Dimitar Borisov Karakashev

Production of bioethanol from wheat straw: an overview on pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation.

Wheat straw is an abundant agricultural residue with low commercial value. An attractive alternative is utilization of wheat straw for bioethanol production. However, production costs based on the current technology are still too high, preventing commercialization of the process. In recent years, progress has been made in developing more effective pretreatment and hydrolysis processes leading to higher yield of sugars. The focus of this paper is to review the most recent advances in pretreatment, hydrolysis and fermentation of wheat straw. Based on the type of pretreatment method applied, a sugar yield of 74-99.6% of maximum theoretical was achieved after enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat straw. Various bacteria, yeasts and fungi have been investigated with the ethanol yield ranging from 65% to 99% of theoretical value. So far, the best results with respect to ethanol yield, final ethanol concentration and productivity were obtained with the native non-adapted Saccharomyses cerevisiae. Some recombinant bacteria and yeasts have shown promising results and are being considered for commercial scale-up. Wheat straw biorefinery could be the near-term solution for clean, efficient and economically-feasible production of bioethanol as well as high value-added products.

Influence of Environmental Conditions on Methanogenic Compositions in Anaerobic Biogas Reactors

ABSTRACT The influence of environmental parameters on the diversity of methanogenic communities in 15 full-scale biogas plants operating under different conditions with either manure or sludge as feedstock was studied. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to identify dominant methanogenic members of the Archaea in the reactor samples; enriched and pure cultures were used to support the in situ identification. Dominance could be identified by a positive response by more than 90% of the total members of the Archaea to a specific group- or order-level probe. There was a clear dichotomy between the manure digesters and the sludge digesters. The manure digesters contained high levels of ammonia and of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and were dominated by members of the Methanosarcinaceae, while the sludge digesters contained low levels of ammonia and of VFA and were dominated by members of the Methanosaetaceae. The methanogenic diversity was greater in reactors operating under mesophilic temperatures. The impact of the original inoculum used for the reactor start-up was also investigated by assessment of the present population in the reactor. The inoculum population appeared to have no influence on the eventual population.

Acetate Oxidation Is the Dominant Methanogenic Pathway from Acetate in the Absence of Methanosaetaceae

ABSTRACT The oxidation of acetate to hydrogen, and the subsequent conversion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide to methane, has been regarded largely as a niche mechanism occurring at high temperatures or under inhibitory conditions. In this study, 13 anaerobic reactors and sediment from a temperate anaerobic lake were surveyed for their dominant methanogenic population by using fluorescent in situ hybridization and for the degree of acetate oxidation relative to aceticlastic conversion by using radiolabeled [2-14C]acetate in batch incubations. When Methanosaetaceae were not present, acetate oxidation was the dominant methanogenic pathway. Aceticlastic conversion was observed only in the presence of Methanosaetaceae.

Anammox for ammonia removal from pig manure effluents: effect of organic matter content on process performance.

The anammox process, under different organic loading rates (COD), was evaluated using a semi-continuous UASB reactor at 37 degrees C. Three different substrates were used: initially, synthetic wastewater, and later, two different pig manure effluents (after UASB-post-digestion and after partial oxidation) diluted with synthetic wastewater. High ammonium removal was achieved, up to 92.1+/-4.9% for diluted UASB-post-digested effluent (95 mg COD L(-1)) and up to 98.5+/-0.8% for diluted partially oxidized effluent (121 mg COD L(-1)). Mass balance clearly showed that an increase in organic loading (from 95 mg COD L(-1) to 237 mg COD L(-1) and from 121 mg COD L(-1) to 290 mg COD L(-1) for the UASB-post-digested effluent and the partially oxidized effluent, respectively) negatively affected the anammox process and facilitated heterotrophic denitrification. Partial oxidation as a pre-treatment method improved ammonium removal at high organic matter concentration. Up to threshold organic load concentration of 142 mg COD L(-1) of UASB-post-digested effluent and 242 mg COD L(-1) of partially oxidized effluent, no effect of organic loading on ammonia removal was registered (ammonium removal was above 80%). However, COD concentrations above 237 mg L(-1) (loading rate of 112 mg COD L(-1)day(-1)) for post-digested effluent and above 290 mg L(-1) (loading rate of 136 mg COD L(-1)day(-1)) for partially oxidized effluent resulted in complete cease of ammonium removal. Results obtained showed that, denitrification and anammox process were simultaneously occurring in the reactor. Denitrification became the dominant ammonium removal process when the COD loading was increased.

Biomethanation and its potential

Biomethanation is a process by which organic material is microbiologically converted under anaerobic conditions to biogas. Three main physiological groups of microorganisms are involved: fermenting bacteria, organic acid oxidizing bacteria, and methanogenic archaea. Microorganisms degrade organic matter via cascades of biochemical conversions to methane and carbon dioxide. Syntrophic relationships between hydrogen producers (acetogens) and hydrogen scavengers (homoacetogens, hydrogenotrophic methanogens, etc.) are critical to the process. Determination of practical and theoretical methane potential is very important for design for optimal process design, configuration, and effective evaluation of economic feasibility. A wide variety of process applications for biomethanation of wastewaters, slurries, and solid waste have been developed. They utilize different reactor types (fully mixed, plug-flow, biofilm, UASB, etc.) and process conditions (retention times, loading rates, temperatures, etc.) in order to maximize the energy output from the waste and also to decrease retention time and enhance process stability. Biomethanation has strong potential for the production of energy from organic residues and wastes. It will help to reduce the use of fossil fuels and thus reduce CO(2) emission.

