Abstract
The demand for animal products has significantly increased over the past decades as a result of the growing population and the heightened standards of living. Increased livestock farming does not only yield desired products but also significant quantities of wastes, particularly manure whose storage and application are being monitored with a tightening network of regulations. The problem is that manure is considered merely as a substrate for biogas production or as a fertilizer, whereas the substantial portion of fibers residing in herbivore manure has remained underutilized. Here, we propose a manure management system, in which not only biogas and fertilizer precursors but also high-value materials in the form of (nano)cellulose are produced. We show that high biogas yields can be achieved for elephant manure and the remaining substrate enables effortless isolation of cellulose nanofibers, leading to a significant reduction of the environmental impact compared with traditional systems based on wood.
Highlights
Climate change has bestowed unforeseen engineering challenges upon the modern society
While livestock manure is already utilized as a fertilizer and in biogas production, it contains a lot of fibers that remain idle within these applications.[7]
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is able to convert much of the compounds, like proteins and small-molecular carbohydrates, into CH4, which can be used as a biofuel or source of electricity in a combined heat and power plant
Summary
Climate change has bestowed unforeseen engineering challenges upon the modern society. While livestock manure is already utilized as a fertilizer and in biogas production, it contains a lot of fibers that remain idle within these applications.[7] anaerobic digestion (AD) is able to convert much of the compounds, like proteins and small-molecular carbohydrates, into CH4, which can be used as a biofuel or source of electricity in a combined heat and power plant Recalcitrant polymers, such as cellulose, are generally not converted completely and remain in the fermentation residue. Elephant manure and fermentation residues were investigated with regard to their water, cellulose, hemicellulose, and acid detergent lignin (ADL) contents using the method of Naumann and Bassler.[22,23] The material was first ground using a cryomill (CryoMill, Retsch, Haan, Germany) at a frequency of 28 Hz for 14 min after precooling with liquid nitrogen at a frequency of 5 Hz for 2 min. The fiber diameters were determined with the operating software for field emission scanning electron microscope SmartSEM V05.04
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