Abstract
Liquid hot water (LHW) pretreatment is considered as a key step in reducing biomass recalcitrance and improving its accessibility to microorganisms during anaerobic digestion. In the present study, a comprehensive comparison among hot air oven, hot water bath, autoclave and microwave (MW) pretreated yard waste (YW) was conducted. The effect of treatment temperature and duration for all the four LHW pretreatment techniques were optimized with respect to the organic matter solubilisation. The results showed that all four LHW pretreatment techniques have a positive effect on organic matter solubilisation. The highest organic matter solubilisation was found in case of MW pretreatment for a treatment duration of 100 s at a temperature of 140 °C. Therefore, batch biochemical methane potential (BMP) of untreated and MW pre-treated YW was carried out for this treatment condition. The BMP of MW pretreated YW resulted in an improvement in methane yield to 364.5 ± 11 mL/g VS on 26th day of anaerobic digestion, which was 1.1 times higher than that of untreated (328.9 ± 15 mL/g VS on 45th day of anaerobic digestion). The FTIR and XRD analysis confirmed that LHW pretreatment technique removed amorphous constituents due to the polymerization of polysaccharides present in YW. In addition, SEM analysis confirmed that the LHW pretreatment led irregular and distorted structure of biomass which improved cellulose accessibility to anaerobic bacteria. A positive energy balance confirmed the possible applicability of MW pretreatment in real life projects.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
