Abstract
ABSTRACT In order to explore the effect of pretreatment on corn straw degradation and biogas production, corn straw was pretreated with mixed microbes and composting at 30°C for 14 days. The characteristics of material were measured and analyzed in the pretreatment process. Then, the pretreated and untreated corn straw was digested by anaerobic fermentation. Gas production and methane content of corn straw were analyzed. The results showed that the biological pretreatment process with mixed microbes could accelerate the degradation rate of straw and increase the degradation efficiency of lignin. The pH value of material was more stable, and the content of organic matter in the material was higher in the pretreatment process of corn straw with mixed microbes. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images showed that the structure of the lignocellulose was changed by mixed microbes, increasing the exposed area of cellulose and hemicellulose, which was beneficial to improve the utilization efficiency of straw. The degradation rates of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin were 44.4%, 34.9% and 39.2%, respectively, after the pretreatment process with mixed microbes. Pretreatment was more helpful to increase the methane content in the anaerobic fermentation process of corn straw pretreated with mixed microbes, and could also shorten the fermentation period.
Highlights
The growing awareness of environmental issues and resource scarcity explains the increasing interest surrounding the use of bio-based materials in a wide variety of applications [1,2]
It was concluded that mixed microbes adapted to the growth environment quickly which made the degradation of corn straw start in a short time
The structure of corn straw was changed in the biological pretreatment process of corn straw with mixed microbes
Summary
The growing awareness of environmental issues and resource scarcity explains the increasing interest surrounding the use of bio-based materials in a wide variety of applications [1,2]. As one of the largest agricultural countries in the world, has abundant biomass resource. 1.04 billion tons of various crop residues are generated annually in China, accounting for about 72.2% of the total biomass [3]. Huge amounts of crop straw (estimated approximately 300 million tons per year) are abandoned or burned in the field [4,5]. The unsuited dispose of corn straw is waste of resource and causes serious environmental and safety problems [6]. Among all are different disposal routes for corn straw, anaerobic digestion is a key point because of its abilities to transform organic matter into biogas [7,8]. Biogas has promising potential as a substitute for fossil fuel and could contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming [9]
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