Effect of power ultrasound and Fenton reagents on the biomethane potential from steam-exploded birchwood.

Jacob J Lamb,Dag Roar Hjelme,Bruno G Pollet,Md H Islam,Kristian M Lien

doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2019.104675

Abstract

The global demand for non-fossil energy sources is increasing rapidly. As a result, biogas presents a suitable alternative; however, first generation biofuels (e.g., sugar cane) potentially impact food crops globally. Second generation biofuels based on lignocellulose-based biomass are being used more frequently as they do not impact food crops. Furthermore, in Northern Europe, there is a significant interest in utilizing birchwood and paper mill waste for biogas production due to its high availability. The utilization of birchwood for biogas has significantly improved in recent years with the improvement of required pretreatment processes. To date, the most effective and economically feasible pretreatment in an industrial context is the steam explosion of lignocellulose-based biomass. Despite this, there is potential for releasing more digestible components from this biomass by efficiently degrading the lignocellulose components. This research presents another pretreatment that can be applied to steam-exploded wood based on ultrasonication and Fenton reagents. It was observed that by treating the steam exploded birchwood with ultrasonication and mild concentrations of Fenton reagents, an increase in the rate of biogas production was achievable. This would allow the increase in biogas yield of a continuously feed industrial anaerobic digester without increasing the size of the reactor.

Highlights

Biofuel production has been shown as a real alternative to fossil fuels with an estimated potential generation of up to 25% of the global energy requirements by 2035 [1], including the anaerobic digestion of biomass to produce biogas
The 2nd generation of biofuels is under development, and is based on using lignocellulosic biomasses such as forestry and papermill residues. These feedstocks are abundant, do not compete with food sources and are cheap [5]. This suggests that the production of biogas from lignocellulosic material could be a significant substitute for natural gas
Birch wood chips were subjected to steam explosion conditions with a temperature of 210 °C for 10 min

Summary

Introduction

Biofuel production has been shown as a real alternative to fossil fuels with an estimated potential generation of up to 25% of the global energy requirements by 2035 [1], including the anaerobic digestion of biomass to produce biogas. 1st generation biofuels are the most prolific globally, produced mainly in the US and Brazil from corn or sugar cane [2]. These substrates account for a large portion of the biofuels generated globally, these sources are potential food sources, meaning there is a requirement for the move to non-food stock biomass sources [3,4]. The 2nd generation of biofuels is under development, and is based on using lignocellulosic biomasses such as forestry and papermill residues These feedstocks are abundant, do not compete with food sources and are cheap [5]. This suggests that the production of biogas from lignocellulosic material could be a significant substitute for natural gas

Methods

Results

Conclusion