title: Suitability of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) for anaerobic digestion: effect of harvest time and frequency on the biomethane yield potential.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate the potential of giant reed for biomethane production by examining the influence of harvest time and frequency on the Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP), the kinetics of biomethane accumulation in batch reactors and the expected methane yield per hectare. The crop was cut at five different times, regrowths from early cuts were harvested in autumn and BMP of each cut was assessed. The highest BMP (392 NL kg VS(-1)) and the best kinetics of methane production were associated to juvenile traits of the crop. By coupling the early cuts with the corresponding regrowths (double harvest), the dry biomass (from 35 to 40 Mg ha(-1)) equaled that obtained by a single cut at end of the season (38 Mg ha(-1)), while the methane yield per hectare (11,585-12,981 Nm(3) ha(-1)) exceeded up to 35% the methane produced with a single harvest at crop maturity (9452 Nm(3) ha(-1)).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy. Electronic address: g.ragaglini@sssup.it.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ragaglini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dragoni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, Chimica Industriale e Scienza dei Materiali, Università di Pisa, Via Diotisalvi 2, 56122 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simone
authors.affiliation: Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy; CRIBE - Centro di Ricerche Interuniversitario Biomasse da Energia, Via Vecchia Livornese 748, 56122 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bonari
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D056804:Biofuels; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D007700:Kinetics; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D006109:Poaceae / Q000378:metabolism*; D011891:Rain; D013997:Time Factors; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D008697:Methane
keywords: Biochemical Methane Potential; Biogas; Double harvest; Kinetics; Perennial energy crops