Substrate For Anaerobic Digestion Research Articles

Influence of mechanical and thermochemical pretreatments on anaerobic digestion ofSpirulina maxima algal biomass

The algaSpirulina maxima was subjected to mechanical (ultrasonic + mechanical disintegration) and thermochemical pretreatments and used as a substrate in anaerobic digestion. Results indicate that the pretreatments increased the solubility of biomass and had a positive effect on acid forming bacteria. Thermochemical treatments produced compounds toxic to methanogenic bacteria especially when treatment conditions became more severe.