The effects of thermal-alkaline pretreatment on dewatered activated sludge (DAS) solubilisation and subsequent high-solid anaerobic digestion were studied by response surface methodology (RSM) from 105 to 135 °C and between 5 and 35 mg alkaline/g total solid (TS) DAS. Soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD), soluble carbohydrates, and protein concentrations were significantly enhanced in thermal-...

Birch (Betula pubescens) was steam exploded at 13 different conditions with temperatures ranging from 170 to 230 °C and residence times ranging from 5 to 15 min. Increasing severity in the pretreatment led to degradation of xylan and formation of pseudo-lignin. The effect of the pretreatments was evaluated by running enzymatic saccharification and anaerobic digestion followed by analysis of sug...

The objectives of this study were to characterize development of bacterial and archaeal populations during biodegradation of municipal solid waste (MSW) and to link specific methanogens to methane generation. Experiments were conducted in three 0.61-m-diameter by 0.90-m-tall laboratory reactors to simulate MSW bioreactor landfills. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes was used to characterize micro...

BACKGROUND Ensiling is a common method of preserving energy crops for anaerobic digestion, and many scientific studies report that ensiling increases the methane yield. In this study, the ensiling process and the methane yields before and after ensiling were studied for four crop materials. RESULTS The changes in wet weight and total solids (TS) during ensiling were small and the loss of ener...

the experimental studies of methane conversion to higher hydrocarbons and methanol using a dielectric barrier discharge (dbd) reactor are presented in this article. the process is carried out at ambient atmospheric pressure and temperature. the dbd reactor is stimulated by an alternative voltage of 50 hz and amplitude of max.23kv. the examination of the effect of voltage and flow rates on metha...

This study aimed to investigate the potential of giant reed for biomethane production by examining the influence of harvest time and frequency on the Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP), the kinetics of biomethane accumulation in batch reactors and the expected methane yield per hectare. The crop was cut at five different times, regrowths from early cuts were harvested in autumn and BMP of each...

In order to obtain basic design criteria for anaerobic digestion of a mixture of poultry manure and wheat straw, the effects of different temperatures and organic loading rates on the biogas yield and methane contents were evaluated. Since poultry manure is a poor substrate, in term of the availability of the nutrients, external supplementation of carbon has to be regularly performed, in order ...

This study examined the influence of harvest time on biomass yield, dry matter partitioning, biochemical composition and biological methane potential of reed canary grass harvested twice a month in one-cut (OC) management. The regrowth of biomass harvested in summer was also harvested in autumn as a two-cut management with (TC-F) or without (TC-U) fertilization after summer harvest. The specifi...

An alumina-supported nickel catalyst was prepared by impregnation of Ni2+ solution onto mesoporous alumina under microwave irradiation (denoted as M-Ni/Al2O3). For comparison, a catalyst with the same nickel content was prepared by conventional impregnation method (denoted as UM-Ni/Al2O3). Both M-Ni/Al2O3 and UM-Ni/Al2O3 catalysts were applied to the syngas (H2 + CO) production by methane oxy-s...

Citation: Yeshanew MM, Frunzo L, Lens PNL, Pirozzi F and Esposito G (2016) Mass Loss Controlled Thermal Pretreatment System to Assess the Effects of Pretreatment Temperature on Organic Matter Solubilization and Methane Yield from Food Waste. Front. Environ. Sci. 4:62. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2016.00062 Mass Loss Controlled Thermal Pretreatment System to Assess the Effects of Pretreatment Temperature...