Use of an Automatic Methane Potential Test System for evaluating the biomethane potential of sugarcane bagasse after different treatments

Enhancement of Taihu blue algae anaerobic digestion efficiency by natural storage

Taihu blue algae after different storage time from 0 to 60 d were anaerobic fermented to evaluate their digestibility and process stability. Results showed that anaerobic digestion (AD) of blue algae under 15 d natural storage led to the highest CH4 production of 287.6 mL g(-1) VS at inoculum substrate ratio 2.0, demonstrating 36.69% improvement comparing with that from fresh algae. Storage of blue algae led to cell death, microcystins (MCs) release and VS reduction by spontaneous fermentation. However, it also played an important role in removing algal cell wall barrier, pre-hydrolysis and pre-acidification, leading to the improvement in CH4 yield. Closer examination of volatile fatty acids (VFA) variation, VS removal rates and key enzymes change during AD proved short storage time (≤ 15 d) of blue algae had higher efficiencies in biodegradation and methanation. Furthermore, AD presented significant biodegradation potential for MCs released from Taihu blue algae.

Increase in ethanol production from sugarcane bagasse based on combined pretreatments and fed-batch enzymatic hydrolysis

Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated sugarcane bagasse was performed to investigate the production of ethanol. The sugarcane bagasse was pretreated in a process combining steam explosion and alkaline delignification. The lignin content decreased to 83%. Fed-batch enzymatic hydrolyses was initiated with 8% (w/v) solids loading, and 10 FPU/g cellulose. Then, 1% solids were fed at 12, 24 or 48 h intervals. After 120 h, the hydrolysates were fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae UFPEDA 1238, and a fourfold increase in ethanol production was reached when fed-batch hydrolysis with a 12-h addition period was used for the steam pretreated and delignified bagasse.