title: Effects of thermo-chemical pre-treatment on anaerobic biodegradability and hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass.
abstract: The effects of different thermo-chemical pre-treatment methods were determined on the biodegradability and hydrolysis rate of lignocellulosic biomass. Three plant species, hay, straw and bracken were thermo-chemically pre-treated with calcium hydroxide, ammonium carbonate and maleic acid. After pre-treatment, the plant material was anaerobically digested in batch bottles under mesophilic conditions for 40 days. From the pre-treatment and subsequent anaerobic digestion experiments, it was concluded that when the lignin content of the plant material is high, thermo-chemical pre-treatments have a positive effect on the biodegradability of the substrate. Calcium hydroxide pre-treatment improves the biodegradability of lignocellulosic biomass, especially for high lignin content substrates, like bracken. Maleic acid generates the highest percentage of dissolved COD during pre-treatment. Ammonium pre-treatment only showed a clear effect on biodegradability for straw.
authors.affiliation: Sub-department of Environmental Technology, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV Wageningen, The Netherlands. Tania.Fernandes@wur.nl
authors.forename: T V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: G J Klaasse
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Bos
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeeman
authors.forename: J P M
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: van Lier
mesh_terms: D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000378:metabolism*; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D018533:Biomass; D002126:Calcium Hydroxide / Q000737:chemistry; D002254:Carbonates / Q000737:chemistry; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008031:Lignin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008298:Maleates / Q000737:chemistry; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D002254:Carbonates; D008298:Maleates; C036909:lignocellulose; D008031:Lignin; C030272:maleic acid; C040502:ammonium carbonate; D002126:Calcium Hydroxide