Methane Production from Pennisetum giganteum z.x.lin During Anaerobic Digestion

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Due to an approaching energy crisis, new energy sources with low pollution and high energy density are being urgently sought. Energy plants, as a new option, were widely studied and considered. In this work, the characteristics and biomethane production performance of giant grasses (Pennisetum giganteum z.x.lin) with different harvest times were studied. The results implied that the solid content and lignin content in giant grasses both increased with growth time. The anaerobic digestion (AD) of giant grasses harvested in December initiated faster. Cumulative methane yield of the giant grass harvested in July was higher, reaching 267.9 mL/gVS at an organic loading of 15 gVS/L. A first-order model and a modified Gompertz model were used to fit and evaluate the AD process of these two giant grasses, and the results showed that both models can describe the process well. The results of this study indicated that the harvest time of the giant grass had a large impact on the biomethane production, which also provided a theoretical basis for the future utilization of giant grass and other energy plants.