title: Experimental and economical evaluation of bioconversion of forest residues to biogas using organosolv pretreatment.
abstract: The methane potential of forest residues was compared after applying organic solvent, i.e., acetic acid, ethanol, and methanol pretreatments using batch anaerobic digestion (AD). The pretreatments were performed at 190 °C with 50% (V/V) organic solvent for 60 min. The accumulated methane yields after 40 days of AD from pretreated forest residues were between 0.23 and 0.34 m(3) CH4/kg VS, which shows a significant improvement compared to 0.05 m(3) CH4/kg VS, from untreated forest residues. These improvements count up to 50% increase in the methane yields from the pretreated substrates based on expected theoretical yield from carbohydrates. Among the organic solvents, pretreatments with acetic acid and ethanol led to highest methane yields, i.e., over 0.30 m(3) CH4/kg VS. However, techno-economical evaluation showed, pretreatment with methanol was more viable financially. The capital investments of the plant operating 20,000 tons of forest residues varied between 56 and 60 million USD, which could be recovered in less than 8 years of operation.
authors.affiliation: Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, 501 90 Borås, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maryam M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kabir
authors.affiliation: Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, 501 90 Borås, Sweden. Electronic address: Karthik.Rajendran@hb.se.
authors.forename: Karthik
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rajendran
authors.affiliation: Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, 501 90 Borås, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mohammad J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Taherzadeh
authors.affiliation: Swedish Centre for Resource Recovery, University of Borås, 501 90 Borås, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ilona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sárvári Horváth
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D056804:Biofuels / Q000191:economics*; D018533:Biomass; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D065928:Forests; D008031:Lignin / Q000032:analysis; D008697:Methane / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012997:Solvents / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D012997:Solvents; D008031:Lignin; D008697:Methane
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Lignocelluloses; Organosolv; Pretreatments; Process design