Impact of Maize Harvest Techniques on Biomethane Production

Abstract

Many farms run livestock production along with a biogas plant. Priority is the effort to prepare high-quality feed and high-quality feedstock for the biogas plant. However, deciding which harvesting technique to choose seems a difficult task. In this study, the influence of harvest technique on silage quality and thus on the methane yield during anaerobic digestion was investigated. Maize was harvested for silage and shredlage production. Two-year results showed that the chemical composition of water leachate from silage and the total solids content did not indicate any significant differences between maize silage and shredlage. Methane yield in the first year ranged from 0.2735 ± 0.0095 m3/kgVS (maize silage) to 0.3024 ± 0.0090 m3/kgVS (shredlage) and in the second year from 0.3047 ± 0.0110 m3/kgVS (maize silage) to 0.3147 ± 0.0086 m3/kgVS (shredlage). Methane concentration in biogas did not show any significant differences for the two types of harvesting techniques in both years. The results showed that harvest technique had no additional effect on the methane content in biogas and thus on the methane yield.