title: Enhancing the anaerobic digestion of corn stalks using composite microbial pretreatment.
abstract: A composite microbial system (XDC-2) was used to pretreat and hydrolyze corn stalk to enhance anaerobic digestion. The results of pretreatment indicated that sCOD concentrations of hydrolysate were highest (8,233 mg/l) at the fifth day. XDC-2 efficiently degraded the corn stalk by nearly 45%, decreasing the cellulose content by 22.7% and the hemicellulose content by 74.1%. Total levels of volatile products peaked on the fifth day. The six major compounds present were ethanol (0.29 g/l), acetic acid (0.55 g/l), 1,2-ethanediol (0.49 g/l), propionic acid (0.15 g/l), butyric acid (0.22 g/l), and glycerine (2.48 g/l). The results of anaerobic digestion showed that corn stalks treated by XDC-2 produced 68.3% more total biogas and 87.9% more total methane than untreated controls. The technical digestion time for the treated corn stalks was 35.7% shorter than without treatment. The composite microbial system pretreatment could be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly microbial method for efficient biological conversion of corn stalk into bioenergy.
authors.affiliation: Center of Biomass Engineering / College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Xufeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Peipei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiaofen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Zongjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D056804:Biofuels; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; D002482:Cellulose; D008697:Methane