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Journal of Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, Vol. 6 No. 2, 2018.

Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.13044/j.sdewes.d5.0193

Assessment of Methods to Pretreat Microalgal Biomass for Enhanced Biogas Production

Aline de L. Marques ; School of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, nº 149, Bloco E, Sala 200, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fabiano P. Pinto ; School of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, nº 149, Bloco E, Sala 200, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ofélia Q. de F. Araújo ; School of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, nº 149, Bloco E, Sala 200, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Magali C. Cammarota orcid id orcid.org/0000-0002-0637-9707 ; School of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Av. Athos da Silveira Ramos, nº 149, Bloco E, Sala 200, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Abstract

In anaerobic digestion of microalgae, the intracellular material may remain intact due to the non-ruptured membrane and/or cell wall, reducing the methane yield. Therefore, different pretreatment methods were evaluated for the solubilization of microalgae Scenedesmus sp. The anaerobic digestion of biomass hydrolyzed at 150 °C for 60 min
with sulfuric acid 0.1% v/v showed higher methane yield (204-316 mL methane/g volatile solids applied) compared to raw biomass (104-163 mL methane/g volatile solids applied). The replacement of sulfuric acid with carbonic acid (by bubbling carbon dioxide up to pH 2.0) provided results similar to those obtained with sulfuric acid, reaching solubilization of 41.6% of the biomass. This result shows that part of the flue gas (containing carbon dioxide and other acid gases as well as high temperatures) may be used for the hydrolysis of the residual biomass from microalgae, thus lowering operational costs (e.g., energy consumption and chemical input).

Keywords

Anaerobic digestion; Biomass; Hydrolysis; Methane; Microalgae; Scenedesmus sp

Hrčak ID:

200970

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/200970

Publication date:

30.6.2018.

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