Extraction solvent’s effect on biogas production from mixtures of date seed and wastewater sludge

Wameed Radeef,Mohamed Semreen,Abdallah Shanableh,Ismail Saadoun

doi:10.1051/matecconf/201712005009

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of extraction solvent on biogas production from mixtures of date (Phoenix dactylifera) seed and wastewater treatment sludge. Date palm seed is a locally produced waste which is used in different useful purposes. Date seed is rich in proteins, carbohydrates and lipids and have the potential for biogas enhancement. In this study, three extraction solvents, hexane, ethyl acetate and Ethanol:water (1:1), were used on two types of date seeds (locally known as Khalas and Khudari). Date seed powder of size 0.425 – 0.6 mm after extraction was mixed with wastewater treatment sludge at dry date seed/dry sludge solids ratios of 0%, 10%, 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80%. The study showed a direct relationship between biogas production and ratio of date seeds/wastewater sludge in the mixture. Furthermore, the results confirmed that the quantity of biogas produced from samples containing raw date seed was almost same as the quantity produced from samples containing date seed after extraction. The results revealed that the used extraction solvents had no effect on biogas production

Highlights

Biogas produced from anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising source of renewable energy that can address the global energy needs [1]
The main focus of this paper is to study the effect of extraction solvents, used on date seeds, on biogas production from mixtures of wastewater sludge and date seeds
The maximum biogas production was achieved from the date seed/sludge samples containing 80% date seed and the minimum biogas production was from samples containing sludge alone

Summary

Introduction

Biogas produced from anaerobic digestion (AD) is a promising source of renewable energy that can address the global energy needs [1]. Bio-fuel production from waste products has been a subject of intensive research efforts. Many researchers suggest that bio-fuel production from waste products is a good option for energy recovery [3]. There are some limitation in producing bio-fuel from organic wastes, researchers recommend that it is the right time to develop suitable renewable energy sources. The production of bio-fuel in the form of methane biogas requires readily available and biodegradable organic feedstocks [5,6,7,8]. There are generally two sources of organic matter that are suitable for bio-fuel production, which are: energy crops; and organic waste products

Objectives

Methods

Results