In-situ injection of potassium hydroxide into briquetted wheat straw and meadow grass – Effect on biomethane production

Abstract

Alkaline pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass has been intensively investigated but heavy water usage and environmental pollution from wastewater limits its industrial application. This study presents a pretreatment technique by in-situ injection of potassium hydroxide concentrations ranging from 0.8% to 10% (w/w) into the briquetting process of wheat straw and meadow grass. Results show that the biomethane yield and hydrolysis rate was improved significantly with a higher impact on wheat straw compared to meadow grass. The highest biomethane yield from wheat straw briquettes of 353mL.g−1 VS was obtained with 6.27% (w/w) potassium hydroxide injection, which was 14% higher than from untreated wheat straw. The hydrolysis rates of wheat straw and meadow grass increased from 4.27×10−2 to 5.32×10−2d−1 and 4.19×10−2 to 6.00×10−2d−1, respectively. The low water usage and no wastewater production make this a promising technology.