Abstract
Inoculum plays a vital role in providing initial microbial population in anaerobic process. There is unavailability of standard inoculum in the Pakistan and the available inoculum requires pretreatment and preparation before use. Thus, in this study the effect of inoculum type and organic loading (OL) on the biogas yield of sunflower meal and wheat straw was evaluated. For this purpose, lab scale batch experiments were conducted at OL of 2 g VS L− 1 in 225 mL glass bottle using digested manure, acclimatized sludge and septic tank sludge as inoculum. The highest biogas yield and volatile solids reduction of 768 NmL g− 1 VS and 78%, respectively, were observed from sunflower meal with digested manure. Reactor inoculated with digested manure also showed better buffering capacity in terms of pH. The inoculum selected from first experiment was used to study the effect of OL (2, 6, 10 and 14 g VS L− 1) on biogas yield. Results showed that biogas yield decreased with the increased in OL. Stability parameters revealed that reactors can be operated safely up to OL of 10 g VS L− 1. Biogas production data were modelled by modified Gompertz function.
Highlights
Pakistan is an energy deficient country and facing severe energy crises [1]
Three different inoculums including digested manure, septic tank sludge and acclimatized sludge were evaluated for anaerobic digestion (AD) of Sunflower meal (SM) and Wheat straw (WS)
Reactors inoculated with septic tank sludge gave a high daily biogas yield at the beginning, which quickly decreased as the digestion progressed further
Summary
Pakistan is an energy deficient country and facing severe energy crises [1]. To overcome energy crisis, the country is looking for different renewable energy options [2]. Wheat straw (WS) is an example of such crop residues produced in huge quantities from agricultural fields amounting to approximately 25 thousand Mt. every year [4]. Major portion of this agricultural by-product is consumed by livestock in the country, while rest of the produced WS is burned in the open environment which leads to serious environmental pollution. Pakistan annually produces 202 kt of sunflower residue which is considered as a significant biomass resource [5] This agro-industrial residue is produced in huge quantities and has very limited re-use [6]
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