Microwave and thermal pretreatment as methods for increasing the biogas potential of secondary sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants.

In the present study, the sludge was pretreated with microwave irradiation and low-temperature thermal method, both conducted under the same temperature range (30-100°C). Microwave pretreatment was found to be superior over the thermal treatment with respect to sludge solubilization and biogas production. Taking into account the specific energy demand of solubilization, the sludge pre-treated at 60-70°C by microwaves of 900 W was chosen for further experiments in continuous mode, which was more energetically sustainable compared to lower value (700 W) and thermal treatment. Continuous biogas reactor experiments indicated that pre-treated sludge (microwave irradiation: 900 W, temperature: 60-70°C) gave 35% more methane, compared to untreated sludge. Moreover, the results of this study clearly demonstrated that microwave pretreated sludge showed better degree of sanitation.

Enhanced bioenergy recovery from rapeseed plant in a biorefinery concept.

The present study investigated the utilization of the whole rapeseed plant (seed and straw) for multi-biofuels production in a biorefinery concept. Results showed that bioethanol production from straw was technically feasible with ethanol yield of 0.15 g ethanol/g dry straw after combined alkaline peroxide and stream pretreatment. The byproducts (rapeseed cake, glycerol, hydrolysate and stillage) were evaluated for hydrogen and methane production. In batch experiments, the energy yields from each feedstock for, either methane production alone or for both hydrogen and methane, were similar. However, results from continuous experiments demonstrated that the two-stage hydrogen and methane fermentation process could work stably at organic loading rate up to 4.5 gVS/(Ld), while the single-stage methane production process failed. The energy recovery efficiency from rapeseed plant increased from 20% in the conventional biodiesel process to 60% in the biorefinery concept, by utilization of the whole rapeseed plant for biodiesel, bioethanol, biohydrogen and methane production.

Innovative process scheme for removal of organic matter, phosphorus and nitrogen from pig manure.

Disposal of pig manure often requires treatment with respect to environmental legislations. In this study different processes for reduction of the organic matter (anaerobic digestion, effluent separation by decanter centrifugation, membrane microfiltration, post-digestion in upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, partial oxidation), nitrogen (oxygen-limited autotrophic nitrification-denitrification, OLAND) and phosphorus (phosphorus removal by precipitation as struvite, PRS) from pig manure were tested. Results obtained showed that microfiltration was unsuitable for pig manure treatment. PRS treated effluent was negatively affecting the further processing of the pig manure in UASB, and was therefore not included in the final process flow scheme. In a final scheme (PIGMAN concept) combination of the following successive process steps was used: thermophilic anaerobic digestion with sequential separation by decanter centrifuge, post-digestion in UASB reactor, partial oxidation and finally OLAND process. This combination resulted in reduction of the total organic, nitrogen and phosphorus contents by 96%, 88%, and 81%, respectively.

Long-term effect of inoculum pretreatment on fermentative hydrogen production by repeated batch cultivations: homoacetogenesis and methanogenesis as competitors to hydrogen production.

Long‐term effects of inoculum pretreatments (heat, acid, loading‐shock) on hydrogen production from glucose under different temperatures (37°C, 55°C) and initial pH (7 and 5.5) were studied by repeated batch cultivations. Results obtained showed that it was necessary to investigate the long‐term effect of inoculum pretreatment on hydrogen production since pretreatments may just temporarily inhibit the hydrogen consuming processes. After long‐term cultivation, pretreated inocula did not enhance hydrogen production compared to untreated inocula under mesophilic conditions (initial pH 7 and pH 5.5) and thermophilic conditions (initial pH 7). However, pretreatment could inhibit lactate production and lead to higher hydrogen yield under thermophilic conditions at initial pH 5.5. The results further demonstrated that inoculum pretreatment could not permanently inhibit either methanogenesis or homoacetogenesis, and methanogenesis and homoacetogenesis could only be inhibited by proper control of fermentation pH and temperature. Methanogenic activity could be inhibited at pH lower than 6, both under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions, while homoacetogenic activity could only be inhibited under thermophilic condition at initial pH 5.5. Microbial community analysis showed that pretreatment did not affect the dominant bacteria. The dominant bacteria were Clostridium butyricum related organisms under mesophilic condition (initial pH 7 and 5.5), Thermoanaerobacterium sp. related organisms under thermophilic condition (initial pH 7), and Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum related organisms under thermophilic condition (initial pH 5.5). Results from this study clearly indicated that the long‐term effects of inoculum pretreatments on hydrogen production, methanogenesis, homoacetogenesis and dominant bacteria were dependent on fermentation temperature and pH. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2011; 108:1816–1827.

Life cycle assessment of biofuel production from brown seaweed in Nordic conditions

The use of algae for biofuel production is expected to play an important role in securing energy supply in the next decades. A consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) and an energy analysis of seaweed-based biofuel production were carried out in Nordic conditions to document and improve the sustainability of the process. Two scenarios were analyzed for the brown seaweed (Laminaria digitata), namely, biogas production (scenario 1) and bioethanol+biogas production (scenario 2). Potential environmental impact categories under investigation were Global Warming, Acidification and Terrestrial Eutrophication. The production of seaweed was identified to be the most energy intensive step. Scenario 1 showed better performance compared to scenario 2 for all impact categories, partly because of the energy intensive bioethanol separation process and the consequently lower overall efficiency of the system. For improved environmental performance, focus should be on optimization of seaweed production, bioethanol distillation, and management of digestate on land.