Jin Mi Triolo

A new algorithm to characterize biodegradability of biomass during anaerobic digestion: Influence of lignin concentration on methane production potential

We examined the influence of fibrous fractions of biomass on biochemical methane potential (BMP) with the objective of developing an economical and easy-to-use statistical model to predict BMP, and hence the biodegradability of organic material (BD) for biogas production. The model was developed either for energy crops (grass, maize, and straw) or for animal manures, or as a combined model for these two biomass groups. It was found that lignin concentration in volatile solids (VS) was the strongest predictor of BMP for all the biomass samples. The square of the sample correlation coefficient (R(2)) from the BMP versus lignin was 0.908 (p<0.0001), 0.763 (p<0.001) and 0.883 (p<0.001) for animal manure, energy crops and the combined model, respectively. Validation of the combined model was carried out using 65 datasets from the literature.

Biochemical methane potential and anaerobic biodegradability of non-herbaceous and herbaceous phytomass in biogas production

The suitability of municipal plant waste for anaerobic digestion was examined using 57 different herbaceous and non-herbaceous samples. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) and anaerobic biodegradability were related to the degree of lignification and crystallinity of cellulose. The BMP of herbaceous garden plants (332.7 CH(4)NL kg VS(-1)) was high, although lower than that of energy crops (400-475 CH(4)NL kg VS(-1)). Herbaceous wild plants from natural grassland contained most lignocelluloses, leading to relatively low BMP (214.0 CH(4)NL kg VS(-1)). Non-herbaceous phytomass had a high degree of lignification and a high concentration of crystalline cellulose, but due to the content of non-woody parts with a low concentration of lignocellulose the BMP was relatively high, 199.9 and 172.0 CH(4)NL kg VS(-1) for hedge cuttings and woody cuttings, respectively. There were indications that a plant lignin concentration of 100 g kg VS(-1) is the critical biodegradability point in anaerobic digestion of phytomass.

Validation and Recommendation of Methods to Measure Biogas Production Potential of Animal Manure

In developing countries, biogas energy production is seen as a technology that can provide clean energy in poor regions and reduce pollution caused by animal manure. Laboratories in these countries have little access to advanced gas measuring equipment, which may limit research aimed at improving local adapted biogas production. They may also be unable to produce valid estimates of an international standard that can be used for articles published in international peer-reviewed science journals. This study tested and validated methods for measuring total biogas and methane (CH4) production using batch fermentation and for characterizing the biomass. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) (CH4 NL kg−1 VS) of pig manure, cow manure and cellulose determined with the Moller and VDI methods was not significantly different in this test (p>0.05). The biodegradability using a ratio of BMP and theoretical BMP (TBMP) was slightly higher using the Hansen method, but differences were not significant. Degradation rate assessed by methane formation rate showed wide variation within the batch method tested. The first-order kinetics constant k for the cumulative methane production curve was highest when two animal manures were fermented using the VDI 4630 method, indicating that this method was able to reach steady conditions in a shorter time, reducing fermentation duration. In precision tests, the repeatability of the relative standard deviation (RSDr) for all batch methods was very low (4.8 to 8.1%), while the reproducibility of the relative standard deviation (RSDR) varied widely, from 7.3 to 19.8%. In determination of biomethane concentration, the values obtained using the liquid replacement method (LRM) were comparable to those obtained using gas chromatography (GC). This indicates that the LRM method could be used to determine biomethane concentration in biogas in laboratories with limited access to GC.

Biogas Production from Vietnamese Animal Manure, Plant Residues and Organic Waste: Influence of Biomass Composition on Methane Yield

Anaerobic digestion is an efficient and renewable energy technology that can produce biogas from a variety of biomasses such as animal manure, food waste and plant residues. In developing countries this technology is widely used for the production of biogas using local biomasses, but there is little information about the value of these biomasses for energy production. This study was therefore carried out with the objective of estimating the biogas production potential of typical Vietnamese biomasses such as animal manure, slaughterhouse waste and plant residues, and developing a model that relates methane (CH4) production to the chemical characteristics of the biomass. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) and biomass characteristics were measured. Results showed that piglet manure produced the highest CH4 yield of 443 normal litter (NL) CH4 kg−1 volatile solids (VS) compared to 222 from cows, 177 from sows, 172 from rabbits, 169 from goats and 153 from buffaloes. Methane production from duckweed (Spirodela polyrrhiza) was higher than from lawn grass and water spinach at 340, 220, and 110.6 NL CH4 kg−1 VS, respectively. The BMP experiment also demonstrated that the CH4 production was inhibited with chicken manure, slaughterhouse waste, cassava residue and shoe-making waste. Statistical analysis showed that lipid and lignin are the most significant predictors of BMP. The model was developed from knowledge that the BMP was related to biomass content of lipid, lignin and protein from manure and plant residues as a percentage of VS with coefficient of determination (R-square) at 0.95. This model was applied to calculate the CH4 yield for a household with 17 fattening pigs in the highlands and lowlands of northern Vietnam.

Biogas production within the bioethanol production chain: use of co-substrates for anaerobic digestion of sugar beet vinasse.

Bioethanol production generates large amounts of vinasse, which is suitable for biogas production. In this study, the anaerobic digestion of sugar beet vinasse was optimised using continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTR) supplemented either with lime fertiliser or with 3% cow manure. In both reactors, the C/N ratio was adjusted by adding straw. The biochemical methane potential (BMP) of vinasse was 267.4±4.5LCH4kgVS(-1). Due to the low content of macro- and micronutrients and low C/N ratio of vinasse, biogas production failed when vinasse alone was fed to the reactor. When co-substrate was added, biogas production achieved very close to the BMP of vinasse, being 235.7±32.2LCH4kgVS(-1) from the fertiliser supplied reactor and 265.2±26.8LCH4kgVS(-1) in manure supplied reactor at steady state. Anaerobic digestion was the most stable when cow manure was supplied to digestion of vinasse.

