title: Anaerobic digestion of sunflower oil cake: a current overview.
abstract: Due to the chemical and physical structure of a lignocellulosic biomass, its anaerobic digestion (AD) is a slow and difficult process. In this paper, the results obtained from a batch biochemical methane potential (BMP) test and fed-batch mesophilic AD assays of sunflower oil cake (SuOC) are presented. Taking into account the low digestibility shown during one-stage experiments the methane yield decreased considerably after increasing the organic loading rate (OLR) from 2 to 3 g VS L(-1) d(-1), SuOC was subjected to a two-stage AD process (hydrolytic-acidogenic and methanogenic stages), in two separate reactors operating in series where the methanogenic stage became acidified (with >1,600 mg acetic acid L(-1)) at an OLR as low as 2 g VS L(-1) d(-1). More recently, BMP assays were carried out after mechanical, thermal, and ultrasonic pre-treatments to determine the best option on the basis of the methane yield obtained.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de la Grasa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Avenida Padre García Tejero, 4 41012 Seville, Spain. arubia@cica.es
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: De la Rubia
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fernández-Cegrí
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raposo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borja
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D061249:Batch Cell Culture Techniques; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000032:analysis; D006868:Hydrolysis; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008697:Methane / Q000032:analysis; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D013696:Temperature; D014465:Ultrasonics; D018505:Waste Management / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D010938:Plant Oils; D000074242:Sunflower Oil; D008697:Methane