Wheat straw pretreatment with KOH for enhancing biomethane production and fertilizer value in anaerobic digestion

Wheat straw biodegradability during anaerobic digestion was improved by treatment with potassium hydroxide （KOH） to decrease digestion time and enhance biomethane production and fertility value. KOH concentrations of 1% （KI）, 3% （[（2）, 6% （K3） and 9% （l（4） were tested for wheat straw pretreatment at ambient temperature with a C：N ratio of 25：1.86% of total solids （TS）, 89% of volatile solids （VS） and 22% of lignocellulose, cellulose and hemi- cellulose （LCH） （22%） were decomposed effectively with the wheat straw pretreated by 6% KOH. Enhanced bio- gas production and cumulative biomethane yield of 258 ml. （g VS）-1 were obtained increased by 45% and 41% respectively, compared with untreated wheat straw. Pretreated wheat straw digestion also yielded a digestate with higher fertilizer values potassium （l 38%）, calcium （22%） and magnesium （16%）. These results show that TS, VS and LCH can be effectively removed from wheat straw pretreated with KOH, improving biodegradability biomethane production and fertilizer value.

Enhancing Biogas Production from Anaerobically Digested Wheat Straw Through Ammonia Pretreatment

Aqueous ammonia was used to pretreat wheat straw to improve biodegradability and provide nitrogen source for enhancing biogas production. Three doses of ammonia(2%, 4%, and 6%, dry matter) and three moisture contents(30%, 60%, and 80%, dry matter) were applied to pretreat wheat straw for 7 days. The pretreated wheat straws were anaerobically digested at three loading rates(50, 65, and 80 g·L-1) to produce biogas. The results indicated that the wheat straw pretreated with 80% moisture content and 4% ammonia achieved the highest methane yield of 199.7 ml·g-1(based on per unit volatile solids loaded), with shorter digestion time(T80) of 25 days at the loading rate of 65 g·L-1compared to untreated one. The main chemical compositions of wheat straw were also analyzed. The cellulose and hemicellulose contents were decomposed by 2%-20% and 26%-42%, respectively,while the lignin content was hardly removed, cold-water and hot-water extracts were increased by 4%-44%, and12%-52%, respectively, for the ammonia-pretreated wheat straws at different moisture contents. The appropriate C/N ratio and decomposition of original chemical compositions into relatively readily biodegradable substances will improve the biodegradability and biogas yield.

The Effect of Clove Essential Oil Treatment on the Cell Wall Components of Wheat Straw

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of additions of different doses of clove oil （Syzygium aromaticum L.） on cell wall component of wheat straw. For this purpose, wheat straw was treated with 100 ppm and 200 ppm clove oil and applied at two different time period （1 h and 5 h）. The microscopic analysis was made on cell wall components of untreated and treated of the straw. According to the research findings, with increasing doses and time of clove oil treatment, particularly, neutral detergent fiber （NDF） and acid detergent fiber （ADF） content of straw significantly （P 〈 0.05） reduced, approximately at the level of 15% for NDF and 13% for ADF, respectively. The lowest NDF, ADF, acid detergent lignin （ADL） and cellulose contents were found in 200 ppm dose and 5 h period. However, the lowest stem section thickness likewise was determined in 5 h period （P 〈 0.05）, but there was no significant difference between the dose. Consequently, it could be said that the addition of clove oil have a positive influence on cell wall components and stem section thickness of wheat straw.