Characteristics of Animal Slurry as a Key Biomass for Biogas Production in Denmark

Climate change has become an important global issue and animal manure has been pointed out as a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Danish government targets animal manure as a key biomass with the aim of producing renewable fuels and reducing GHG emissions. Animal manure is a mixture of excreta and materials added during management. Apart from the major part of animal slurry which is feces and urine, animal slurry is composed of many materials, i.e., sand, water from cleaning, small branches and straw from the bedding materials. Thereby a wide variation of characteristics can be found depending on different management systems, animal type and diet, etc. which make for difficulties in the estimation of manure quality for biogas production.

Rapid estimation of the biochemical methane potential of plant biomasses using Fourier transform mid-infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy

Biochemical methane potential (BMP) is a very important characteristic of a given feedstock for optimisation of its use in biogas production. However, the long digestion time needed to determine BMP is the main limitation for the use of this assay during the operation of anaerobic digesters to produce biogas. Fourier transform mid-infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) was used to predict the BMP of 87 plant biomasses. The developed calibration model was able to explain 81% of the variance in the measured BMP of a selected test set with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 40NLCH4kg(-1) of volatile solids (VS) and a ratio of performance to deviation (RPD) of 2.38. The interpretation of the regression coefficients used in the calibration revealed a positive correlation of BMP with easily degradable compounds (amorphous cellulose, hemicellulose and aliphatic compounds) and a negative correlation with inhibitors of cellulose hydrolysis (lignin, hemicellulose).

Thermic model to predict biogas production in unheated fixed-dome digesters buried in the ground.

In many developing countries, simple biogas digesters are used to produce energy for domestic purposes from anaerobic digestion of animal manure. We developed a simple, one-dimensional (1-D), thermal model with easily available input data for unheated, unstirred, uninsulated, fixed-dome digesters buried in the soil to study heat transfer between biogas digester and its surroundings. The predicted temperatures in the dome, biogas, and slurry inside the digester and the resulting biogas production are presented and validated. The model was well able to estimate digester temperature (linear slope nearly 1, R(2) = 0.96). Model validation for methane production gave root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 54.4 L CH4 digester(-1) day(-1) and relative-root-mean-square errors (rRMSEP(%)) of 35.4%. The validation result was considerably improved if only using winter data (RMSE = 26.1 L CH4 digester(-1) day(-1); rRMSEP(%) = 17.7%). The model performed satisfactorily in light of the uncertainties attached to it. Since unheated digesters suffer critically low methane production during the winter, the model could be particularly useful for assessing methane production and for improving the ability of unheated digesters to provide sufficient energy during cold periods.

Influence of chemical composition on biochemical methane potential of fruit and vegetable waste

This study investigates the influence of chemical composition on the biochemical methane potential (BMP) of twelve different batches of fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) with different compositions collected over one year. BMP ranged from 288 to 516LNCH4kgVS-1, with significant statistical differences between means, which was explained by variations in the chemical composition over time. BMP was most strongly correlated to lipid content and high calorific values. Multiple linear regression was performed to develop statistical models to more rapidly predict methane potential. Models were analysed that considered chemical compounds and that considered only high calorific value as a single parameter. The best BMP prediction was obtained using the statistical model that included lipid, protein, cellulose, lignin, and high calorific value (HCV), with R2 of 92.5%; lignin was negatively correlated to methane production. Because HCV and lipids are strongly correlated, and because HCV can be determined more rapidly than overall chemical composition, HCV may be useful for predicting BMP.

Estimation of Methane Emissions from Slurry Pits below Pig and Cattle Confinements

Quantifying in-house emissions of methane (CH4) from liquid manure (slurry) is difficult due to high background emissions from enteric processes, yet of great importance for correct estimation of CH4 emissions from manure management and effects of treatment technologies such as anaerobic digestion. In this study CH4 production rates were determined in 20 pig slurry and 11 cattle slurry samples collected beneath slatted floors on six representative farms; rates were determined within 24 h at temperatures close to the temperature in slurry pits at the time of collection. Methane production rates in pig and cattle slurry differed significantly at 0.030 and 0.011 kg CH4 kg-1 VS (volatile solids). Current estimates of CH4 emissions from pig and cattle manure management correspond to 0.032 and 0.015 kg CH4 kg-1, respectively, indicating that slurry pits under animal confinements are a significant source. Fractions of degradable volatile solids (VSd, kg kg-1 VS) were estimated using an aerobic biodegradability assay and total organic C analyses. The VSd in pig and cattle slurry averaged 0.51 and 0.33 kg kg-1 VS, and it was estimated that on average 43 and 28% of VSd in fresh excreta from pigs and cattle, respectively, had been lost at the time of sampling. An empirical model of CH4 emissions from slurry was reparameterised based on experimental results. A sensitivity analysis indicated that predicted CH4 emissions were highly sensitive to uncertainties in the value of lnA of the Arrhenius equation, but much less sensitive to uncertainties in VSd or slurry temperature. A model application indicated that losses of carbon in VS as CO2 may be much greater than losses as CH4. Implications of these results for the correct estimation of CH4 emissions from manure management, and for the mitigation potential of treatments such as anaerobic digestion, are discussed.