milling duration. Biogas concentrations ranged from 44% to 55.5% methane with the balance carbon dioxide. The total biogas production was statistically higher than the unmilled control for all treatments with 2 or more minutes of milling (α = 0.1). Cotreatment also decreased mean particle size. Energy consumption measurements of a lab-scale mill indicate that longer durations of milling offer diminishing benefits with respect to additional methane production.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Cotreatment in anaerobic digestion systems, as demonstrated in this study, provides an alternative approach to conventional pretreatments to increase biogas production from lignocellulosic grassy material.